Research in Visual Arts Education - The National Society for ...

ART, DESIGN AND ENVIRONMENTAL PARTICIPATION
the age of six to the age of sixteen, 1 st through 10 th grade in the national curriculum,
this subject has a central position as a core subject, with altogether
627 hours of supervised classes. This equals approximately 2 hours a week
(one year: 35 weeks) for ten years.
From 2006 the subject has, among other aims, as its function to prepare the
children for democratic participation in processes that will involve changes
in their physical environment, i.e. in its developing and planning. Such
participation requires spatial and visual literacy. As the objectives for the
subject are related to local culture, the schools are encouraged to connect
assignments to such understanding and development. The assignments can
for example be information design for the school, decoration of classrooms
or scenography for a local theatre, it can be web-pages or the making of
alternative sketches and models for the future local environment. It can
also be art and the design of artefacts for everyday life such as clothes and
jewellery.
Upper secondary education
The upper secondary education in Norway is divided into vocational training
and further general education. Vocational training (age 16–20) is structured
as two years of study in school and two years as an apprentice in an enterprise.
Three years of study (age 16–19) at further general education prepare
for studies at the level of universities and university colleges. The vocational
programmes related to art and design, are: Medier og kommunikasjon [Media
and Communication] and Design og håndverk [Design and Crafts]. Medier og
kommunikasjon is a very popular programme where there are well organised
solutions for both receiving a vocational certification, as for instance media
technician, but it is also possible to qualify for further university studies. At
the programme Design and håndverk, the students can choose between 46
vocational alternatives, where some of them are interior design, hairdressing
or textile design.
The most groundbreaking news within the field of art and design education
in the curriculum of 2006 is the inclusion and acceptance of the
programme Formgivingsfag [Design] into the general education that prepares
for studies at university level. This is an issue that the national association
Kunst og design i skolen [National Association for Art and Design in
Education], has promoted for years. The main subjects in Formgivingsfag are:
Visuelle kunstfag [Visual art] and Design og Arkitektur [Design and Architecture].
These two subjects count 840 supervised classes over a period of three
years (can also be executed over two years). In addition students can select
from four art-related courses: Visuell kultur og samfunn [Visual Culture and
NORDIC VISUAL ARTS EDUCATION IN TRANSITION 129