Research in Visual Arts Education - Bilderlernen.at
Research in Visual Arts Education - Bilderlernen.at
Research in Visual Arts Education - Bilderlernen.at
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
BETWEEN VISUAL ARTS AND VISUAL CULTUREfrom a Professional University College. The four years of tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>cludespecialis<strong>at</strong>ions <strong>in</strong> two to three ma<strong>in</strong> subjects, with visual arts as a “small”specialis<strong>at</strong>ion, which covers about one semester. The B.A. gives access bothto work <strong>in</strong> the compulsory school <strong>at</strong> all levels and to <strong>at</strong>tend M.A. studies <strong>at</strong>the university. The teacher tra<strong>in</strong>ers <strong>in</strong> the Professional University Collegesgenerally hold a university degree <strong>in</strong> educ<strong>at</strong>ion with a special orient<strong>at</strong>ionwith<strong>in</strong> a s<strong>in</strong>gle school subject, e.g. visual arts. Some hold a university degree<strong>in</strong> another discipl<strong>in</strong>e, e.g. art history. Few teacher tra<strong>in</strong>ers hold a Ph.D.and, <strong>at</strong> least until the Professional University Colleges were formed <strong>in</strong> thebeg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g of 2008, teacher tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>stitutions have had limited researchqualific<strong>at</strong>ions or oblig<strong>at</strong>ions.In Denmark large parts of educ<strong>at</strong>ional research are concentr<strong>at</strong>ed with<strong>in</strong>one faculty: The Danish School of <strong>Educ<strong>at</strong>ion</strong>, University of Aarhus (DPU),which was established <strong>in</strong> January 2008. DPU offers postgradu<strong>at</strong>e two-yearMaster of <strong>Arts</strong> programmes <strong>in</strong> educ<strong>at</strong>ion (M.A. (Ed)) and Ph.D. programmes.Until the last revision of this article <strong>in</strong> August 2008, the faculty’s programmesof study have been identical to those of its autonomous predecessor, theDanish University of <strong>Educ<strong>at</strong>ion</strong>, established <strong>in</strong> 2000 when the former RoyalDanish School of <strong>Educ<strong>at</strong>ion</strong>al Studies (Danmarks Lærerhøjskole) and threesmaller educ<strong>at</strong>ional research <strong>in</strong>stitutes were closed. While the old Schoolof <strong>Educ<strong>at</strong>ion</strong>al Studies offered an M.A. programme <strong>in</strong> visual arts educ<strong>at</strong>ion<strong>at</strong> the Department for Aesthetic <strong>Educ<strong>at</strong>ion</strong> and Media Studies, DPUoper<strong>at</strong>ed with a structure based on general approaches to educ<strong>at</strong>ion <strong>in</strong> sixdepartments: <strong>Educ<strong>at</strong>ion</strong>al Psychology, <strong>Educ<strong>at</strong>ion</strong>al Sociology, Philosophy of<strong>Educ<strong>at</strong>ion</strong>, <strong>Educ<strong>at</strong>ion</strong>al Anthropology, Curriculum <strong>Research</strong> and Learn<strong>in</strong>gLab Denmark 7 . Faced with this structure, the three researchers specialised<strong>in</strong> visual arts educ<strong>at</strong>ion chose to work with<strong>in</strong> the Department of <strong>Educ<strong>at</strong>ion</strong>alAnthropology. In 2002 a new research unit called <strong>Visual</strong> Culture <strong>in</strong><strong>Educ<strong>at</strong>ion</strong> was established and a new direction was set towards visual artseduc<strong>at</strong>ion based on the concept of visual culture.Danish research <strong>in</strong> visual arts educ<strong>at</strong>ionIn Denmark visual arts educ<strong>at</strong>ion was formally established as an <strong>in</strong>stitutionalisedfield of research <strong>in</strong> 1976 when Kristian Pedersen was the first to beappo<strong>in</strong>ted Associ<strong>at</strong>e Professor <strong>in</strong> “Cre<strong>at</strong>ive <strong>Arts</strong>” (Formn<strong>in</strong>g) <strong>at</strong> the RoyalDanish School of <strong>Educ<strong>at</strong>ion</strong>al Studies. Dur<strong>in</strong>g the 1980s Pedersen workedtogether with his colleagues Rolf Köhler, Ingelise Flensborg, Birgitte Holm7 By 1 August 2008 these six departments have been restructured <strong>in</strong>to three larger departments: Departmentof Learn<strong>in</strong>g, Department of Didactics and Department of <strong>Educ<strong>at</strong>ion</strong>. The research unit <strong>Visual</strong> Culture <strong>in</strong><strong>Educ<strong>at</strong>ion</strong> has chosen to be placed <strong>in</strong> the Department of Curriculum <strong>Research</strong>.82 NORDIC VISUAL ARTS EDUCATION IN TRANSITION