Project title
Description of initiative
Promoting well-being through the arts was a joint project of the art education organisations in Valkeakoski, Finland. The coordinator of the project was the town's centre for education and well-being, and the partners were Valkeakoski Music School, Valkeakoski Lifelong Learning Centre (basic education in dance and drama), and the Emil School of Fine Arts and Crafts. One of the central objectives of the art education organisations in Valkeakoski is to develop their organisational cultures. The adoption of the new national curriculum for art education in 2018 brought with it clear development needs. The town administration has been restructured in anticipation of a major national reform of health and welfare services. The new organisation reflects the new tasks of the municipality in the promotion of residents' well-being. Art education as a means to promote well-being and prevent social and health problems has a major role in this task. The adoption of the new national curriculum brings along the need to train teachers to meet the new contents and requirements. In order to add a European dimension to education, it is also necessary to increase the language skills of the staff. The goal of all consortium partners was to increase their cultural competences and gain skills to emphasize multicultural aspects in teaching and to get new insights into learning environments.
Further information on the initiative
Themes: Culture and...
Keywords
Target group
Cultural field
Budget
Timeframe
Sources of funding
Results, benefits, impact and lessons learnt
The consortium partners implemented 4 structured course participations and 6 job shadowing periods, which reinforced the staff's competences in regard to their substance areas, the role of art in promoting well-being, as well as teaching methods that emphasize well-being. The courses and job shadowing periods gave them experiences and skills to apply what theyr learned. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, 6 of the planned mobilities could not be implemented. Eight participants were female and two were male. Their ages ranged from 40-61. Three fine art teachers, three music teachers and four dance teachers participated in the mobilities. The fine art teachers gained new insights into the promotion of well-being as described in the new national curriculum, as well as new teaching and learning methods, including new insights into pair/team teaching. The music teachers gained perspectives for the development of instrument teaching, group music teaching and improvisation teaching, early childhood music education as well as the significance of art in promoting well-being. The dance teachers sought international experiences for the development of dance teaching and the dance curriculum, new teaching and learning methods as described in the new national curriculum as well as the development of improvisation teaching.