Visual art education in new times: Connecting Art with REal life issues Erasmus Project

Project Title

Visual art education in new times: Connecting Art with REal life issues

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Pedagogy and didactics; Creativity and culture; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

At the center of recent education policy debate at both national and EU level are issues related to ways of better adapting European education and training systems to the needs of modern society. The focus has been on promoting competence based education that will lead to the development of teachers and students’ key competences which are vital for personal fulfillment, employability, active citizenship, social cohesion and further learning. The rationale for the CARE project is situated within the growing demands of supporting the development of key competences. It will offer useful guidance into the ways European education systems can improve in order to provide young Europeans with the skills required in our future societies.

Project CARE is about enhancing visual arts education with education for sustainable development elements that will promote creative thinking, critical and systemic thinking, reflection and development of skills, attitudes and values. The project aims to develop & deliver teacher training programmes that will empower school teachers in visual arts teaching within the framework of ESD and thus strengthen their teaching profile. Emphasis will be given to undervalued pillars of ESD such as culture and society (not only environment). We aim at high quality education by responding to the increasingly diverse needs for active citizenship, acceptance of diversity, multiculturalism, ICT learning, and sustainable development and overall connecting education with pupils’ real life needs. The CARE project also seeks to establish links and collaborations with local agencies and organizations (such as governmental organisations, museums, artists and others) in order to empower the educational program and connect learning with real life context and experiences.

The objectives of the project are:
– to report on teachers’ actual competences & needs in the identified marginalized aspects of VAE.
– to meet these needs by developing and delivering training programs aligned to the principles of adult learning and enhanced by hybrid forms of e-learning (design & test teacher training programs)
– to bridge the gap between theory & practice by supporting participants to implement teaching units in schools.
– to create a culture of collaboration between educators by assisting the development of professional communities of learning.

The project aims to strengthen the profile of primary school teachers (pre-service & in-service) on how to teach visual arts education in a meaningful way within the school curriculum and by setting European standards for their professional development. Through teachers the project aims to reach pupils and enhance their visual competencies. In total the project aims to reach more than 2200 participants; an average of 60 teachers and their classes (1200 pupils) and other key stakeholders through the disseminating activities (1000).

All outputs will be freely available online to support teachers and other stakeholders (Higher Institutions, teacher educators, educational authorities, schools, art experts) to develop a more strategic approach in improving teachers’ and pupils’ competences (teaching context & materials, learning outcomes, etc.). The research will follow the methodological approach of an action research beginning with a needs assessment stage (O1) and proceeding with addressing the identified needs by designing targeted training programs/ curricula (O2), implementing teacher training/case studies (O3), providing further opportunities for teacher development through the implementation of visual arts units in schools/ case studies (O4), supporting the development of professional communities of learning (O5) and reaching practitioners and other key stakeholders (O6).

CARE is a transnational project that seeks to strengthen common attributes and objectives between local/national policies for visual arts education and European common goals for visual literacy as described within the key competence Cultural awareness and expression. Through the project we seek to improve the competences of teachers, to promote visual competences, enhance their classes with real life situations, and promote transversal competences and inter-cultural values to their pupils. Simultaneously these activities will have an important impact on all participating and collaborating organizations, developing their way of teaching and research.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 282153 Eur

Project Coordinator

FREDERICK UNIVERSITY & Country: CY

Project Partners

• STICHTING THE EUROPEAN REGIONAL COUNCIL OF INSEA
• UNIVERSITA TA MALTA
• ARISTOTELIO PANEPISTIMIO THESSALONIKIS
• THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER