Education, learning & the cultural sector

The relationship between the cultural sector and education has been a long and complex one. Research shows that effective learning opportunities can significantly deepen cultural understanding, promote lifetime interest and, indeed, further study in the arts.

Using UK examples, this module will enable you to explore how this relationship has intensified over the last decade as a result of government policy, and how the current emphases on participation, interaction and other forms of audience involvement are reinforcing the educational role of cultural organisations.

You will examine how a national curriculum, lifelong learning, cultural diversity, social inclusion and access are directly contributing to cultural organisations' ability to expand their audiences beyond those associated with more traditional forms of high culture.
 
This module is pertinent to understanding debates about access and participation as instruments of cultural policy and why education has moved from the periphery to being a central activity in the cultural sphere.

Indicative content

This module introduces you to the political context and rationale for education, and the public and institutional benefits as assessed by research. It examines:

• aspects of management - the role of the education officer and the education department in forming policy; advocacy; strategic planning including budgets and staffing
• developing audiences and the importance of audience research
• theories of learning styles and their appropriateness to the cultural sector
• range of evaluation techniques; briefing and working with consultants
• programming - the role education teams have in contributing to and complementing programming, and looking at a range of activities and interpreting their appropriateness
• the role of the web, in particular, as a learning resource.

Recommended reading

• Anderson, D. (1999). A common Wealth: Museums and Learning in the UK. 2nd ed. London, DCMS
• Castle, K. ed. (2002). Aims in motion: Dance Companies and their education programmes. Slough, NFER
• DCMS (2001). Culture and creativity - The next ten years. London, DCMS
• Downing, D. et al. (2002). Acting with Intent: theatre companies and their education programmes. Slough, NFER
• Harland, J. & Kinder, K. eds. (1999). Crossing the line: Extending young people's access to cultural venues. London, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
• Lang, C., Reeve, J. and Woollard, V. (2006). The Responsive Museum - working with audiences in the 21st century. Aldershot, Ashgate
• National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education (1999). All our futures: creativity, culture and education. London, DfEE
• Owens, P. (1998). Creative Tensions. British American Arts Association
• Robinson, K. (1995). Education in/and culture. European Task Force, Council of Europe
• Rogers, R. (2006). Music Manifesto Report No 2. London, DCMS and DfES
• Clore Duffield Foundation publications: State of the Arts, Space for Learning
• Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation publications