Education and Learning in the Cultural Sector - Coursework Example

Education and Learning in the Cultural Sector Introduction Education perspectives have witnessed widespread changes over the past few decades. These transitions reflect the growing demand for cultural learning that helps in enhancing the creative interests and skills of individuals. Communities today prosper from their participation in various economic activities and the growth of these economic enterprises depends to a large extent on the creative skills of the individuals. Strategic aims and objectives of educational bodies and committees focus on developing creative abilities through various educational plans and programs. The basic idea behind the launch of these cultural education programs is to promote an improved and effective understanding of local cultures, various art forms and motivate individuals to pursue creative interests. Cultural education initiatives in England are widely supported by government bodies, organizations, creative and cultural industries. Various research studies have established that cultural learning ensures sound development of mental abilities that is reflected in the student’s educational performance (CLA, 2011). While schools and colleges provide the foundation for cultural education, cultural organizations such as museums, art galleries and theatre help in delivering new and fresh insights towards the development of cultural and creative skills. The key to effective achievement of such learning objectives is increasing community participation in cultural education programs (Vickery, 2011). Based on these observations and the necessity to highlight the significance of cultural learning in achieving the objectives of education programs, the paper outlines the plan for a ‘Summer Evenings’ education project. As the Assistant Education worker at the local art museum I have planned an educational learning program that aims to promote an effective understanding of local art forms and appreciate its contribution to the local culture. The subsequent sections provide a detailed insight into the program design, purpose and its proposed implications on the learning achievements of the participants. This is followed by an an evaluation of the given techniques with a detailed insight into the implications of these methods on cultural education objectives and intended learning outcomes. The assessment will involve the use of case studies to illustrate the key points. The paper also explores the role of leadership in developing quality education and learning outcomes, stakeholder assessment, and a focus on the complexities associated with the learning programs in the cultural sector. Summer evenings education project details Museums have immense potential for learning. The museum collections provide fresh and interesting insights into vital aspects of the local culture and its evolution over the years. Museums and galleries provoke the thought processes of individuals and promote learning through the stimulation of senses, generating curiosity and releasing creativity (Clarke et al., 2002). The summer evenings education project at the local art museum will utilize the art collections to teach the significance of the cultural aspects of the region, increase the understanding of historical past, and promote a sense of pride within the local communities. The goals and objectives of the learning program have been outlined as below – Expand the knowledge of local cultural aspects through an in-depth study of the art collections at the museum Promote an understanding of how these aspects have defined the evolution of culture, traditions and customs over the times Inspire participants to research the historical facts and the significance of the museum collections Enable the participants to present and discuss their findings through the open forums conducted during the evenings Appreciate the role of culture in developing community practices, influencing local customs and traditions The key aspects of the proposed summer evening program at the museum involve – The use of museum collections as learning resources Develop researching abilities of the participants Generate curiosity and enthusiasm for discovering historical facts Provide the participants with the scope to analyze facts, present information and a forum to discuss findings Assimilate the knowledge resources from various sources (internet, books, journals, television, videos, movies, and discussions with local artists) to compile new information related to the museum collections The program is meant for the young adults in the region between the age group of 16-30. The participants will be asked to choose one art piece from the museum collection. The program will focus on exploring the local art form and researching the facts related to this art form through various sources. The participants may use various sources that include books, journals, articles, internet, movies and discussions with local artists. On the second day the students will be asked to present their findings in the form of presentations, articles and slideshows. This will be followed by open discussion forums where the participants will engage in discussing their findings and its implications on the local culture. Observations and inferences from these discussion forums will be recorded and compiled by the students at the end of each session. Cultural education Cultural education plays an important role in developing the creative abilities of individuals. Education refers to the process of learning that stimulates changes in behaviour and perceptions of individuals through their understanding of vital learning concepts, knowledge, skills and attitudes. Museums have the potential to offer an educational experience that contributes to learning diverse concepts (Hill, 1998). These concepts relate to local cultures, religion, art, art forms, customs, traditions, and various other aspects that have shaped the region’s history. The collections of the museum represent past experiences and events that have shaped life and lifestyles over the centuries. Communities can benefit immensely from these exhibits in terms of the knowledge resources associated to these objects. The role of museums has evolved in this context. There is growing demand for supporting art and culture through the museum collections and spreading awareness of the cultural heritage to the communities (Hooper-Greenhill, 1996). “Museums have prospered, with a new optimism and entrepreneurial spirit among museum staff and an ambition to increase and demonstrate their social impact” (Davey, 2013, p17). In the year 1999 the Department for Education and Skills launched a cultural education program in collaboration with the local museums and galleries. The aims and objectives of the program was to improve the mental and cognitive skills of the children by improving the quality of children’s learning. The objective was to enrich the student’s education and ensure a more active role of museums in education. The program was meant for students across students in early years to 16 years of age. During the period 1999-2002, the program funded 65 different projects catering to the cultural education needs of children across various schools in London, Devon, Leeds, and Bradford. The program experiences highlighted the role of museums in motivating and inspiring students to learn, developing skills, increasing knowledge, promoting access to vital knowledge resources, and delivering long term value in terms of learning experience. The program also highlighted that museum objects can inspire creative work, sharpen visual awareness, helps in developing skills, provide alternative ways of learning, motivate students, and play a pivotal role in promoting participant involvement and engagement (Clarke et al., 2002). A specific case in this context was the Focus on Literacy program launched by the Nottingham Museums to address the poor literacy levels in the region. Secondary schools that displayed low performance were targeted to be a part of this program. Efforts were made to integrate cross-curriculum museum based activities in various subjects like history, science and art (Clarke et al., 2002). The program was effective in motivating students and improving their understanding of some vital concepts in these subjects. The current economic environment is driven by creative abilities of individuals who have the potential to come up with new and innovative ideas. The creative and cultural industries play an important role in funding new industries and ideas. Cultural education provides the platform for nurturing creative abilities within individuals. This is usually done in the form of study of various art forms, cultural events, music, dance and drama. Cultural education enables students to learn and infer from various facts. This is important for the development of their creative faculties and analytical skills by giving them the opportunity to practice different art forms (Henley, 2012). Research findings have established that learning through arts and culture improves mathematical abilities, reasoning skills and cognitive abilities (CLA, 2011). It has been observed that the delivery of cultural education should be conducted in settings where students spend a lot of time. These locations include clubs, art galleries, museums and sporting venues. The principle objective of such initiatives is to ensure fun ways of involving community participation. The primary requirements for effective outcomes of such learning programs are fun, inclusive, and engaging. The fun element promotes a sense of enthusiasm and energy within people who are then keen to participate in the learning activity. Inclusive ensures the participation of anyone who is interested in participating in the learning program, while engaging allows everyone to find some interesting learning element in the program (Chambers and Ryan, 2007). The summer evening project proposal takes into consideration some of these vital aspects defining the efficacy of cultural learning. It will provide the students with the scope to learn the cultural significance of the art collection at the museum. The program will ask students to choose any art object and identify its origins, the materials used to produce the object, its historical implications, its aesthetic value, environmental relevance, historical facts, significance, relationships with other objects, social implications, application and any other complementary information collected on the object. These learning components will provide the necessary building blocks for improved understanding of the relevance of the chosen objects. Role of leadership in developing quality education and learning in the cultural sector Leadership qualities define the boundaries of learning outcomes in the education sector. This is all the more vital in context of the cultural sector where learning programs require collaboration with various educational entities. Leadership requirements in this context focus on the ability to identify the key objectives of learning in the cultural sector, design programs that meet the specific learning requirements, develop strategies that work towards the goals of learning and mobilize the resources required to achieve the defined goals and objectives. One of the primary concerns facing the mobilization and effective implementation of such programs is the concept of social enterprise associated with art galleries, museums, and any other industry in the cultural sector. There is limited scope for these institutions in terms of raising the funds necessary for the effective launch of these programs. Funding in such context is always associated to donations or charities from external sources. Since these institutions do not operate for profit and are driven by social or community goals, the primary requirement is for effective leadership that can help in raising funds for these community development programs (Arts Council, 2009). Leadership roles in conducting successful learning programs in the cultural education sector assume vital significance right from the conceptualization phase to the implementation phases. An effective leader is capable of understanding the community learning requirements, aligning these requirements to the resource capabilities of the cultural organization in question, and then developing effective plans that help in meeting these requirements. Program leaders should thus possess excellent communication skills, analytical skills, researching abilities, collaborative initiatives, training capabilities in order to ensure successful program outcomes (Vickery, 2011). Another distinctive aspect related to the management of such cultural learning programs is the wide diversity of students who participate in these events. Multicultural backgrounds of the students make it difficult for the program manager to develop plans that suit the cultural needs and diversities of the student groups. Besides effective cultural understanding, the program manager also needs to possess collaboration skills that can be used to develop associations with educational institutions, maintain relationships with governing bodies, raise funds for the programs and take into account the stakeholder needs. Collaboration is thus an essential aspect defining the efficacy of these cultural learning programs. This aspect is illustrated by the example of the Making Connections project launched by the Leeds Museums and Galleries. The project involved a wide variety of people including the education staff, outreach officers, curators, registrar and the museum staff. Sue Ball headed the project and one of her managerial practice related to the conducting of regular meetings. The project progress and details were minutely discussed during these meetings to ensure that everything was going as per plans. Any contingencies were also discussed for effective and prompt redressal. All these measures ensured that the project was an outstanding success (Clarke et al., 2002). Stakeholder assessment of the program Stakeholders in the cultural sector constitute the cultural institution (in this case, the local art museum), the governing bodies, fundraising agencies, sponsors, museum staff, educational staff, students, and local communities. The summer evenings project plan outlined in this paper will influence these stakeholders directly or indirectly. The museum will benefit from increased visitors to the museum complex, increased revenues, and the scope of attracting collaborations from various donating agencies and fundraising sources. The governing bodies will also benefit in terms of meeting the social goals and objectives of serving the communities by providing them with the means to improve their knowledge and understanding of local cultures and promoting community involvement in the museum. The fundraising agencies and sponsors will benefit from their donations to social causes and ensuring increased community participation in cultural learning at the museum. This can help in highlighting their commitment to social causes. The complex business environment today demands a high level of commitment to social and environmental causes. This is mandated by the ethical requirements of companies and their accountability to the communities they serve (BIS report, 2011). Thus, an association with such social causes will help these firms improve their credibility and social accountability patterns. The museum staff and educational staff will benefit from the collaborations and the scope to explore new vistas of learning in the cultural sector. The staff will be exposed to new learning methods that encompass the use of various digital technologies, learning resources that can be used to promote a better understanding of the local culture. The students and the local communities will benefit from the chance to improve their knowledge and understanding of local culture. This will motivate them to undertake advanced courses in various art forms. Complexity and diversity of creative interpretations of art forms and art products Art forms and art products have evolved over a period of time to include different patterns and these have been widely acknowledged for the role they play in supporting various creative enterprises. Several reports and studies have established the role creative industries can play in driving economic growth (BIS report, 2011). Sustainable growth of industries in any sector is possible only through constant innovations that reflect in the company’s ability to come up with new product ideas, improvise existing products to deliver high value goods to the customer and utilize its knowledge resources to develop creative solutions (Arts Council, 2009). The report by the Arts Council (2009) states that “personal creativity is an asset to us as individuals, to our families, and neighbourhoods and in the workplace” (p6). Creativity thus has extensive value to the wellbeing of the economy and the society. While this is a well established fact, there is growing concern on the adequacy of efforts or initiatives that can support creative ventures. The complexities associated with the summer evening project plan lies in promoting the learning objectives to the targeted audience. It may prove difficult to enlist youngsters to this program since many may question its relevance and significance in real and practical terms. Association with art and art forms have been considered as leisure past times by most people and there are very few people who actually consider it as a viable career choice. A career as an artist or artistic skills alone cannot earn enough money to sustain a decent livelihood – this is a popular perception amongst most people. However, facts and recent economic trends have proved this wrong. People with creative skills and knowledge of art forms are much in demand. The success of business enterprises today depend on the creative abilities of their workforce in areas of design and ideas that help enterprises explore new opportunities for growth and development (Chambers and Ryan, 2007). Conclusion Projects in the cultural learning sector involve a lot of planning, researching and evaluating. The outcomes of such projects depend on the amount of dedication and commitment displayed by the project managers, governing bodies and collaborating entities. Considering the vast learning potentials of the museums, the summer evening project plan outlined in this paper focused on tapping the museum resources to promote community learning and their participation in cultural learning. The role of museums cannot be undermined in motivating and inspiring students to explore the historical dimensions of the objects on display, gather sufficient knowledge and understanding of the history of these objects and explain its significance in the present day world. This is largely due to the fact that museums connect with people and offer unique learning experience through such learning initiatives. As an education assistant, it is my endeavour to deliver an enriching and enlivening learning experience to the students. The program will be successful in achieving the desired learning goals and objectives considering the extent of interaction it seek from the participations right from the choice of the artefact to be studied to exploring the various facts and information related to it and presenting the collected information in the open discussion forums for further observation and evaluation. References Arts Council (2009), Adult participatory arts thinking it through – a review commissioned from 509 arts, Arts Council England report. BIS report (2011), The plan for growth, Department for Business Innovation and Skills, HM Treasury, Crown Publishers. Chambers, H. and Ryan, M. (2007), How to use creative arts, National Children’s Bureau. CLA (2011), Key research findings: the case for cultural learning, Paul Hamilton Foundation. Clarke, A., Dodd, J., Hooper-Greenhill, E., O’Riain, H., Selfridge, L. and Swift, F. (2002), Learning through culture, Research Centre for Museums and Galleries, University of Leicester. Davey, A. (2013), Great art and culture for everyone – 10 year strategic framework, Arts Council England. Henley, D (2012), Cultural education in England, Department for culture, media and sport (DCMS), Crown Publishers. Hooper-Greenhill (Ed.) The Educational Role of the Museums, London, 1996. Vickery, J. (2011), Strange cargo – Stretching new boundaries: participation in visual arts, Centre for Cultural Policy Studies, University of Warwick. Read More