Some key areas
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Arts and cultural education is a policy of cultural democratization that took shape in the 1980s following decades of experimentation and activism on the ground, by both teachers and cultural actors.
The first memorandum of understanding between the ministries in charge of Culture and Education dates back to 1983. The first law On this subject, appeared in 1988 and concerns exclusively the field of artistic teaching. Since then, many circulars have structured this policy, until the May 3, 2013 interdepartmental circular on the EAC journey taking into account all the young person’s time and the complementarity of the different forms of intervention, teaching and cultural action projects.
In 2012, the government of François Hollande launched the third major national plan for the development of the EAC. The law of 8 July 2013 orientation and programming for the recasting of the school of the Republic This time, arts and cultural education is enshrined in the law and in the Education Code as a training axis for all students. The prism chosen is mainly that of teaching and school time.
By mentioning the EAC in the Creative Freedom, Architecture and Heritage Bill, the Government is consistent with the circular of 3 May 2013 and completes the law of 8 July 2013, by taking over the extended scope of its intervention on the various life times of the young person.
Founding principles and developments
This policy is based on key principles reaffirmed over the past thirty years:
- the three pillars of direct and sensitive encounter with works, initiation into artistic practice and acquisition of knowledge;
- partnership with artists and cultural structures;
- the training of EAC actors.
It has also benefited from major developments, namely:
the transition from disciplinary (largely optional) artistic teachings to teaching the history of the arts for all;
a range of measures initially designed for a teacher and his class, then for a multidisciplinary teaching team and the entire educational community of an institution, and finally for a multidisciplinary teaching team and the entire educational community of a territory, or even the population of that territory;
the passage of a partnership between two ministries, Culture and National Education, in a multi-stakeholder collaboration with different ministries and local authorities (notably through the EAC High Council and the territorial steering committees).
BEC National Plan: Directions, Results and Emerging Issues
By launching the grand national plan for the EAC from the 2012 National Consultation, the Government of Holland emphasized:
- partnership with local and regional authorities, through contractual arrangements;
- a strengthened action on priority territories (sensitive urban areas, isolated rural areas and ultramarine territories);
- media literacy and digital development ;
- the active contribution of the young person to the development of his journey and the mobilization of families.
Thanks to the additional resources allocated (more than €40M annually devoted to the EAC, new measures since 2012 and still scheduled in 2016, the thawing of the 224 program «Transmission of knowledge and democratization of culture» in 2015), the number of children benefiting from an EAC course is increasing: 35.06% in 2014 and 22.04% in 2011 (card). Allocations devoted to priority territories have been strengthened: a weighting of 1.83 in favour of them in 2014 and a weighting of 1.32 in 2011.
The territorial reform This will be accompanied by a recasting of the State’s regional strategies, including EAC, and the renewal of State/regional partnerships.
The place of culture professionals
To make available to the greatest number the major works of humanity, including those of contemporary creation, BEC’s policy is based on the involvement of cultural professionals and artists to facilitate the understanding of the creative process. As such, the inclusion of BEC in the law on creative freedom, architecture and heritage is a new milestone.
The Government proposes an amendment to Article 2, in order to enshrine in the law the essential contribution of artists to the policy of arts and cultural education and to circumscribe the perimeter by reminding that the artist is neither a teacher, nor a mediator and that its support for actions promoting access to art and culture is directly linked to its creative process.
The place of young people and families
The EAC development program takes into account the place of young people and their families. The child is an actor in its course BEC that he builds on his different life times, both at school and out of school. Mechanisms, such as the national operation “One Class, One Work”, emphasize this active dimension, placing the young person in the position of a “cultural smuggler”.
In keeping with the Minister in Council of Ministers’ commitments, on February 11, 2015, the priority is for the youngest of them, those of primary school age, for two reasons: this period of life is particularly conducive to the involvement of families and the encounter from the youngest age with the works and the artistic practice promotes the artistic and/or cultural practice autonomous in adolescence. Particular emphasis was placed on collective artistic practice. The school choirs were thus enhanced by the first edition in 2015 of the national operation «School in choir».
To facilitate continuity between the different times of the child, the information, even the involvement, of families is at the heart of the concerns of the State. This is one of the main issues of the first edition of Arts Day at School, which took place from May 18 to 29, 2015.
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