Media + Arts + Education: international trends in media and arts education
cultuur + educatie 26 (2009)

Media and arts education seem to be following – increasingly – converging paths. How will this affect media education in schools? Five experts outline the developments at the crossroads of the arts, media and education.

From protection to production
In an introductory article, Emiel Heijnen (Amsterdam School of the Arts) identifies two trends illustrating the convergence of arts and media education. First, a shift has occurred in the prevailing vision of media education from protectionism to participation, where the focus no longer lies on protecting pupils from the negative impact of mass media or arming them against it, but rather on creatively using media and on reflecting critically on it. Second, the modern media figure more and more prominently in contemporary visual art, both as an artistic medium and as the subject of commentary. These trends have led to the introduction of media education in the arts subjects.

Enriching and broadening
The other contributors – Paul Duncum (US), Carl-Peter Buschkühle (Germany), Andrew Burn (England) and Hans Martens (Flanders) – similarly make note of the growing convergence of media and arts education in their respective countries. They offer practical examples of how the disciplines of visual/audio-visual arts education and media education might enrich each other and broaden each other’s scope. They also demonstrate that, while these disciplines share many common features and touch on many of the same didactic core themes, structural collaboration of the two disciplines is still sorely lacking at schools. .

Risks and pitfalls
All five authors also identify risks and pitfalls. Duncum, for instance, states that the imagery/media images created by pupils might exceed ethical standards, while Burn warns that the balance between high and low culture or between appropriate and fun teaching materials could be lost. In either case, promoting critical thought – a characteristic feature of the arts disciplines – could help mitigate these risks.

Heijnen and Buschkühle remind us that teachers are still ‘digital immigrants’ and have difficulty taking full advantage of the possibilities offered by new media in their lessons. Suffice it to say that while media education offers arts teachers many new options, it also places tremendous demands on levels of teacher professionalism. Finally, Martens raises the question of whether and, if so, how media education will influence children and adolescents.

Dutch overview