Intergovernmental Foundation for Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Cooperation (IFESCCO)
Building Creative Capacities
for the 21st Century
Moscow, 2010
Russian Institute
for Cultural Research
The presentation is based on the analytical report “Arts Education in the
Russian Federation: Building Creative Capacities for the 21st Century”
that was drafted by Larisa Alekseeva, Irina Bykhovskaya, Tatiana
Fedorova, Nina Kochelyaeva, Valentina Martynova, Natalia Nazarova,
Elena Olesina, Lyudmila Shkolyar.
The report rests on the UNESCO’s “Road Map for Arts Education”
adopted in Lisbon (2006) and Final Questionnaire on the
Implementation of the Road Map for Arts Education. It was prepared in
consultation with the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the
Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and the
Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO.
РИК
Ivan Shuvalov
Leo Tolstoy
In the 20th century,
arts education was based on ideas
and experiments of its first decades
Dmitry Kabalevsky
The “Concept of Arts Education in the Russian Federation”
(2001) suggest an explicit definition as follows: Arts
Education is a process of cognizing and assimilating artistic
culture, it is most important for developing and shaping
personality, creativity, intellectual and emotional wealth.
Arts Education includes developing
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cultural and historical competences,
i.e. studying theory and practical arts
of different epochs and peoples;
practical arts competences, i.e.
mastery of artistic expressiveness;
artistic taste and evaluative criteria in
the context of spiritual and aesthetic
ideals.
The basic national documents used for drafting this report are:
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the National Education Doctrine of the Russian Federation,
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the Concept of Arts Education in the Russian Federation,
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the Concept of Advancement of Education in the Field of Culture
and Arts in the Russian Federation for 2008–2015.
The unique national system of arts education has received
a powerful backing from many different sections of the public.
The three-tier system of arts education and professional training
for the field of culture and arts, when young children start
studying in an arts school and after that can continue their
studies in a college or a university, has no parallel in the world.
“Mono-art” approach
“Poly-art” approach
Arts in Education approach
“School of the Future” approach
“Mono-art” approach
is based on the general and specialized studies
of some kinds of art (music, fine arts, choreography,
etc.) within the compulsory curriculum or through the
extracurricular art activities.
This approach is implemented in the general secondary
education system, in primary vocational institutions
(music, arts, dancing schools), in secondary and higher
educational vocational establishments.
“Poly-art” approach
is an integral approach to teaching arts when a child
with the poly-art nature that is inherent in childhood,
is in the center of attention rather than the subject
(music, fine arts, rhetoric, literature, etc.).
Under this approach lessons are aimed at a growing
person’s harmonious development with the help
of different kinds of creative work – music, fine arts,
theater, dancing, etc.
This approach is most widely used in pre-school
institutions and primary schools.
Arts in Education approach
is based on the interpretation of arts as a method
of teaching humanities, sciences and mathematics.
An example of this method application is perception of
music pieces and fine arts, reference to biographies of
prominent Russian and foreign scientists – physicists,
biologists, physiologists and others who looked to art
as a means of support and a foundation for new
considerations, ideas and experiments.
“School of the Future” approach
is the universal method based on the idea to teach all
subjects in a single cultural and historical context
based on the common features and kinship of the
scientific and artistic cognition. In this case the young
generation gets to know a full picture of the world
given its diversity and unity.
This method has already been applied in some
pioneering educational institutions that make efforts
to stimulate children’s creative potential and talent,
and experiments proved high efficiency of the
method.
primary (children’s arts schools)
secondary vocational
(arts schools, colleges)
higher (arts institutes,
conservatories, academies)
Culture group:
Arts group:
Music Art
Folk Culture & Arts
Socio-Cultural Activities
Light Directing
Restoration
Art Design for Textile & Light Industries
Theater Art
Choreographic Art
Fine Arts
Literary Creation
Film Art
Design
Applied Arts & Crafts
Art and aesthetic trend is the most widespread and popular in
extra (additional) education for children and youth.
Extra education institutions
under the Russian Ministry
of
Education
count
8 million people enrolled,
and
2.1 million (27.8%) of them
are studying arts.
Non-formal arts education
entails various models:
 centers of children and youth creative
activities;
 clubs of interests, centers of aesthetic
development for children and youth within
the houses of culture;
 community centers;
 ethnic clubs;
 centers of aesthetic development for children
and young people in museums;
 studios and clubs in general schools and preschool institutions and others.
 Fine arts (painting, graphics,
sculpture, graffiti);
 Choreography (ball dances, folk
and modern dance);
 Visual arts (photo, cinematography,
computer graphics and others);
 Applied arts (batik, wood and ivory carving, lace
knitting and others);
 Folk craftsmanship (Gzhel china, Khokhloma
and Mstera lacquered boxes, other);
 Music art (incl. vocal and instrumental bands,
electronic music, jazz studios and clubs, etc.);
 Folk ensembles (choirs, etc.).
Of great interest are the cultural and
education activities for children and
teenagers in museums (museum
pedagogy).
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Targeted programs are worked out
for children and adult audience.
Newly structured sections
of educations are set up.
Children’s centers, expositions,
shows for families and children
are arranged.
Today most of the schools have established strategic
partnerships with many cultural and educational
institutions such as museums, theatres, galleries,
exhibitions.
The development of partnerships between schools,
colleges, universities, and cultural institutions gives new
possibilities in education.
Schoolchildren and students
attend special joint events
focused on particular cultural
aspects of education.
All the activities that take into account regional
features and requirements in arts education are
serving to achieve one of its most significant
purposes – assisting preservation and support of
cultural diversity.
Evidently, knowledge and experience
sharing in this segment of arts and
aesthetic education is of paramount
importance today.
Many regions of Russian Federation have special programmes
to support the cultural diversity.
The interesting example of such activities is an educational
process in the northern areas of the Russian Far East, stressing
on the support of indigenous peoples‘ culture through
introduction to their traditions, languages, and crafts;
by passing on skills of traditional art creative activities.
The new generation of young people
is really a very new subject in many
aspects, including
 their interests;
 motivations to the different kinds
of activity – educational, leisuretime, creativity, etc.;
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their style of consciousness
(sometimes they name it
“a clip consciousness”);
their technological skills, etc.
Some samples of arts education in Russia
give us the opportunity to reveal and to use
the great potentiality of combining the
young people’s interest to very traditional
folk arts (e.g. native music, dancing, dressing)
and their modern ardors (rock, hip-hop,
computer technologies, etc.).
“Jeans- Kantele Group” (Karelia)
fuse together traditional kantele instruments
and modern music
Effective and up to date arts education is impossible without
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elaborating relevant theoretical and methodological support
for the practical work in this area;
creating environment for continuous exchange of experience;
disseminating new ideas, approaches, technologies to attain
the objectives of arts education.
In Russia there is a good practice in regular sharing
of knowledge and skills between experts and
practitioners in this field, in convening conferences,
symposiums (interdisciplinary mostly), master-classes,
etc. on various aspects of this activity.
The Institute for Arts Education is the unique Russian research
organization and a part of the Russian Academy of Education.
It aims not only to elaborate and to discuss different theoretical
and conceptual issues but to introduce related programmes and
projects in the real pedagogical process, in some experimental
schools and lyceums.
A lot of significant approaches and technologies were born in
this Institute.
One of them - the “pedagogy of art” - is interpreted
as teaching that provides arts development
embracing theory and practice of aesthetic
development and arts education.
Specialized periodicals in the field of arts education and
aesthetic development are:
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a means of communication between
professionals;
a tool for disseminating experience
in arts education among parents and
all those who strive to shape
aesthetic features in their children or
grandchildren
by
other
than
institutional methods.
It is difficult to name all the related periodicals published in
Russia. Here are some journals that base their activities both
on traditions and contemporary approaches.
The “Art in School” journal is the successor to the “Music in
School” periodical founded by Dmitry Kabalevsky in 1982 that
changed its title in 1991. The journal informs on the best
practices in teaching the world arts and culture history, fine
arts, music, theater art both in school and during out-ofschool activities. The journal is implementing a project called
“Screen Arts: Learning through Creation”.
The “Young Painter” is a well-known
magazine whose main purpose is touted
by authors as awakening an interest in
creative activities and, in the event of
this interest already existing – providing
effective and engaged support.
”Murzilka” magazine that enjoyed a great popularity in the Soviet times and
deserved a lot of credit for the arts and aesthetic education of the growing
population is now continuing its efforts in modern Russia. The magazine is
addressed to children from 7 to 12. There are engraved paintings by the
greatest painters. A significant part of the magazine is presentation of
readers’ drawings.
“Merry Painter” is a series of art magazines for children aimed at turning
drawing lessons into a really fascinating and creative activity. Each issue
offers special step-by-step exercises in painting, drawing and animation as
well as art materials for the embodiment of ideas.
“Umeika” is a children’s monthly
magazine whose main purpose is also
to
develop
children’s
creative
capabilities. It is aimed predominantly at
children of pre-school and school age.
The character and mechanisms of arranging an “encounter”
between arts and various groups of the population, specific
features of particular kinds and genres of art creative activity
that are to be taken into account in elaborating issues of arts
education and aesthetic development are under consideration
of different specialists.
Moscow,
a long-line
to the Museum of Fine Arts …
The presentation is prepared in the Russian Institute for Cultural Research within
the framework of the UNESCO / IFESCCO Pilot Project
"Arts Education in the CIS Countries:
Building Creative Capacities for the 21st Century“.
The presentation was produced with the financial support
of UNESCO and the Intergovernmental Foundation
for Educational, Scientific and Cultural Cooperation (IFESCCO).
Designed by Irina Bykhovskaya, Tatiana Fedorova, Natalia Nazarova
The authors are responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in this
presentation and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of
UNESCO and do not commit the Organisation.
© UNESCO Moscow Office, 2010
© Authors, 2010
© Russian Institute for Cultural Research, 2010