Problems of Efficient Art Education
Problems of Efficient Art Education

Summary/Abstract: The Finnish national core curriculum for preschool education (2000) and basic education (2004) includes an idea of integration and cross-curricular themes. The objective of integration is to guide pupils examining phenomena from the perspectives of different fields of knowledge, thereby elaborating themes and emphasizing general educational goals. Integration needs co-o peration between subject specialists and generalists as well as between schools and the cultural environment. The aim of this presentation is to study the new educational challenges of our time which are met in the new curriculum especially through the arts. This research is a case study of (N = 18 + 18) university students in kindergarten, classroom, and music teacher education, who were asked to reflect on the new curriculum, find integration of music and arts in educational themes and new ideas to develop co-o peration between schools and other cultural institutions. The research methods used were open writings and group interviews of students. The thoughts and experiences of students about the new curriculum and integrative themes in it are introduced especially through a focus on multi- and inter-cultural arts and music education. Co-o perative ideas of students while planning integrative arts education are introduced. Personal growth of pupils with respect to their cultural identity and internationalism are also focused on through students’ experiences of this new curriculum. Pluralism and creativity of students’ artistic thoughts in multi- cultural integrative education have been indentified.

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