Forschungsprojekte

European Network Visual Literacy (ENViL, seit 2010)

Common European Framework of Reference Visual Literacy (CEFR_VL, Comenius, 2014 – 2017)

Seit 2010 besteht das informell organisierte europäische Netzwerk von Lehrplanentwicklern und Lehrerbildnern für das Fach Kunst („Kunst“ ist die deutsche Bezeichnung, in anderen Ländern heißt das entsprechende Fach Bildnerische Erziehung, Design, Visuelle Kommunikation, Bild etc.). Daraus formte sich das „European Network of Visual Literacy“ (ENViL), in dem in der Zwischenzeit Vertreter aus 9 Ländern mitarbeiten.

Früh verlagerte sich der Fokus von reinem Erfahrungsaustausch über kompetenzorientierte Lehrplanentwicklung hin zur Forschung über Kompetenzen im Bereich des Bildnerischen. Letztere ist ein absolutes Desiderat und deshalb fehlt einer begründeten Lehrplanentwicklung in Kunst/Bild auch eine Fundierung in wissenschaftlich abgesicherten Erkenntnissen. Beide Ansätze, Lehrplanentwicklung und Forschung, wurden bei einer Sitzung des Netzwerks ENViL im Januar 2012 in Salzburg (Mozarteum) in einem gemeinsamen Vorhaben gebündelt: In Anlehnung an den „Gemeinsamen Europäischen Referenzrahmen für Sprachen“ soll mittelfristig ein entsprechender, forschungsgestützter „Gemeinsamer europäischer Referenzrahmen für den Bereich Kunst/Bild/Design“ (Common European Framework of Reference on Visual Literacy - CEFR_VL) erstellt werden. Seit der Präsentation der ersten konzeptionellen Überlegungen auf dem Europäischen InSEA-Kongress (International Society for Education through Art, der wichtigsten internationalen NGO in diesem Bereich) im Juni 2012 in Zypern, unterstützt das European Board of InSEA offiziell das Vorhaben. Zwischen 2013 und 2016 wurde das Projekt im Rahmen des Comenius-Programms von der Europäischen Union gefördert.

Inzwischen ist die erste Phase mit der Erstellung des europäischen Referenzrahmens für ‚Visual Literacy‘ beendet und die entsprechende Publikation erschienen: Ernst Wagner, Diederik Schönau (Hg.): Common European Framework of Reference for Visual Literacy / Cadre Européen Commun de Référence pour la Visual Literacy / Gemeinsamer Europäischer Referenzrahmen für Visual Literacy, Waxmann, Münster, New York 2016

ENViL Phase II

Die zweite Phase des Projektes hat im Jahr 2016 begonnen. Der Kreis der beteiligten Forscher/innen in Europa wurde erweitert, die gemeinsame Sprache ist vom Deutschen ins Englische gewechselt. Verschiedene Arbeitsgruppen haben sich gebildet. Carl-Peter Buschkühle hat die Leitung der ‚Theorie‘-Gruppe übernommen, die sich interdisziplinär mit theoretischen Grundlagen der ‚Visual Literacy‘ im Rahmen von Erziehungswissenschaften, Philosophie und Psychologie befasst. Partner der AG ‚Theory Visual Literacy‘: Martina Paatela-Nieminen (Universität Helsinki), Diederik Schönau (ARTEZ Netherlands), Marc Fritzsche (JLU Gießen), Ernst Wagner (Akademie der Bildenden Künste München), Raphael Vella (University Malta), Dennis Atkinson (Goldsmith College London), Bernhard Darras (Université Paris I, Sorbonne).

"Images and Identity" (Comenius, 2008 – 2010)

Partner:

-    UK, Roehampton University London  

-    Czech Republic, Charles University Prague

-    Ireland, National College of Art and Design Dublin

-    Portugal, Escola Superior de Educacao, Instituto Politecnico, Viana do Castelo

-    Malta, University of Malta Valletta

The project will address the problem of how European identification is perceived and strengthened by teachers and students in classroom settings in five member states. Collaborative action research involving ‘best practice’ teams of higher education staff, teachers and student teachers in curriculum experiments in primary and lower secondary schools, will be identified and synthesized across member states. By piloting and conducting action research with new curriculum methods and materials over a two year period, we will develop and produce a set of interdisciplinary training materials for use during initial and service education courses and publish them on line. They will be organized around the theme of ‘images and identity’ and apply art lesson content and teaching methods to the realization of citizenship education goals and aims. Curriculum materials developed outside classrooms are limited by the lack of institutionalized competencies. The end product will consist of a website functioning as a visual database and teacher resource with lesson plans organized around competencies related to the analysis, production, and appreciation of visual aspects of European citizenship, with written guidelines for engaging children in critical discussion of related topics and themes across primary and secondary school classes.

Specifically the visual database will contain examples of visual and digital media, texts and artworks dealing with issues of identity produced by contemporary artists in each member state; images and media of everyday objects, people and events selected by teachers and children to represent their identities and interpret the identity of others in complex social and cultural contexts; and children’s expressive artwork that explores and portray their identities and interactions with others, both literally and virtually.   (Malta) The lesson plans will provide instructions for generalist trained teachers as to how to organize and implement interdisciplinary art activities for children ages 5-16, using digital photography, video and web-based techniques/technologies  (Germany) and will outline a strategy  for engaging them in critical discussion, analysis and interpretation of visual images constituting identity contexts  (England). The guidelines for EDC will be developed by the named HE expert in each member state following assessment of the particular needs of learners. It is anticipated they will contain factual information teachers can draw upon during discussion of images in art lessons to encourage school children to make connections between their own and others experiences, learn to live positively with cultural similarities and differences and increase their knowledge and understanding of the European constitution and shared European values through community service projects designed to use products from identity activities in community settings. National coordinators have accepted responsibility for developing the materials as follows:  Malta -  visual database; Germany  -expressive art  lessons; England - strategies for talking about images;  Ireland Teacher guidelines for  EDC. The Czech Republic will produce the final on line product.

To ensure the training materials are of practical use they will be developed, implemented and evaluated in each member state by collaborative teams of university staff with citizenship and art education expertise, student teachers and practicing teachers. Curriculum development/evaluation will take place in primary and lower secondary schools using an action research format. It will be carefully documented, monitored and evaluated to ensure consistency with lesson plans the teams develop and test out. Visual images, media and texts used to stimulate discussion and projects about identity, as well as those that children create can be shared among national coordinators and action teams to share project impact and stimulate new ideas. The Portugal partner will coordinate and evaluate the action research.

To ensure good practice in each member state and to allow for the maximum international dialogue the design, development and evaluation of the visual resources, lesson plans and guidelines will progress in four phases. Consortium meetings for national coordinators and teams are planned during each phase to facilitate training, exchange of ideas and decision-making.

The publication of this research project came out 2013: Rachel Mason, Carl-Peter Buschkühle (Ed.): Images & Identity. Educating Citizenship through Visual Arts, Intellect, Bristol (UK), Chicago (USA) 2013