- Both institutions presented their lines of work during a panel discussion held on January 24th at the main offices of UNESCO Santiago.
- The constitution of this working-group was framed under the global actions held during the International Day of Education. This year highlights the role that education has in peace building and in the development of countries.
With the purpose of contributing towards the strengthening of institutional conditions in Arts Education in Chile, the first discussion panel organized by Inter-sectoral Working-Group in Arts Education, created by the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage and the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC/UNESCO Santiago).
Culture and arts are the best investment we can make as a country, not merely as a driver for social change, but also as a path in ensuring a healthier society, with happier individuals and citizenship open to dialogue. This is precisely why we value and support the spaces that gather such distinguished experts, with the purpose of improving and strengthening the institutional conditions of arts education when training professionals related to this subject matter.
The inter-sectoral space in Arts Education works in identifying strategic lines of action, analyzing current institutional frameworks of educational and cultural policies, and strives to articulate spaces of gathering that joins agents and resources in the field of Education and Culture. Its objective is to collaborate in the design of public policies, including research and the publication of studies and other documentation.
This initiative is framed under the actions of UNESCO and its Member State in order to attain SDG Target 4.7 (Quality Education). This specific target, among others, requires ensuring that all students acquire the theoretical and practical knowledge necessary to promote sustainable development – among other means – through the promotion of cultural diversity and the contribution made by culture.
The committee integrated by experts from the University of Los Lagos, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, University of Playa Ancha, University of Alberto Hurtado, University of Chile, and the Metropolitan University of Educational Sciences, has the support from the Department of Education and Training in Arts and Culture from the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, as well as from the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC/UNESCO Santiago).
Claudia Uribe, Director of the OREALC/UNESCO Santiago highlighted the importance of this initiative: “an education of quality implies going beyond the traditional areas of knowledge, such as mathematics, sciences or languages. Arts in Education, with emphasis in creativity, and the recognition and value of multiple forms of expression is an essential part of the formation of individuals, and therefore must be a fundamental axis of the national educational project.”
Among the proposals that were discussed at the panel discussion, include:
- Generating an online repository with relevant information and documentation on arts education from the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, with UNESCO facilitating the work of students, educators, specialist, public policy makers and decision makers.
- Organizing events with the intention of discussing the role that arts education has in the educational system, and emphasizing the relation from new modes of understanding educational quality, its citizens and sustainable development.
- Coordinating roundtables, gatherings and networks integrated by organizations from civil society, academia, governments and international bodies in order to advocate public debates regarding the relevance of education in culture and arts.
- Preparing documents and publications on training and education in culture and arts in order to disseminate good practices in formal and non-formal contexts. Similarly, recommended general guidelines for the analysis and elaboration of policies, plans and programs based on available information regarding the impact and results of public initiatives at the national and international level.