In this course, the students explore their chosen subject area within the arts through developing a child cultural and/or arts educational project, which shall involve children. The project shall be planned, carried out and assessed in collaboration with child cultural and/or arts educational institutions, like for instance museums, professional orchestra, theatres, libraries, ECEC institutions, schools and schools of performing arts.

The student will find a partner for the project himself or herself. The student may use QMUC’s partners, which include museums, professional music ensembles, theatres, primary and lower secondary schools and schools of performing arts.

Dissemination of the project and its content will be presented to supervisors and fellow students, and will be the basis for the course content and the assessment of the student.

The course shall contribute to experience and knowledge about the planning, carrying out, assessment and presentation of child cultural and/or arts educational projects for, with and/or by children. The quality of the dissemination of the project (the presentation) and the documentation of the project through a report will be important in the assessment of the course.

QMUC’s art workshops, art rooms and showing arenas may be used. This course shall, in addition to provide experience of carrying out the project, contribute to raise relevant research questions based on both oral and written reflections to be explored further in the master’s thesis.

As part of the teaching, the student shall work in study groups in which the exploration of the concepts of child culture, play, aesthetics and multimodality, amongst others, is central. The course provides knowledge about leading child cultural and arts educational projects and about arts educational discourses that affect children.

As part of the course, the student will write an individual text - a project report. The report will deal with the project's background, aim and target group, the process/carrying out of the project, and the reflection on and assessment of the result.

Knowledge:

A candidate who has completed the education has:

• thorough knowledge about planning, organising, carrying out and assessing projects in child culture and arts education, and about development projects and research projects with children in ECEC institutions and/or in other arenas of arts for, with and by children
• knowledge about the field of arts and culture and its potential contribution in a multicultural, ecological, gender and equality perspective
• thorough knowledge about ethical guidelines for work amongst children

Skills:

A candidate who has completed the education:

• has advanced insight in the educational and cultural opportunities of aesthetic forms of expression
• has skills of working with cultural phenomena and of analysing and reflecting on their use through the project report

General competence:

A candidate who has completed the education has:

• developed the ability of academic communication, mutual respect, good collaboration skills and action competence in project work through collective, creative processes
• thorough knowledge about the art forms’ and the art subjects’ role and function in ECEC institutions, schools of performing arts and schools, and in the cultural life of the community

Between the sessions, the students will work practically on their project in a child cultural and/or arts educational arena of their own choice. They will be given supervision on campus related to this work. The students will give and receive response on their own and other’s work, both theoretically and practically. The students will be given lectures on the leading, carrying out and assessment of projects. There will be discussions in study groups with a focus on important, relevant literature and ethical topics.

Coursework requirements that must be approved in order to be permitted to take the examinations:

• PEK1: OBLTS
• OPG1: None

Both examination parts must be passed in order to pass the course.

The term paper in the course may have similarities in content with submitted examination papers in preceding courses or in courses subject to recognition in the current study plan for the master’s degree programme in question.