The curriculum in focus: module descriptionsThe curriculum in focus: module descriptions
Below is a brief overview of the modules that are taught. The MA Education in Arts is developed as a program for working professionals. Your specific learning goals and drive for further development are at the heart of our program.
A graphical overview of the program can be found here and an insightful mapping of the complete learning trajectory here
YEAR 1
Practice and Research Seminar (Trimesters 1 – 2 – 3)
Practice, experiment, research
The Practice and Research Seminar (PRS) is a central part of the first year of the programme. It is a space to explore, experiment and grow as an arts educator and practitioner. Here, you will investigate what it means to work in the broad and evolving field of arts education, while drawing on your own professional context, interests and ambitions. What does it mean to be an arts educator today? And what happens when you experiment with different ways of teaching and learning? Throughout the year, you will explore these questions through your own practice. You will try out new approaches, develop educational experiments and learn from what happens. Your professional context—whether you are already working in the field or preparing for a future professional setting—becomes an important starting point for this exploration.
PRS brings practice, theory and research together. You will encounter contemporary perspectives on art and education, experimental pedagogies and inspiring examples from the field. At the same time, you will learn how to look closely at your own practice: how to observe, document, analyse and reflect on what you do, and how to turn these experiences into meaningful research. Research here is not something that happens only behind a desk. Your practice becomes your laboratory. By experimenting, reflecting and asking critical questions, you will gradually develop your own ideas about what arts education can be and what role you want to play in it.
Along the way, you will also strengthen your critical reading and writing skills. Through discussions, individual and collective exercises, and exchanges with your peers, you will learn to connect your experiences to wider theoretical and pedagogical perspectives. All this builds towards your Graduation Project Proposal: the foundation for the educational programme you will design, implement and evaluate in your professional environment during the second year.
Seminar Contemporary Issues in Art and Design Education (Trimester 1)
Exploring contemporary questions in art education
Art education is constantly changing. New artistic practices, technologies and social developments raise new questions about how, where and why we teach and learn. Rather than starting with a fixed list of “issues” in art education, we begin with you. What is happening in your professional environment? What challenges, opportunities and questions are you encountering? What values and ideas shape your approach to art and education? Together, we map the different contexts, expectations, institutional realities and artistic and pedagogical perspectives within the group. This shared mapping becomes the starting point for exploring what learning can be, where it takes place, and how art education can respond to developments and urgencies in both the art world and society.
The questions we explore will therefore emerge from the group itself. For one educator, this might mean investigating the possibilities and limitations of inclusive education. For another, it might mean questioning the ethical implications of using AI in art pedagogy. Someone else might be interested in the role of artistic freedom, climate change, participation or new forms of learning. But the seminar is not only about what we are learning. It is also about how we learn together. Together you will write a Code of Conduct.
Through conversations, peer feedback, interdisciplinary exchange and engagement with each other’s practices, you will discover new perspectives on your own work. By encountering different approaches and experiences, you are invited to question your assumptions, recognise your own position and develop your practice further.
Seminar Critical Creative Pedagogies (Trimester 2)
Discovering your pedagogical position
What does it mean to be an educator today? Which ideas and values shape the choices you make in your practice? This seminar invites you to explore educational and pedagogical theories that connect to your own field, interests and practice-based research. You will encounter different ways of thinking about education and consider how they respond to the social, cultural and ecological challenges of our time. Together, we explore themes such as ecology, cultural diversity, interdisciplinarity, co-creation, art and technology, critical pedagogy and embodied learning. These themes offer different perspectives and points of departure for questioning your own assumptions and discovering new possibilities for your practice.
At the heart of the seminar is the development of your pedagogical manifesto. Your manifesto brings together the ideas, values, questions and commitments that are important to you as an educato. It is a way of making your pedagogical position visible and of giving language to what you believe education can—and should—be. Creating a manifesto means moving between theory and practice. You will explore not only what you value in education, but also why it matters and how those values influence the decisions you make. Which theories resonate with your practice? Which challenge your assumptions? And what happens when you bring different, sometimes conflicting, perspectives into conversation with your own experience?
You will work both independently and as part of a collective research community. Together, you will build an annotated bibliography, exchange resources and share ideas that can open new directions for your research. You will also take an active role in shaping the learning environment. As part of the seminar, you will introduce a reading or resource of your choice through an activity for the group. This gives you space to test ideas, spark conversations and learn through exchange and constructive feedback.
Seminar Making Things Public (Trimester 3)
Making art education public
What happens when art education moves beyond the classroom? How can art educators, artists and cultural institutions create meaningful encounters with different publics? And what does it mean to make something “public”? This seminar explores art education beyond the traditional environments of the school or academy. You will discover how museums, galleries, artists, designers and art educators are experimenting with new ways of engaging people through educational projects.
We look at a wide range of practices: from educational programmes in museums and galleries to community-based projects and artistic practices that use pedagogical strategies. Along the way, we explore how ideas about the public, participation, collaboration and inclusion are changing—and what these changes mean for art education. There is no longer one fixed idea of who “the public” is or how an audience should engage with art. Museums and galleries are exploring new forms of participation, while artists and educators are working in public spaces, communities and unexpected contexts. But participation is not automatically inclusive, and making something public is never neutral. Who gets invited? Who gets to participate? And what are the consequences of bringing an artistic or educational project into the public realm? Through examples from artists, museums and arts educators, you will explore these questions and consider art education as a critical and socially engaged practice. We will examine how different educators understand their publics and how educational projects can respond to different contexts and communities.
You will also work from your own educational project. This becomes a starting point for exploring different approaches to different groups and students and for considering the skills, tools and strategies you need as an educator. Together, we will investigate how an educational idea can grow into a meaningful programme that responds to its participants/students, context and purpose. By the end of the seminar, you will also have developed a solid project plan for the educational programme you will design, implement and evaluate in your professional setting during the second year.
YEAR 2
Graduation Project Seminar (Trimester 4)
Practice and research taking shape
The Graduation Project Seminar (GPS) is where your graduation research starts to take shape. It is a space to test ideas, explore your educational project in practice and discover what is needed to turn your plans into a feasible and meaningful research project. Through a series of thematic workshops, practical exercises and peer exchange, you will investigate the possibilities and challenges of your own graduation project. Two key assignments—a pilot study and a peer observation exchange—give you the opportunity to try out your approach, learn from what happens and gather valuable insights into the potential of your educational programme.
The first part of the seminar focuses on the challenges of practice-based research. How can you document and observe education? What can photography, video, conversations, notes, student work and other forms of documentation reveal? How can you make productive use of the gaps between what you intend to do and what happens in practice? And how can you navigate the opportunities and limitations of the institutional context in which your research takes place? Rather than seeing these challenges as obstacles, you will learn to use them as part of your research. Unexpected situations, tensions and differences between intention and action can become valuable sources of insight.
In the second part of the seminar, we turn our attention to your position as a researcher. You may find yourself moving between different roles: teacher, artist or designer, researcher, and initiator of change. What happens when these roles overlap? How does each position influence what you see, what you do and the knowledge you produce?
Graduation Project (Trimesters 5 and 6)
Bringing your graduation project to life
The final two trimesters are dedicated to developing, implementing and completing your graduation project. You will work independently on your research and educational project, supported by regular tutorials with your supervisors and ongoing exchange with your peers. Peer-feedback groups offer a space to share your work in progress, ask questions, test ideas and learn from different perspectives.
Alongside this individual work, a series of workshops will help you strengthen specific aspects of your research process. You will explore different ways of documenting and evaluating educational research and develop a research narrative that makes the journey, choices and insights of your project visible and meaningful. In Trimester 5, you will reach an important milestone: the Mid-Term Evaluation. This collective moment brings you together with peers and supervisors to share your progress, reflect on your research and look ahead. It is an opportunity to step back from your project, see what has emerged so far and identify where you want to take it next.
Trimester 6 is about bringing everything together. You will finalise your research and educational project and prepare for your Exam and Public Presentation. This is your opportunity to share what you have discovered, what you have created and what your research contributes to the field of arts education.