Cultural Education Plan - A Way Of Implementing Children's Rights to Culture and Arts in Finland

By: Aleksi Valta*

Is culture and arts accessible for all children? Are museums, theatres, and concert halls available also for children?

These questions are tackled In Finland with a cultural education plan, which is a comprehensive cultural programme designed for pupils. The cultural education plan ensures that all the children and young people get in contact with the culture institutions (theatres, music halls, museums etc.), art forms, and local cultural heritage, and are given the possibility to create their own culture and art. All schools in a city or municipality are included in the plan.

Structure to ensure equal rights for arts for every child

The plan typically concerns pupils in the grades 1–9 through early childhood education and high schools and vocational education. The cultural education plan is an agreement at a municipal level between the educational and cultural sectors. It is a plan detailing the systematic implementation of culture, art and cultural heritage education as part of the municipality’s teaching and represents the agreement of cultural education of pupils throughout their school years. The plan is usually implemented by either a city, a municipality, or a collective of municipalities working together.

Collaboration between arts institutions, educational services, and municipalities is essential

No plan is effective unless all parties are involved in the planning from the beginning of the process. The cultural education plan is an agreement at a municipal level between educational and cultural sectors and is always made in cooperation with education and culture sector professionals.

Children’s cultural centres have strongly influenced the development of cultural education plans in Finland. The centres have organised seminars and informed teachers, principals, and cultural actors about enhancing cultural education plans.

The goals of cultural competence are incorporated and integrated into formal education, building cultural education at school utilising local strengths and collaborative participation. National coordination and collaboration have also been important in the development of the initiative. Long-term cooperation between the Association of Finnish Children’s Cultural Centers, Ministry of Education and Culture, University of the Arts and the Artsequal research initiative worked to establish arts education firmly in the structures of the Finnish school system. One of the results of this development and collaboration is a website http://culturaleducationplan.fi which can be used to help create a cultural education plan in one’s own municipality.

Strong link to the school system and curriculum

The political effects of cultural education plans are significant because they are designed to inclusively strengthen the cultural competence of a whole generation. The Finnish school system is based on equal accessibility with the high standard of education being available to all for free. The cultural education plan working as part of the system spreads the benefits of art and culture to all children and young people.

Cultural rights of children and adolescents in accordance with Article 31 of the UN’s Declaration of the Rights of the Child, state that: “parties shall respect and promote the right of the child to participate fully in cultural and artistic life and shall encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activity.”

The cultural education plan has proven to be an effective tool to guarantee the equal accessibility and opportunity for children and young people in arts and culture. It can be a solution for ensuring children’s cultural rights. So far, approximately one-third of Finnish municipalities have launched a systematic cultural education plan. Further work needs to be done.

Art Testers Campaign Takes 8th Graders to High Arts

The Art Testers Campaign is the crown jewel of the cultural education plans in Finland.

During 2017–2020, every eighth-grader will be offered two pre-arranged visits to performances or exhibitions. One visit will take place in their own region and the other in the Helsinki area. The aim of the Art Testers Campaign is to provide young people with an opportunity to experience art, including the kind of art many would not normally have access to. Everyone is guaranteed a place, regardless of distance or personal disability. The geographical area encompasses all Finland from the outskirts of Lapland to the most remote islands in the south. The campaign is bilingual and offered in both official languages: Finnish and Swedish.

In addition to engaging hands-on activities in a variety of artistic disciplines, the art institutions are required to offer the pupils preparative activities as well. This can take various forms; a workshop, a back-stage visit, an interview, etc. It is also important to provide the means to address questions which might arise during the performance. After all, in addition to unforgettable experiences that may trigger a life-long interest in culture, the campaign strives to give young people tools for processing and expressing their emotions. It has often been a common practice to expose young people to art they “ought to” appreciate.

In the Art Testers Campaign, however, it is equally important to let the opinion of the youth be heard. As the title suggests, the pupils are testing art, with the test results being made available to larger audiences. With this in mind, a web-based service has been developed. The feedback data is visualized and fed in real-time into the Art testers’ website (www.taidetestaajat.fi), where online users can follow the flow of commentary and statistics as it develops. Art Testers might be the largest organised “art critic” ever!

The Campaign is privately financed by the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland. All travel expenses and entrance fees are covered by the campaign. The overall costs are expected to reach over EUR 20 million. Art testers is coordinated by the Association of Finnish Children’s Cultural Centers. Nearly 200 000 people in total will test arts over the next three years.

Learn more about the campaign here.

*Aleksi Valta

Aleksi Valta is the Executive Director at The Association of Finnish Children’s Cultural Centers. Valta has a 20-year-old career in sports organisations. He is a member in several national committees and expert groups. Valta graduated from a Park College, MO, USA and holds MBA in management. Association of Finnish Children’s Cultural Centers is a network that comprises of 31 children’s cultural centres around Finland. Association specializes in building cultural networks and coordinating cultural projects nationally aimed at children and youth. Association’s values are quality, child-centered approach, equality and arts. Enhancing cultural education plans are one of the key tasks of the association and its members.