Legitimation of arts education. Neurophysiologic, economic, societal and ethical argumentation Paula Tuomikoski, PhD Workshop on “Economy and arts education”of the Second World Conference on Arts Education (25-28 May 2010, Seoul, Korea). Ministry of Education and Culture, Finland [email protected]I'd like to begin by presenting my conclusions, which I try to argue in my presentation. These are: 1. Arts education diversifies and enhances the functional capacity of the brain. Aesthetic sensibility (aesthetics, Greek = sensory) is a characteristic of the human species. The degree of neurophysiologic development, or the quality of brain, is expressed, among other things, by means of arts (Neurophysiologic argument) 2. The creative economy is one of the fastest growing branches of economy. Its commodities and services are produced by artists and persons with art education and the number of consumers all over the world is increasing. (Economic argumentation) 3. Art educators are a significant group producing art and well-being services to people of different ages. A well-organised system of art education services which responds to demand is a mark of welfare society and at the same time an important employment factor. (Societal argumentation) 4. The creative economy is one of the foremost engines of the economy of advanced countries, but it also offers a potential growth area for developing countries. Arts-based economic growth does not add material growth, it primarily increases the production and consumption of immaterial goods and services. Measures that help to put creative
Transcript
Legitimation of arts education.Neurophysiologic, economic, societal and ethical argumentation
Paula Tuomikoski, PhDWorkshop on “Economy and arts education”of the Second World Conference on Arts Education
economy products of developing countries on the market enhance economic development
in these countries and cultural diversity in the world. (Ethical argumentation). (ppt2)
Art as an attribute of the brain and arts education as developer of brain function.Neurophysiologic argumentation
Finland is known for its achievements in education. The international PISA review
conducted by the OECD compares learning outcomes. Finland has consistently (2000,
2003, 2006) figured at the top in results and therefore has attracted a great deal of
international interest. PISA describes reading, mathematical and science literacy. It tells
nothing about results obtained in arts education. I still make so bold as to assume that the
success of young Finns is partly due to our art education. (ppt 3)
The Finnish primary school was established in 1866. The curriculum was devised by Uno
Cygnaeus, who was familiar with Pestalozzi's perception pedagogy and applied it. (ppt 4)
The Finnish curriculum contained a great deal of singing, which trains hearing; drawing,
which trains visual perception; crafts, which train tactile sense and muscular function;
gymnastics, which trains kinaesthetic and spatial senses. The art and skill subjects were
taught not for art's sake but for their instrumental value. By the early 20th century, the first
international scientific observations showed that the art subjects developed brain function
in children. The turn of the century was a boom period in art education theory and
practices.
This year we have measured for the first time how much art education Finns get, and what
we found surprised even us.1 One in five Finns, that is one fifth of the population,
participates in regular art education. (At the beginning of 2010 the Finnish population was
5,351,427). Art education is given at all levels of general and vocational education. In
addition, children, teenagers and adults learn different forms of art on a hobby base.
1 Arts education and cultural education in Finland (policy analysis). Forthcoming in English, available in May at theMinistry of Education site http://www.minedu.fi/OPM/Julkaisut/julkaisulistaus?lang=en
However, Finns are not satisfied with the situation. In this year's Youth Barometer and in a
survey conducted among school principals and pupils, half of the respondents wanted
more art education in schools. 2
In comparing the number of lesson hours in Finnish schools with those in some European
countries, we found that it was larger. (ppt 5) At present the allocation of lesson hours is
being reformed in Finland, and it looks like the option of art education will be enlarged.
In the following3 I shall look at how arts education develops the functional capacity of the
human brain. The human sensory, brain and nervous systems form an entity that could be
described as a kind of information transfer system. The brain receives information from the
outside world though senses. The cortex, the outer part of the brain, has specific areas for
processing different sensory qualities. (ppt 6) The human capacity for processing visual,
auditory and tactile impulses is in balance so that the capacity for processing each of
these senses is equally strong. The fingertip transmits as much information as the retina.
The versatile skills of the human being are based on this balance, among other things. By
training the perception of colours, forms, sounds, tactile and other sensory qualities in arts
education, we diversify our brain function.
The brain is not a mechanical on-off system. For example, auditory impulses also
stimulates several other cortical areas in the brain besides the specialised hearing area. In
addition to running in the specific sensory pathway, the information also passes into the
deeper part of brain, activating the limbic system. The activation of the deep parts of the
brain raises the tonus of the cerebral cortex for instance in this way: a fragment of a
familiar melody catches our attention. It activates the deep parts at first and the cortical
layers recognise afterwards what we are actually hearing. The sensory perceptions are
stored in our memory system both as the non-specific sensation produced in the deep
parts of the brain and as a time-space specific cortical sensation. The sensory activities
2 Myllyniemi, Sami, Taidekohtia, Nuorisobarometri 2009 (Youth Barometer 2009); Opetuksen järjestäjien jarehtoreiden näkemyksiä ja kokemuksia perusopetuksen vuoden 2004 opetussuunnitelmauudistuksesta. Opetushallitus2009
3 This part of my presentation is mostly based on the research of the Finnish brain physiologist Matti Bergström, whichI have applied in my book Taide ja ihminen, Helsinki 1987; vrt. Bergström, Matti. Mind-Brain interaction:Consciousness as a neural macrostate. Finnish Artificial intelligence Symposium, Espoo 1986
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stored in our brain determine what we perceive in our external world. Aesthetic versatility
and aptitude exist as a potential in every human being. These can be built up and
improved by means of arts education.
The sensory consciousness produced by the brain is thus simultaneously non-specific
and specific. The degree varies according to mental activity and situation. In sleep, the
non-specific activity is dominant; when a person is listening or reading with concentration,
the specific consciousness prevails.
Measurements at the synaptic level of nerve have shown that different sensory
stimulations and motor impulses differ in terms of time-space coordinates. These
electrochemical micro-level phenomena can be described as follows:
1. An impulse strong in the space coordinate but weak in the time dimension;
2. An impulse strong both in the space coordinate and in the time dimension; and
3. An impulse strong in the time dimension but vague in the space coordinate. (ppt 7)
These micro-level phenomena have their parallels at the macro-level, that is, at the level of
psyche and behaviour.
1. The cognitive function of the psyche manifests itself as knowing. It is characteristic of
knowledge that it is independent of time, invariable at different points in time,"true", so to
say.
2. Emotion, on the other hand, has the characteristic that it is felt solidly in time, at a given
moment, and that it simultaneously involves a strong sensory space experience, so called
affection
3. A voluntary sensation/a neural tension in turn is stoutly temporal. It manifests itself on
the level of psyche as an intention to do something and thereby triggers functional
activation.
Noteworthy in terms of arts education is phenomenon number two at the cross-section of
the synapse. A strong sensation (a strong space dimension) which also has a strong
dimension in time as duration, is an affective experience and aesthetic experience. Music
is not heard but listened to; in other words, a sensory impression has dimension in time. A
work of art is not seen but beheld/regarded; in other words, the duration of the visual
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experience is increased. By leading a child or an adult to aesthetic or art experiences, we
generally extend and strengthen the capacity of the brain to transfer and process
information. Personal creation or expression in turn strengthens the other property of the
cerebral system, the ability to turn internal matter of the mind into external material, into
performances, works, action, words.
In the course of life, the human being inevitably becomes trained in observation, or learns
by means of the senses. The living environment, experiences and education influence the
way in which the immense perceptive and learning capacity of the brain is put to use. We
can become aesthetically poor or rich, naïve or versatile.
The creative economy spurs economic growth. Art production and consumption asthe underpinning of the creative economy. Economic argumentation
In 2006 the European Union reviewed the economy of culture based on data in its
statistical system Eurostat.4 This was a revelation. The economy of culture was larger than
expected. In 2003 the turnover in the sector was 654 billion euro, while the turnover in the
European automobile industry was 271 billion and in the ICT industry 541 billion.
The contribution of culture and the creative industries to the gross national products of
European countries was 2.6%. By way of comparison, there are very few manufacturing
and services industries with a GDP contribution of more than 3%. In France, Italy, the
Netherlands, Norway and the UK, the cultural and creative sector provides the highest
contribution to national GDP amongst all the sectors investigated. This means that in most
European countries, the creative and cultural sector is a leading contributor to the growth
of national wealth, the report notes. (ppt 8)
Being typically labour intensive, the culture and creative sector is also a major employer. In
2004 5.8 million people worked in the sector, equivalent to 3.1% of total employed
population in EU25. Whereas employment overall decreased in the EU over the period
4 The Economy of Culture in Europe. Study prepared for the European Commission (Directorate-General for Educationand Culture. October 2006. KEA European Affairs
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2002-2004, employment in the creative sector increased by 1.85%. Those working in the
sector have more education than the population at large; 46.8% of workers are at least
university graduates (against 25.7% in employment overall). In the culture sector, many
are self-employed, twice as many as in employment overall (28.8% against 14.1%). The
employment relations are less regular, 17% working on a temporary basis (13.3% in
employment overall). Part-time work is common (one worker out of four, against 17.6% in
total employment). (ppt 9)
The statistical report concludes that: "It shows how culture drives economic and social
development, as well as innovation and cohesion. The cultural and creative sector is a
growing sector, developing at a higher pace than the rest of the economy. The same
applies to employment. Indeed this sector provides many different and often highly skilled
possibilities, and again the sector’s growth in terms of jobs out-performs the rest of the
economy. It also drives many other sectors of the European economy, and in particular
innovation and ICT sectors."
A review conducted and published by UN-UNCTAD Creative Economy Report 2008 5
produced similar results as the EU report. Export trade in the creative industries made up
3.4% of the total external trade in the world in 2005, amounting to 424.4 billion US dollars.
From 2000 to 2005 external trade in creative industry products and services grew by an
average of 8.7 % annually.
The report examined the creative economy products and services (ppt 10) in all the forms
of art, audiovisual products, the publication industry and printed materials, the media,
services at cultural sites, etc., in other words, all products and services that require artistic
and cultural skills or are based on culture and cultural heritage.
As I mentioned, over the ten-year period 1996-2005 export trade in different creative
economy sectors in the world grew from 227 billion US dollars to 424.4 billion. (ppt 11) The
fastest growing sectors were design and creative services (such as architectural services,
5 Creative Economy Report 2008 The Challenges of Assessing the Creative Economy: towards Informed Policy-making. United Nations. UNCTAD 2008
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advertising, artistic performances). Music and the visual sector also grew at a rapid rate,
whereas the publishing branch and printed media had fallen off the growth track.
After the publication of the EU and UN-UNCTAD reports, authorities in different parts of
the world started to pay attention to the creative economy and develop measures to
promote it. In Europe, the United Kingdom was the first to take determined measures in
the 1990s, others followed suit. The United States has traditionally been the creative
economy superpower, and still is.
The creative economy markets appear to be nearly limitless. Demand for culture is
growing in the world. The market can absorb both best-sellers for the large public and
products designed for small specialised publics. It has room for the so-called mass culture,
for folklore of various kinds and for elite arts, art for special groups. The market for culture
is global and can reach small groups in different parts of the world by means of the
electronic media.
The creative economy may turn out to be a decisive factor for cultural diversity, as
indicated by the UN-UNCTAD report. The internal markets of developing countries have a
great deal of growth potential and the local cultures have interesting things to offer for the
global market. So far, the growth in the creative economy has benefitted the advanced
countries, as shown in the charts compiled by UNCTAD (ppt 12-17), but the report
envisages major growth opportunities for developing countries as well. The essential thing
is to build effective production and marketing chains in order to turn cultural contents into
products and make them available to the public.
Arts education as an employer and producer of well-being services
As I said at the beginning, one in five Finns regularly participate in arts education. (ppt 18)
Our report showed that music is the predominant form of art in it. Another large group is
arts and crafts. In the comprehensive school, pupils are given curricular music education.
In addition, they can join school music clubs and participate in extracurricular music
activities on a voluntary basis. Many of these children have the talent and a possibility to
learn to play or sing within the extracurricular system of basic education in the arts, which
in some cases may later lead to a profession. Adults can also study music in adult
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education centres as a hobby. In total, 1.2 million out of 5.4 million Finns benefit from arts
education.
When we analysed the regional distribution of participation in arts education, we
understood why the supply is not felt to be sufficient. As an example, extracurricular
education in music, dance, visual arts, performing arts and literary arts is given to some
134,000 children and young people. This is only 24.1% of the 7-to-15 age group.
Moreover, the supply varies greatly in regional terms from 13.3% to 33.0%. No wonder
people want more; children do not have equal access e.g. to the extracurricular arts
education. (ppt19)
And how about adults, then? We looked into the provision of arts education in adult
education centres and other liberal education organisations. The most popular subject is
arts and crafts. The provision of education in different cultural subjects amounted to
1,463,786 lesson hours. In relation to the adult population (aged 25 to 74) this makes on
average 44 hours per 100 adults. And again the provision was unequally distributed. The
largest provision was found in the sparsely populated Kainuu province, where culture is
otherwise in short supply. In the most densely populated Uusimaa, where our capital city
Helsinki is situated and which has the best supply of cultural services, there were 32
lesson hours of cultural education per 100 adults. (ppt 20)
We calculated how much the arts education provision intended for children and young
people should be increased in order to reach the same level of supply everywhere as in
Uusimaa, where it was 33%. It should be increased by 51 155 student places to reach the
average level of supply (24%) 18 784 places. Correspondingly the number of lesson hours
in adult education should be increased by 976,462 to reach the level of Kainuu province or
192 827 to reach the average supply of 44 lesson per 100 adults.
As I said earlier, these were the first calculations in the matter. Statistics Finland and other
authorities have started to compile statistics of artists' employment and the number of
students in art and cultural education, also broken down by levels of education. Our picture
of the artist and art educator potential is getting clearer. Why, then, do we need this exact
picture of cultural services and art education supply?
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An art educator is a service-sector professional. He or she wants to provide art education
services people – children, young people and adults – need. At the moment, art pedagogy
already employs thousands of persons trained in arts and art pedagogy. When we show in
figures how much more is needed in order to put all Finns on an equal footing in arts
education, we are also talking about job creation and employability in the cultural sector.
By showing how much unmet demand for arts education there is in each region, we
convince regional decision-makers of the need to explore ways and means for satisfying
this demand and organising arts education accordingly.
In a country like Finland, where most of the population is concentrated into the Helsinki
Metropolitan Area and some other major cities, and where the rest of the country is very
sparsely populated, organising arts education demands flexibility. With good planning,
there will be enough work for art educators within arts education in basic and upper
secondary education, extracurricular basic education in the arts, liberal adult education
and art-based well-being services if the art educator job descriptions include education in
several institutions and organisations and a flexible combination of publicly and privately
financed education. This would offer many more job opportunities for competent art
pedagogues.
Owing to the current financial crisis, the financial situation of local authorities, who are
responsible for primary and secondary education in Finland, is tight; the same applies to
government resources. What is needed again is lateral thinking and action. We must be
able to combine different ways of financing in order to provide art education that responds
to people's needs and wishes.
Finns are willing to spend their own money on art education and cultural consumption.
A year ago Statistics Finland (ppt 21) undertook a detailed analysis of the economy of
culture based on the national accounts. The 2006 statistics showed that the second largest
consumption expenditure in Finnish households after food was culture and mass media.
Finns are thus active consumers of cultural and mass media products and services and
households even willing to pay for them. The relative share of culture and leisure
expenditure in households grew from 9.9% to 11.2% over the period 2001-2006.
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Commodity and service consumption by households affects the development of the
national economy. In the statistical analysis I just mentioned (ppt 22), the value added
from culture was 3.2%, or 4.6 billion euros. The figure for 2007 was the same. When this
was compared with the value added of other sectors, it was found to be larger than that of
pulp and paper, which is considered the lifeblood of Finland's economy, or larger than
tourism, foodstuffs and beverages or hotel and catering.
It take such national and international facts produced by statistical agencies to
substantiate the status of arts, culture and art education as a major factor in the national
economy. The commodities and services produced within art and culture, such as arts
education, constitute a significant growth factor in production and economy. They should
not be seen only as an expenditure in the national economy; we need to look at their
economic value chain as a whole.
Art educators are already an important segment of the national labour reserve. When arts
education services are organised according to people's wishes, in a customer-centred
manner, it is possible to further increase their number and relative share in the labour
force. Art educators are producers of well-being services.
Conclusion
The main thrust of my presentation is as follows: all human beings have potential to
develop their aesthetic perception and artistic expression, which are characteristic of the
human species and inherent in their brain, sensory and nervous system. In order to make
full use of this capacity, we need arts education.
The relative growth of the creative and culture sector in the world economy will continue. It
offers growth opportunities for countries at different stages of development. Arts education
is part of the creative economy, part of its services sector. By increasing arts education
services, we boost economic growth.
To end with, based on the argumentation in my presentation, I'd like to put forward two
concrete proposals for this Second World Conference on Arts Education:
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1. The compilation of cultural statistics within the UN and other international and national
systems should be carried on in order to enable us to evaluate and compare the situation
in the arts, culture and arts education and their contribution to national economies. On the
basis of this realiable data, each state can then evaluate their own situation and develop
solutions for organising arts education services for their own citizens.6
2. The implementation of the UNESCO Diversity Convention should be carried on, with
arts education as a key tool in development cooperation. Arts education adds to the
cultural capital of developing countries and creates conditions conducive to the growth of
their creative industries. In this way, arts education not only contributes to economic
development but also sustains cultural diversity – makes us all intellectually and materially
richer!
6 [1] One example is Finnish Culture in European Comparison compiled by the Finnish Ministryof Education. Ministry of Education Policy Analyses 2010:10 . It is based on the EU reviewCultural Statistics 2007. Eurostat. European Communities.http://www.minedu.fi/OPM/Julkaisut/2009/Suomen_kulttuuri_eurooppalaisessa_vertailussa.html?lang=en
