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INT RO D U CT I ON
Look up and see the man who measures the clouds! There he stands on a small staircase, high up on the roof of de Singel in Antwerp. He is always there, rain or shine. In all his fragility he has set himself a seemingly impossible task: to measure the boundaries of the universe. The power of imagination, the magic of beauty, the quest for truth or the desires of humankind: Jan Fabre’s bronze statue stands for the endless layers of cultural meaning. Humans constantly give meaning to everything they feel, see, hear or experience. This process of symbolic signification is guided by our cultural awareness and our capacity to express ourselves. With this report, and within the framework of the Open Method of Coordination (OMC), our European working group presents our observations and conclusions on implementation of the key competence of cultural awareness and expression in EU Member States.
Cultural awareness and expression ‘Cultural awareness and expression’ is one of the eight key competences that form the reference tool which EU Member States to be integrate into strategies and infrastructure in the context of lifelong learning. The other key competences are: 1) Communication in the mother tongue, 2) Communication in foreign languages, 3) Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology, 4) Digital competence, 5) Learning to learn, 6) Social and civic competences and 7) Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship. Training in the key competences – in the shape of knowledge, skills and attitudes – is seen as fundamental for each individual in 21st century society. The interdependency and transversal nature of all eight key competences should be underlined. Cultural awareness has a strong impact on our ability to learn social, civic and intercultural competences, as well as on our sense of initiative and entrepreneurship. The development of these competences is indeed strongly interrelated and interdependent.
1 Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on key competences for lifelong learning (2006/962/EC): http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=URISERV:c11090 2 van Heusden, Barend, Arts education ‘after the end of art’: Towards a new framework for arts education in van Heusden, Barend and Gielen, Pascal (eds), Arts Education Beyond Art: Teaching Art in Times of Change, 2014.
Key competence 8 (KC#8), cultural awareness and expression, as defined by the EU , touches on many elements: e.g. creative expression of ideas, experiences and emotions in a range of media, including music, performing arts, literature, visual arts and the interdisciplinary and hybrid forms that have emerged thanks to new media. It stresses the importance of cultural knowledge, the skills needed to appreciate and enjoy works of art and self-expression through a variety of media using one’s innate capacities. More than that, the definition of the competence is based on the assumption that a solid understanding of one’s own culture and a sense of identity can be the basis for an open-minded attitude towards others and respect for diversity of cultural expression. As Barend van Heusden, Professor of Culture and Cognition at the University of Groningen, argues, culture defines the way in which we look at ourselves and at others. Broad and coherent development and training of our competence in (self-)perception, (self-)imagination, (self)-conceptualisation and (self-)analysis is of great importance: ‘Culture in the sense of cognition is the basis for conscious human action.’ 2.
Cultural Awareness and Expression Handbook
OMC
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