Discourse of Design and Art Education
Year: 2012
Editor: Lyndon Buck, Geert Frateur, William Ion, Chris McMahon, Chris Baelus, Guido De Grande, Stijn Verwulgen
Author: Freimane, Aija
Series: E&PDE
Institution: Art Academy of Latvia, Latvia
Section: New Design Education Paradigms
Page(s): 381-386
ISBN: 978-1-904670-36-0
Abstract
Although design has its roots in arts education, in the context of economic crisis and the need to develop Creative Industries in Latvia, it was decided to re-profile 100 professional art teachers to design teachers in 2008. During 2009-2010 the new and innovative professional development continuing education training program for design teachers was developed where pedagogy was taught with diverse content and methods of design. The program was implemented in 2010/2011 as the first professional development design teachers’ program in the Baltic’s and Europe. This study discusses the development and implementation process of the first professional continuing education teachers’ training program in design pedagogy, analyzes it in the context of education programs of children's art schools, and examines the benefits and shortcomings of the program from the point of view of 100 design ambassadors – newly-born design teachers. The study reflects broader outputs of the design teachers’ educational program in the context of local communities and municipalities. Research results show correlation between art and design education at an early stage of children's arts and design learning.
Keywords: Arts and design education, continuing professional education