The Cultural Rucksack - Quality education or culture arrogance?

Abstract

In the programme Visual Arts in Den kulturelle skulesekken (DKS) (The Cultural Rucksack), the aim at the launch was an equitable collaboration between the education and cultural sectors. Ten years down the road, there remains a disagreement regarding the aims and content in relation to collaborative school projects. Two different professions with differing ideologies and subject views are expected to share the same work. The framework and work division becomes unclear and this in turn gives rise to professional dilemmas, both regarding the value and knowledge base for the programme but also regarding who carries the responsibility for the subject Art and Crafts in the regular school hours. To reconcile the charismatic values of the art world with the democratic principles of education can seem a daunting task. The mythical art and the concrete learning outcomes in schools can seem irreconcilable in an inter-professional quality discussion that activates ideologies. The media and document analysis presented here seem to suggest that the media represents DKS practice in a way that buries relevant questions surrounding the programme, rather than that creates a climate for discussions throughout the collaboration.