Call for papers: Toward Fulfilling the Gap between Arts Policy and Practice
Vol. 15, Issue 2 (Year 2025)
Issue Editors: Barbara Sicherl Kafol, Vesna GerÅ¡ak and Robert PotoÄnik
Awareness of the importance of arts education is highlighted by international strategies for cultural and educational policy development (Gifts of the Muse, 2004; Road Map for Arts Education, 2006; Seoul Agenda, Goals for the Development of Arts Education, 2010; Winner et al., 2013), of which the Seoul Agenda (2010, p. 10) notes the need to ‘realise the full potential of high quality arts education to positively renew educational systems, to achieve crucial social and cultural objectives, and ultimately to benefit children, youth and lifelong learners’. Quality arts education, including visual arts, music, drama, dance, reading, cultural heritage, film, intermedia arts and other artistic areas (Bucik et al., 2011), benefits children’s holistic development, encompassing emotional, social, psychomotor and cognitive domains (Ijdens et al., 2018). In addition, arts education has important implications for the teaching and learning environment, as well as the community (Bamford, 2009).
At the same time, we note that there is a gap in the implementation of arts policy in practice (Bamford, 2009; Bamford, 2017; Ijdens & Wagner, 2018) and that clearer and more refined models for the qualitative implementation of arts education are needed (Bamford, 2017).
Several countries also highlight the problem of the lack of training for teachers to teach arts subjects (Arts and Cultural Education at School in Europe, 2009; Ijdens & Wagner, 2018) and the need for the more balanced inclusion of different arts areas, as disciplines such as drama, dance, film, digital media, among others are often not part of the curriculum or a feasible activity.
In this context, we can approach arts education from many perspectives.
The focus of this issue is on the following important points: (1) arts education in the community context, (2) arts education in the teaching and learning context, and (3) the impact of arts education on children’s development.
Key subtopics are:
(1) Arts Education in the Community Context
Arts education in the context of different cultural and educational policies
Partnerships between schools, cultural institutions, artists and community organisations
Collaboration between teachers and artists
Cultural programmes in education and educational programmes in culture
Future challenges for arts education in the community context
(2) Arts Education in the Teaching and Learning Context
Research methods for arts education
Strategies for authentic and arts-rich education
Competencies of arts teachers
Training and professional development programmes for arts education
Arts education in interdisciplinary curricula
Future challenges for arts education in teaching and learning contexts
(3) The Impact of Arts Education on Children’s Development
Raising awareness of the impact of arts education on children’s development
Benefits of arts education in different areas of child development
Arts education for people with special needs
Arts education for gifted students
Future challenges for arts education in the context of child development
We welcome theoretical and empirical contributions that address but are by no means limited to the proposed themes.
Article submission timeline:
30 December 2023: submission of paper title and abstract with up to five keywords [250 words max.]
30 September 2024: paper submission [between 5,000 and 7,000 words]
June 2025: publication of the focus issue of the CEPS journal
Please send the abstract to editors@cepsj.si clearly stating the title of the focus issue.
Manuscripts should be from 5,000 to 7,000 words long, including the abstract and reference list. They should be written in UK English. Submissions should be original and unpublished work not currently under review by another journal or publisher.
When preparing the manuscript, please follow our author’s guidelines, which are available here: https://cepsj.si/index.php/cepsj/about/submissions.
References
Arts and cultural education at school in Europe. (2009). EACEA/Eurydice P9.
Bamford, A. (2009). The wow factor: Global research compendium on the impact of the arts in education (2nd ed.). Waxmann Verlag.
Bamford, A. (2017). Making it happen: Closing the gap between policy and practice in arts education. In M. Fleming, L. M. Bresler, & J. O’Toole (Eds.), The Routledge international handbook of the arts and education (pp. 388–398). Routledge, Taylor & Frances Group.
Bucik, N., Požar, N., & Pirc, V. (2011). Kulturno-umetnostna vzgoja, priroÄnik s primeri dobre prakse iz vrtcev, osnovnih in srednjih Å¡ol [Cultural and arts education: Handbook with examples of good practice from kindergartens, primary and secondary schools]. Ministrstvo za Å¡olstvo in Å¡port. https://www.zrss.si/kulturnoumetnostnavzgoja/publikacija.pdf
Gifts of the Muse. Reframing the Debate About the Benefits of the Arts. (2004). https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2005/RAND_MG218.pdf
Ijdens, I., Bolden, B., & Wagner, E. (2018). International yearbook for research in arts education (Vol. 5). Arts education around the world: Comparative research seven years after the Seoul Agenda. Waxmann.
Ijdens, I., & Wagner, E. (2018). Quality of Arts Education. In I. Ijdens, B. Bolden, & E. Wagner (Eds.), International yearbook for research in arts education. Volume 5 (2017), Arts education around the world: Comparative research seven years after the Seoul Agenda (pp. 151–173). Waxmann.
Road Map for Arts Education. (2006).
http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CLT/CLT/pdf/Arts_Edu_RoadMap_en.pdf
Seoul Agenda, Goals for the Development of Arts Education. (2010). UNESCO. http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CLT/CLT/pdf/Seoul_Agenda_EN.pdf
Winner, E., Goldstein, T. R., &Vincent-Lancrin, S. (2013). Art for art’s sake? The impact of arts education. Overview. Educational Research and Innovation. OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264180789-en
