Content and Structure

Content

The Major in Teaching Art enables students to develop, experiment with, and expand their artistic/pedagogical expertise. Through student-centered settings, the Major promotes the development of a situated, research-driven professional attitude, fostering students’ ability to effectively navigate current professional, medial, social, and political challenges of the field, while being conscious of and knowledgeable about its historical context. 

The Major in Teaching Art at ZHdK is unique in Switzerland, as it combines artistic, technical, and pedagogical foundations of the secondary schoolteacher’s training within one study program. In individual and collaborative teaching projects, students concretize and systematically reflect on these connections. Accordingly the Major recognizes heterogeneity and interdisciplinarity as a stimulus for the development of each student’s independent, critical stance. 

The Major program is part of a national and international community network of researchers and teachers in art education. It participates in and conducts events in collaboration with Higher Art Schools and Universities in Basel, Bern, Luzern, and Cologne. 

In addition to the ZHdK diploma, successful completion of the Master's degree programme leads to the nationally recognised ‘Lehrdiplom für Maturitätsschulen, Fach Bildende Kunst’. 

Structure

The specialized content of the Major in Teaching Art and its pedagogical framework are grounded on the integration of four types of modules: Projects, Studio, Discourses, and Professionalization. These should be understood as mutually dependent and are meant as interacting perspectives within the program: 

The modules in Projects encompass formats of individual and collaborative activities, in which students autonomously conceive, develop, critically reflect on, and contextualize their own artistic projects through research-driven approaches. 

The modules in Studio encompass formats of individual and guided exploration in artistic processes and techniques; these are accompanied by modules that drive students to think and act with/on their own artistic methods and to apply them to relevant art educational and social practices. 

The modules in Discourses combine contextualization and development of theory. 

The modules in Professionalization encompass formats which deal more specifically with themes and practices that relate to the students’ professional expertise. These formats include close analyses and critical reflections about the individuals’ future teaching profession. 

Competencies 

The study program… 

  • enables the students to explore practices and processes in art and design, and to proficiently apply and communicate them through different media. 

  • guides students to consciously experience, critically reflect upon, and contextualize processes of reception and production in relation to cultural and social contexts. 

  • facilitates an in-depth engagement with theoretical content in art, design, and media, and fosters critical reflection on contemporary discourses, historical phenomena, and cultural traditions. 

  • provides knowledge of current educational and didactic approaches and offers insights into initiating, supervising, and evaluating creative processes in the context of secondary school education. 

  • equips students with the skills to professionally organize, execute, and evaluate artistic/pedagogical projects. 

Additional Information

Upon successful completion of the program, students receive a double degree: Master of Arts ZHdK in Art Education; and the nationally recognized teaching diploma for secondary schools with a specialization in visual arts (Lehrdiplom für Maturitätsschulen Fachrichtung Bildnerisches Gestalten).