“Who Are ‘They’?”: Further Education Regarding Diversity

Abstract

The increasing diversity in Germany, due to migrant movements and demographic change, challenges both arts educators and cultural institutions alike. Some are reaching out to new target groups – both as audience and participants. Others already deal with diverse target groups on a daily basis. In both contexts the need for appropriate approaches and development of suitable arts education is clear – and the challenge considerable (Keuchel and Kelb, Diversität in der kulturellen Bildung. Perspektivwechsel kulturelle Bildung. transcript, Bielefeld, 2015). So far, there is little research available on how sensitivity to diversity is put into action. This article is offered as a first step towards understanding how further education can be offered in more diversity-friendly ways. Throughout this paper the “hows” will be referred to as “working principles” and “general conditions”. They are the result of evaluation findings from the further education program VIEL – Diversity in arts education. The programme was implemented and organised by the Zukunftsakademie NRW (In English: Academy of the future, North-Rhine Westphalia. For more information see: www.zaknrw.de) (Bochum) in 2016. They describe themselves as a “platform for diversity and arts education” influencing the debate and providing knowledge and exchange. We were invited to evaluate the programme, focusing on how diversity was addressed and whether general principles were evident. The data was gathered by participant observation (Goffman, Kommunikative Lebenswelten. Zur Ethnografie einer geschwätzigen Gesellschaft. UVK, Konstanz, 1996) and then analysed following grounded theory standards (Strauss A, Corbin J, Grounded theory. Grundlagen qualitativer Sozialforschung. Beltz, Weinheim, 2010). Four working principles were identified: biographicity, reflexivity, discoursivity and embodiment. Furthermore, some insights regarding general project conditions were evident. We start with a summary of the general German debate on diversity in arts education and continue with an outline of the specific further education programme. Based on this, we elaborate the key findings. Finally, consequences for the area of practice are discussed.

This article has been published before in German: Eger and Schulte (2017).