The Marginalization of Aesthetic Education in the School Curriculum

Abstract

Following the publication of the first Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results in 2000, public and scholarly debates in German-speaking countries focused extensively on the issue of developing competences in the subjects of German language, mathematics and, to a lesser extent, the natural sciences. Concurrently, many commentators discussed the importance of introducing educational standards for these learning domains, which many considered (especially those responsible for PISA) as necessary for a general education and useful both for life and the job market. Others viewed such a utilitarian approach to schooling as overly narrow.