Cultural Education

The framework concept for cultural education defines the central areas of activity for cultural education in the State of Berlin. Based on progress reports, the Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family and the Senate Department for Culture and Europe regularly inform the Berlin House of Representatives about the results of the implementation of the framework concept.

The brochure „Cultural education in Berlin“ provides an initial overview of projects and institutions in the state of Berlin and is updated and expanded annually, as cultural education in Berlin thrives on the diverse art, culture and creativity of Berliners and their guests. An inclusive and diversity-sensitive mission statement and the focus on cooperative collaboration between youth, cultural and educational institutions characterise cultural education and participation development in Berlin. Cultural education is firmly anchored in Berlin in the areas of youth, daycare centres, schools and culture and is constantly developing and changing. For example, work is already underway to expand the brochure to include programmes offered by institutionally funded cultural institutions in the district.

In addition to explanatory notes about the areas of activity and special focal points, the reports provide information about the ongoing development of the framework concept for cultural education from 2008 (Berlin Senate on behalf of the Berlin House of Representatives).

The Berlin cultural education think tank has developed a position paper in which it recommends deepening and embedding cultural education in all educational areas and in children’s and youth work.

Cultural education should be strengthened in early childhood as well as in training and research at universities and become an integral part of an interdisciplinary curriculum. Children and young people should be supported in their responsibility and personal activity and should be more involved in the design of cultural projects.

The think tank was appointed by the Senate Department for Education, Youth and Science and the Senate Chancellery for Cultural Affairs to further develop the framework concept for cultural education in Berlin. The cross-departmental working group responsible for the framework concept will now deal intensively with the position paper and include other experts. As a result of the think tank’s work, a revised framework concept will emerge, which will then be presented to the House of Representatives.

Berlin’s Senator for Education Sandra Scheeres and the chairman of the “Landesvereinigung Kulturelle Jugendbildung Berlin e.V.” (State Association for Cultural Youth Education Berlin (LKJ)) created the formal basis for a stronger cooperation between Berlin schools and youth cultural institutions on 16 August 2012 with the signing of a corresponding framework agreement.

Since June 2018 the State Association for Cultural Youth Education Berlin has once again been coordinating the “JuKuBi” project and is further developing this model of interdisciplinary and inter-agency exchange in the area of cultural education.

• Networking and exchange of ideas between members,
• Structural support,
• Professional qualification and
• Financial support for cultural children’s and youth work in district educational networks.

This project is funded by the Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family. The JuKuBi project was funded by the Cultural Education Project Fund from 2011 to 2013.

A total of 30 primary and secondary schools are taking part in the model programme “Cultural Agents for Creative Schools” in Berlin. The aim of the programme is to inspire children and young people for art and culture and to enable them to participate in the arts.

For this purpose, three schools form a network that is accompanied by a cultural agent. The cultural agents will assist the schools in incorporating cultural education permanently in everyday school life and establishing cooperation with cultural institutions. Opportunities, formats and locations for engaging with the arts will be created in collaboration with teachers who are responsible for cultural education as well as artists and cultural institutions.

The Berlin cultural agent programme is coordinated by the Berlin regional office of the German Children’s and Youth Foundation. The Berlin regional office will be taking on the professional support of the cultural agents, among other tasks.

More information at: www.kulturagentenprogramm.de

The online platform Kubinaut – Cultural Education Navigation is the central point of contact for cultural education in Berlin. Whether a cultural institution, youth work facility, school, day care centre, artist or young person: here they have an opportunity to present their own work, to look for partners or participants for a project or to offer rooms and other services.

Anyone interested in creative work by and with young people can register on Kubinaut and publish their own dates, projects, advertisements or profiles there free of charge. The numerous offerings can be filtered by district, time period, format and category such as theatre, museum or circus.
In addition, interviews and specialist articles are published and news about cultural education and information on funding opportunities and competitions are shared.

Kubinaut also organises events for the training and networking of stakeholders from cultural education and youth work.

Kubinaut is a project of the Foundation for Cultural Continuing Education and Cultural Counselling and the State Association for Cultural Youth Education Berlin. The project is funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe and the Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family.

Further information at: www.kubinaut.de

The Berlin Project Fund for Cultural Education provides a total of at least 2,930,000 euros annually for cultural projects with children, adolescents and young adults up to the age of 27. Individuals, groups, associations or institutions can apply for funding for cultural education projects in which young people deal artistically with issues that concern them. The participants help determine the project and its development and are artistically active themselves.

Cooperative projects are funded by at least one partner from the field of art and culture and at least one partner from the field of education or youth – for example, an artist works with a school or a youth club.

The Berlin Project Fund for Cultural Education is part of the Foundation for Cultural Continuing Education and Cultural Counselling and is funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe.

Further information at: www.projektfonds-kulturelle-bildung.de

Kulturprojekte Berlin (“Berlin Cultural Projects”) is a state-owned company for promoting, networking and conveying culture. As a partner for Berlin culture and the State of Berlin, the company designs and organises complex cultural projects and city-wide initiatives, e.g., the Long Night of Museums, Berlin Art Week, the Berlin exhibition in the Humboldt Forum and theme years on contemporary history, memorial days and anniversaries. It is also the sponsor of venues and festivals and provides services for museums and other cultural institutions in the city.
Kulturprojekte Berlin deals intensively with questions of conveying art and culture and connects Berlin-wide stakeholders, initiatives and projects in this field. Together with partners like GRIPS, TANZZEIT, ERZÄHLZEIT, TUSCH and TUKI, Kulturprojekte Berlin has established the baroque palace Podewil, the headquarters of the company, as a central location for cultural education in Berlin. As part of the series of events Wild Palace, the foyer in Podewil regularly becomes a stage for dance battles, performances, storytelling or debates on current topics. It regularly hosts state-wide, nationwide and international cultural education festivals, e.g., the festival for very young viewers FRATZ and the FESTIVAL OF THEATRE FOR A YOUNG AUDIENCE AUGENBLICK MAL!

Kulturprojekte Berlin also supports theoretical discourse and regularly opens its doors to discussions, workshops and conferences on all aspects of cultural education, thus bringing science and practice together.

Further information at: www.kulturprojekte.berlin.

TUSCH Berlin is a cooperative network for cultural education that mediates three-year partnerships between Berlin schools and theatres and supports them organisationally, financially and in terms of content.

TUSCH encourages an exchange of information and experience in order to promote continuous cooperation between schools and theatres. The three-year TUSCH partnership thrives on the diverse and intensive points of contact between a school and a theatre: various theatre projects and activities convey theatre to the students as an art form, space of experience, institution and workplace.

In addition to the regular TUSCH partnerships, there are two other partnership models:

TUSCH+

TUSCH+ is aimed at schools that have already had a TUSCH partnership and are interested in sustainably sharpening their theater profile and cultural school development.

TUSCH³

TUSCH³ promotes inclusive partnerships in which a school with special educational needs, a regular school and a theater cooperate with each other. With TUSCH³, we want to bring students with and without disabilities, who do not meet in their everyday lives, into contact and thus create a space for experience.

Application

Any school in Berlin can apply if a dedicated team of teachers would like to participate in a partnership with a theater. Applications for cooperation are possible every year until the end of November for the following school year.
Further information on the application process can be found at www.tusch-berlin.de

Inclusive theater work

Under the umbrella of TUSCH Berlin, the Network Inclusive Theater Work was founded with the aim of mutual exchange, networking and anchoring inclusive thinking and inclusive theater work more firmly in schools.
Network ‘Inclusive Theater Work’

The “KreAktiv” training series offers actors and experts from all over Germany their knowledge and experience on creative teaching practice, school development strategies, or cross-cutting issues such as education for sustainable development and digitality on a cross-national basis. Everyone who wants to experience and use the diverse knowledge in the field of cultural education of all countries is invited. The training series takes place exclusively digitally. The registration for the events will be accompanied by the organizing country and certified by it as a teacher training event. We wish you exciting insights and many new and inspiring ideas for your work.

Offers from Berlin

• February 14, 2024 3:00pm-4:30pm: Presentation of the pilot “Tandem Dance and School – Dance in University Teacher Education”.
  How can cultural education find its way into the university education of teachers? In the workshop, we will present the concept of the Berlin pilot project of an implementation model of dance courses in teacher training, which is being developed in cooperation with the Freie Universität Berlin and TanzZeit e.V.. Berlin is the first federal state to anchor dance as a topic of cultural education in teacher training, in order to contribute to the qualitative improvement of teacher training and to a consolidation of the cross-sectional topic of cultural education in teacher training through dance. Afterwards, we want to get into an exchange with each other.
  Website: TanZZeit Berlin
  Mail-Adress: info@tanzzeit-berlin.de