Marta Ornelas

3.23 Contemporary Art at School, for Active Citizenship (Paper) – virtual

Marta Ornelas – Arte Central, Portugal

Abstract:

Contemporary art, due to its reflective and questioning nature, plays an essential role in teacher training, often leading teachers to promote pedagogical practices that integrate critical thinking, creativity and empathy, with a view to transforming art education. It would therefore be desirable for teachers to engage with contemporary art, understand its potential, and integrate it into their practices. Portugal has a set of legal documents guiding the teaching-learning process that reinforce the importance of an education that cultivates active and full citizenship, going beyond the transmission of knowledge, involving the subject in transformative processes, creating scenarios of educational possibilities that support artistic approaches.

Arte Central is a business project that has been training teachers in the visual arts, in partnership with cultural institutions, showing that the first step in integrating contemporary art into schools is to bring teachers closer to this artistic universe, which is often unknown to them. This approach allows them to experience art as a space for dialogue and openness, where questioning social, political and cultural paradigms drives a new understanding of the world and of themselves. When teachers gain the confidence to work with contemporary art, they begin to develop pedagogical practices that promote autonomy, empathy and critical thinking. These practices become more motivating because they connect with students’ contexts and life experiences, making the educational process more meaningful. The pedagogical strategies used in Arte Central’s training programmes have shown that an open and collaborative approach creates learning spaces where ethical, social and political dimensions are explored. In this way, contemporary art becomes a tool for educational transformation, promoting citizens capable of acting critically and actively participating in building a fairer, more sustainable and inclusive society.