Extra-mural art education

There are many persons and institutions active in extra-mural art education: youth centres, community centres and clubhouses, the open university, teachers who give private lessons, amateur art societies and artists’ organisations with educational activities. There are also organisations that offer holiday courses and extracurricular childcare.

Arts centres

There are some 150 recognised arts centres in the Netherlands subsidised by the local authority: music schools, creative centres and combined institutions that specialise in art education and target a broad public. These centres can be broken down into three types of organisation:

  • Art education institutions that work for primary and secondary schools.
  • Creative centres and music schools that offer art lessons outside regular school education (extra-mural education).
  • Institutions that combine both functions, such as the Koorenhuis in The Hague, SKVR in Rotterdam and UCK in Utrecht.

Such an institution offers high-quality, specialized courses in a variety of disciplines given by qualified art teachers. Moreover, the institution can offer a basic programme as an introduction to the various artistic disciplines that is accessible for a broad public. There are carefully planned syllabuses and a large range of short courses and workshops.

Working at an arts centre
In an arts centre you can work as a teacher (leisure and educational programmes) or as a consultant (education). The position of consultant is substantively more demanding than that of a teacher. The work has two important components; coordinating supply and demand and contributing to the development of education policy. Consultants are also expected to know the educational field and be able to network. The difference with a teacher is that a consultant develops, compiles, selects projects and educational programs and creates educational materials.

A teacher is expected to have a proper grasp of the subject and to be good at teaching. Permanent contracts are becoming less and less common. As a self-employed person, for example, you may be given an assignment to teach a course or to run a project. This construction may last for years and expand, for example in the form of a basic course and then a follow-up course, or a school project that can be repeated.

Most teachers and consultants have been trained as teachers or have studied an artistic subject and engaged in extra training or the development of their skills.

Institutions for amateur art

Organised amateur art is everywhere: brass bands, choirs, drama clubs, painting and writing clubs, dance groups, and so on. The contents of the work that you do as an art educator with and for groups like these depends on their needs. Many clubs have a small organisation. As a teacher or coach, you must therefore be good at organising, working with groups, finance (applying for grants), publicity, working to cater for a demand, finding work locations and venues for performances and exhibitions. A large part of your work consists of providing support and improving quality.

Educational departments museums and venues

An increasing number of museums, theatres and concert halls have an education department. This is stimulated, for instance, by forms of cooperation between schools and cultural institutions. The subject Cultural and Artistic Education (CKV) in secondary schools has also provided a major impulse in this respect. Educational guided tours, workshops and teaching programmes are developed. For example, before attending a performance children can follow a workshop and receive an introduction to what they are going to see. There are also projects in which various museums enter into forms of cooperation with one another.

As a trained teacher in an artistic subject you can give educational guided tours or provide workshops for school classes or individual visitors. You may often be hired as a contractor. You can also work in the education department of a cultural institution. In this case you will work on educational programs. You will have contact with the schools and culture coordinators in both primary and secondary education.

Culture coach
The culture coach (cultuurcoach) often works at a cultural institution and brings parties together. The culture coach brings together questions from schools and offers from the cultural field and encourages the participation of art and culture for students in education.

Extramural care (BSO)

There are many providers of extramural care (BSO). More and more often BSOs hire artists and art teachers for courses as well as structural care as an art teacher and pedagogical employee.

 

Own teaching practice

As a art educator you can also work independently. For example by setting up your own teaching practice or by developing projects for schools, extra-mural care or other organisations. Check out the Step-by-step plan for setting up your own teaching practice in the Tools-tab below.