ICH-Bildung · The Impact of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in formal, non-formal and informal education and its contribution to the Key Competences for Lifelong Learning in the EU Reference Framework

The Impact of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in formal, non-formal and informal education and its contribution to the Key Competences for Lifelong Learning in the EU Reference Framework

Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) is typically knowledge that derives from practical experience and includes knowledge which cannot be easily articulated, since it is often non-conscious (or tacit). This makes it difficult to identify how teachers of those artistic/cultural forms acquire that kind of expertise over time, how teaching quality in emotional education can be improved, and how technology can develop teaching expertise in such area. Tacit knowledge in teaching those artistic forms develops through practice and experience is important for society because it enhances our understanding of teaching strategies and how students learn. As the most important part of teachers’ knowledge is not “subject knowledge” but the unarticulated pedagogical knowledge (i.e. tacit knowledge). This in turn highlights how tacit knowledge of teaching is central for understanding the complexity of classroom interactions and keeps pace with the rapid technological change. Despite the widespread emphasis on teachers’ “subject knowledge”, Europe has reached an unprecedented political consensus in reconsidering the relationship between teachers’ unarticulated tacit knowledge and formal knowledge. (see the The European Framework for Key Competences for Lifelong Learning). This conception of education is not about teaching or learning a specific value system but providing the intellectual ‘tools’ needed for questioning perceptively and thinking independently. The overall aim of this project is to understand tacit knowledge in teaching art forms of ICH and to develop teaching mechanisms through the use of technology to improve art teachers’ practice and skills. In the project proposal (section 2.1), the notion of ‘ICH experience in education’ made reference to a ‘case-study’ to be identified by the supervisory committee. In this regard it was agreed to select an art form inscribed in the UNESCO list of ICH in Europe and Flamenco dance was selected. Accordingly, the objectives of the project were adjusted as follows: (i) to examine assessment tools for the process of tacit knowledge in teaching flamenco dance; (ii) to examine the role of digital preservation to support best practices in flamenco dance training; (iii) to examine the role of cutting-edge technologies for flamenco dance training. The results showed that the application of value-based indicators for teaching based on combining Grounded Theory (GT) and Action Research (AR) approaches is adequate for integrating variables with the typology of “procedural knowledge” and distinctive in Flamenco dance such as “emotional education” and “tacit knowledge”. Digital preservation of Flamenco dance repositories is adequate for supporting a collaborative network of trainers/teachers of flamenco dance and share practical experiences (i.e. know-how) as an epitome of tacit knowledge. However, it presents a significant number of legal issues related to copyright and intellectual property rights that hamper the financial viability of such digital initiatives. Lab experiments involving the use of two cutting-edge technologies (eye tracking and binaural sound) in flamenco dance were undertaken and two interesting technical protocols are currently being selected for further characterization in flamenco dance training. Since meaning and understanding are correlative notions, the main conclusion of this Marie Sklodowska Curie action is that I have identified tools for explaining the meaning of tacit knowledge in teaching dance at two levels: as a conceptual artistic form and as a physical art form.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union