Between formal and non-formal education, an interdisciplinary project starting from the contact of children with artworks

Abstract

The presented study aims to reflect on the relationship between formal and non-formal education in an interdisciplinary perspective, with a focus on education through art, starting from a research-action-training experience with two classes of a primary school in Milan. In this project, the direct contact between children and contemporary artworks was experienced as an extremely significant element, thanks to which shared interpretations can be built. The aim of artworks here was not at memorizing the deposited meanings, in a passive vision of culture, but a direct exploration, in which the children were able to activate many expressive languages (iconic, sonorous, linguistic), sharing view points while building meanings together. The work involved the participation and direct involvement of musicians, museum educators, teachers, as well as families and other school children. Accurate documentation has made possible to obtain some materials from which, in addition to designing the passages, some proposals and reflections have been formulated in the field of art education, with the involvement of other disciplines. This was an art education that used museums’ strategies contemporary culture’ places to innovate teaching practices which wanted to put in the foreground the participation of everyone in the perspective of a culture that is built together.