Arts and culture for you and me?

Barriers and opportunities in the cultural education system of special education students

Bremmer, M., Van Miert, M., & Staals, E. (2023) - LKCA/Lectoraat Kunsteducatie, Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten To counteract inequality of opportunity in artistic and cultural development, a multifaceted and accessible cultural education system is needed. To gain insight into how art and culture can become more accessible, LKCA wants to make an analysis of the opportunities and obstacles of the cultural educational system of children and young people (Benning et al., 2022). This will include different domains of the system that directly or indirectly affect them, such as the home situation, school, after-school care, leisure time and cultural institutions. The ultimate goal is to use this analysis to make recommendations for a flourishing cultural educational system in which existing learning opportunities are connected, and new learning opportunities are created that connect with children, young people and their parents/caregivers. With this research we want to give a broader view of the barriers and opportunities of the cultural educational system for (v)so students than only from the perspective of the school. By identifying barriers and opportunities of the broad system, we can get clues as to what next steps are needed to make this system more inclusive (Benning et al., 2022). LKCA therefore wants to use the results of the system analysis to put the opportunities for a more inclusive system for these students on the agenda of politicians, policy makers, funds and cultural partners, as well as to make practical recommendations for the various domains to strengthen the cultural educational system for students in the (v)so.