Call for interest: Mutual Support Platform for Curricular Innovation

Is your institution planning or undertaking a change in the curriculum? Join one of our clusters to exchange ideas with colleagues and support each other.

In the framework of the ARTEMIS project, AEC invites its member institutions (active and associate) to join clusters of institutions undertaking curricular changes.

One of the tasks of the Capacity Building Working Group of the ARTEMIS project is to encourage and assist institutions to design and implement changes that they would like to introduce in their curricula – including, for example, increased flexibility and options; innovative offers that better prepare students for diverse careers; work-based learning;  all the way to a complete re-think of the current curriculum.

For this purpose, clusters of 5 or 6 institutions will serve as a Mutual Support Platform for Curricular Innovation. These institutions will work together through a process including reflection, exchange and mutual support.

It will take the form of meetings (mainly online) with a representative of each institution in the cluster. This representative could be anyone closely connected to the change process: a teacher, a member of staff, a coordinator, a student representative… This will contribute to the inclusion of different perspectives in the meetings and discussions.

The process will be facilitated by experts with experience in curricular reform processes. These may be members of the Capacity Building WG and/or external experts.

The main objective is to provide AEC member institutions with support from peers and experts towards the achievement of their goals in terms of curriculum changes. The work and process will be defined by the cluster participants themselves depending on their plans and needs, and will therefore connect to the work developed by each institution.

BENEFITS OF JOINING A CLUSTER

1.Peer-learning:

  • discussing with colleagues having similar goals and facing the same challenges, exchanging ideas, information, know-how and perspectives;
  • supporting one another to achieve the goals set by each institution;
  • providing one another with an external ear;

2. Getting inspiration and reflecting on what one’s institution can do in its own context;

  • Even if the national legal framework is very restrictive, one could get inspired to identify a margin of action within that framework and be able to use the result of the discussions in the clusters to lobby at the governmental level for more flexible arrangements.

3. International support and recognition of the changes being proposed and implemented;

4. Contributing to the future developments of the higher music education sector;

5. Inspiring and empowering colleagues who have to initiate and implement curricular reforms;

6. Benchmarking one’s efforts with other institutions;

7. Building up a network of international relations.

Since the ARTEMIS project in general and this Capacity Working Group in particular build on the outcomes of the former AEC project Strengthening Music in Society (SMS), we warmly invite everyone to consult the publications connected to the different SMS Working Groups.

Examples of changes introduced by AEC member institutions can be consulted in the following publications:

TIMEFRAME & PRACTICALITIES

The process will start in February-March 2023 and finish at the end of 2024.

 

Step 1: INSTITUTIONS INDICATE THEIR INTEREST – BY 20/01/2023

  • By 20. January 2023, institutions share their interest to join a cluster (see below in the section How to Apply).

 

Step 2: CLUSTERS ARE COMPOSED – BY 15/02/2023

  • The Capacity Building Working Group (ARTEMIS project) will read all forms and propose the composition of clusters. Institutions will be informed about this proposal by Friday 3rd February 2023
  • The proposed composition will be based on the type and theme of change(s) being undertaken or to be introduced by the institutions, the type of issues they face, and possibly the partners that they wish to work with.
  • Each institution will decide by Friday 10th February 2023, whether it indeed wishes to join the proposed cluster.
  • By mid-February 2023, clusters of 5 or 6 institutions will be composed. The list of institutions participating in the clusters will be shared on the AEC website and via the AEC newsletter.

 

 Step 3: CLUSTERS OPERATE – 15/02/2023 – 31/12/2024

  • February/March 2023: a first online meeting will be scheduled with the representatives (1 or 2 persons) of the institutions involved in the same cluster, where institutions can exchange their motivation for participating in the cluster and what they expect or hope to achieve.
  • Until December 2024: the representatives (1 or 2 persons) of the institutions involved in the same cluster will meet regularly.
  • The concerned individuals will jointly agree on when and how frequently to meet depending on the change process in each institution and the needs of each institution. (There is no amount of meetings set by AEC, it is up to the clusters to decide).
  • Meetings shall be mainly online. There might also be a possibility to travel for one of the meetings or to conduct a site visit. In that case, ERASMUS mobility schemes could be used or, alternatively, a percentage of expenses might be covered by the ARTEMIS project.
  • The work achieved will be documented by the Working Group members and the participants in the clusters will be asked to provide a brief reflection on the process (possibly through a short video, a visual, a written testimony, etc.).
  • December 2024: the clusters as part of the ARTEMIS project will come to an end. Institutions in the cluster will ideally have reached their goal or will have made a substantial step forward in their plans for change.
  • January 2025: the Working Group will collect feedback from the clusters’ participants on the process through a feedback questionnaire. The clusters’ participants will be asked to provide a brief reflection on the process and what impact it has had on their institutional contexts.

 

The project aims to provide a non-competitive environment. No participating institution is obliged at any point to follow a certain timeline of progress or give evidence of achieved goals.

HOW TO APPLY

If you are interested in participating in a cluster, please fill in the form below to indicate your interest and send it to the AEC Office (lindamessas@aec-music.eu) by 20 January 2023.

Call for interest - Mutual Support Platform for Curricular Innovation
CALL FOR INTEREST
Form for Indication of Interest - Mutual Support Platform for Curricular Innovation
FORM FOR INDICATION OF INTEREST