Heraus mit der Sprache! Sprachsensible Kunstvermittlung in Museum und Schule

The goal of the project was to develop a program for students that combines language teaching and art education. The partnership therefore focused on the transfer of knowledge between experts from...

The goal of the project was to develop a program for students that combines language teaching and art education. The partnership therefore focused on the transfer of knowledge between experts from the university and museum sector. The jointly developed learning and teaching materials are language and culturally sensitive and adapted to the objects in the diverse collections of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien. The project presented the museum with the opportunity to develop such materials and methods in close exchange with experts in the field of language education and German as a second language. This meant filling a gap in the museum's educational program, which contributes to a more inclusive and diversity-oriented museum. For the University of Duisburg-Essen, the project offered the opportunity to further develop approaches of aesthetic learning, gain insights into the Austrian education system, and collect scientific data.

Among others, the following activities were implemented during the one-year project (May 2022 – April 2023): - conceptual design of the learning materials - series of workshops with students, in order to test the materials at the museum - scientific supervision of the workshops; gathering of data - scientific evaluation of the learning materials - training of art educators at the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien - creation of a website to publish the results of the project as Open Educational Resources - hosting a conference to disseminate the results of the project - publication of a scientific paper on the findings - as well as a number of preparatory activities

In the project „Heraus mit der Sprache!“ (‘Speak Your Mind!’), evaluated learning and teaching materials were developed that promote language improvement of young visitors to the museum following the principles of aesthetic learning. The materials were tested at the museum in several workshops with four classes (secondary level I) from Viennese middle schools. Following the motto ‘Speak Your Mind!‘, the students were able to discover the museum as an extracurricular place of learning and articulate their experiences and opinions, which furthered their linguistic development and set processes of empowerment in motion. At the end of the workshops, the materials were scientifically evaluated and adapted accordingly. They are now available on the project’s website (http://herausmitdersprache.khm.at/). They form the basis for a new educational program of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien. For art educators, trainers of German as a foreign and second language and all interested parties, the learning and teaching materials provide suggestions and tools for language-sensitive learning through art. The scientific data collected in the course of the project helps to further the approaches of aesthetic learning.