Based on a six months study of arts and cultural education in Flanders, this report assesses the current state of these two subjects in the region. It identifies the short-comings and many strengths of the current provisions and their implementation, as well as proposing how best-practice models can be transferred from the pre-eminent performers and educators to those at the other end of the performance scale. While acknowledging the special circumstances pertaining to Flemish art education - especially its complexities and the large degree of decentralisation - the report combines international insights with regional characteristics to assess the current state of play.
In 2006-07 evaluative research was undertaken in Flanders to determine the nature, scope and impact of arts and cultural education for young people in Flanders. The study aimed to gather comprehensive data about the extent and quality of arts and cultural education in Flanders. It addressed the following questions:

1. What is being done in arts education and how is it being done?
2. What is the quality of arts education in Flanders? This includes both the quality of the teaching and the quality of the learning (what the children receive and does with what they receive).
3. What are the current and future possibilities and challenges? What expertise exists within education and more broadly in the arts and cultural sector?

These questions were addressed through the use of an intensive six month study using a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods. The report is organised in a way that starts from definitions of terms and the nature of practices. Within the context, the report examines the impact on children and the manifestation of arts and cultural education in the classroom. The research analyses the implementation framework of arts and cultural education and identifies factors that influence the adoption of best practice in arts and cultural education. The focus of the research is on both formal and non-formal provisions of arts and cultural education for children under the age of eighteen years. In the context of Flanders, this includes examination of arts and cultural education within schools and also the activities completed by children in a range of after school possibilities. Associated with this focus, policy and implementation issues were explored, and a focus was given to teacher education and the professional development of both teachers and artists.
This research is linked to the international evaluation of arts education conducted in 2006 for UNESCO (The Wow Factor, 2006) and the subsequent in-depth country studies in Denmark and The Netherlands. To build a benchmarked set of knowledge, complementary methods have been used for these studies and the same framework has been applied to data gathering and analysis of themes to enable international comparisons to be made. 

http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/publicaties/?get=INT&nr=301&i=74