Cultural Activities: Importance of Extracurricular Learning in Switzerland Basel Schools

Abstract

Many children and young people have limited access to cultural institutions such as theatres or museums. Therefore, the school plays an important role as a cultural mediator. Attending an event together, seeing one's own performance, or taking part in a workshop not only contributes to cultural education but also promotes class spirit and can greatly support students' personal development. Against this background, the Department of Education supports teachers wishing to establish a cultural project with professional assistance. For example, interested schools may participate in national cultural funding programmes such as MUS-E or Superar Suisse with selected classes free of charge. For larger cultural projects at a school, applications for support (not necessarily only financial) can also be submitted. Funds are available for this purpose in the budget for cultural education within the Culture Department of the Presidential Department, and some resources for local school development may also be used for cultural projects. Schools can benefit from the city's rich cultural offerings. In all cultural sectors, organisers offer discounts for schools or provide special educational programmes. In theatre, collaboration with schools has been institutionalised for years through the “School and Theatre” working group. This committee reviews programmes whose concepts for class attendance are subsidised by the canton and maintains a calendar that teachers can use to view options suitable for their school level. Information on subject-specific extracurricular learning locations is available in the relevant teaching materials. The PDF document “Extracurricular Learning Locations” also contains a collection of extracurricular learning locations for primary schools, which is continually updated. Detailed information and links regarding these services can be found at Extracurricular learning venues. A collection of extracurricular learning locations across northwestern Switzerland is provided on an online platform for the northwestern Switzerland educational area. Detailed information and links regarding these services can be found at https://www.edubs.ch/unterricht/kulturangebote.