Publications

Art Testers is the largest culture education program in Finland, offering all eighth-graders (ages 13 to 14) and their teachers 1–2 annual visits in esteemed cultural institutions. How does it work in practice? And what are the learnings of the largest culture education program in the history of Finland? This publication is available only in English.

This publication will take you on a journey with the Art Testers. The program has been a major effort with both its rewarding and challenging moments, and in this book, our program is being looked at from many different angles. Everyone gets their voice heard, including the project actives, the youth, the teachers as well as those who have followed our program from a little distance. The art visits are a remarkable investment into the future of young people, and we wish them to continue all the way into the future as well. Art belongs to everybody! (2020)

The Art Testers program offers deep experiences for young people, as well as provides a versatile tool to achieve the goals defined in the school curriculum. In addition to meeting the cultural education mission of elementary school, the visits can be regarded, for instance, from the viewpoint of developing interdisciplinary learning in schools. Use this guide to learn how to use the Art Testers web service or how to make the practical arrangements for the art visits. (Updated 2022)

Here you can print a poster-sized Art Testers Etiquette to put on a wall in your school or cultural institution. The etiquette, designed for 8th graders, covers some advice for how to prepare for an art visit, how to conduct oneself at the art visit, and how to review the experience. (2020)

Here you can print a poster-sized Art Testers House Rules to put on a wall in the office of your cultural institution. The house rules, designed for art institutions, cover some advice for how to apply for Art Testers, and how to participate. (2021)

Digital contents cannot replace real concerts or museum visits but they can offer new opportunities both to practise and to experience art and culture. However, the real experience does not merely spawn from the artistic content but is often accompanied by the physical place, its feelings or intimacy, and company. This guide is intended to offer new ideas and tools on how to create these elements when going on a remote journey of experience. (2021)

This guide is intended to highlight some particular sections from the school curriculum as well as some thoughts that may work as an art educator’s source of inspiration when planning the art visits for school groups. On the other hand, teachers may reflect on how to process the art experience in school during practically any class, especially with regards to transversal competence. (2021)

This poster includes some examples on how Art Testers fits together with the ideas of transversal competence. Read more about the Curriculum at, for instance, our document National Elementary School Curriculum – A Guide for Art Educator, or at the Finnish National Agency for Education web pages at the following address: www.oph.fi/koulutus-ja-tutkinnot/perusopetus (Perusopetuksen opetussuunnitelman ydinasiat). (2021)