Underlying concepts   

Aesthetic education is education that takes humanity closer towards sustainable development and helps people find happiness. It is also a form of innovative education that facilitates organically connecting `and dialogue between technology and the humanities. People’s sense of beauty and aesthetics comes from their perceptions, personal experiences and awareness, feelings and understanding, exploration and immersion, and cooperative practices during their interactions with themselves; with their surrounding environment, and the people and things in their life; and with the natural ecosystem.

After students have gradually accumulated experiences and a sense of aesthetics, they are led to experience aesthetics across different disciplines and learning domains, and in their schools and communities. This sparks their sense of their own identity and cultural heritage, and of innovation. Moreover, aesthetic literacy and confidence in its practical expression are nurtured by incorporating the use of technology, and this boosts the application of aesthetics in daily life.

The third medium-to-long term plan for aesthetic education (2024–2028) is based on the philosophy that “Aesthetics is life: So we must introduce children to aesthetics from a young age; root aesthetics in our lives; embrace local and international aesthetics; and embrace sustainable practices.”

 Objectives

1. Aesthetic education support: Integrate aesthetic education resources, and provide appropriate administrative support and incentives; improve the support system for integrating resources; boost communication and interaction between the Ministry of Education and local units, and coordination between different programs, to enhance having a unified approach to the promotion of aesthetic education.
2. Aesthetic education dissemination: Increase the aesthetic literacy of all educators and train farsighted professionals to provide aesthetic education; in addition link up resources from different disciplines to elevate Taiwan’s visibility, and extend the scope of Taiwan’s aesthetic education and its international influence.
3. Sustainable Aesthetics: Further develop the aesthetic education curriculum, and boost inter disciplinary aesthetic cooperation and the incorporation of sustainable development; set up model aesthetic learning environments where teachers and students are immersed in a sustainable aesthetic environment to enhance their awareness of and concern for the people, things, and phenomena in their lives; and increase the aesthetic literacy and knowledge of teachers and students.
4. Localization: Encourage county and city governments to implement aesthetic programs that have their roots in local conditions and culture, and create distinctive, localized aesthetic identities. Set up school and community learning groups, and boost sustainable development of all local aesthetic education.

Promotion Strategy

•  Professional personnel training

1. Set up aesthetic education teacher communities, and a database of aesthetic education professionals.
2. Systematically promote measures to increase educators’ aesthetic literacy.
3. Build up a human resources pool of farsighted, skilled aesthetic education professionals.

• Curriculum implementation

1. Refine a diverse range of teaching styles and content for aesthetic curriculum courses.
2. Widen the range of fields for implementing aesthetic learning activities.
3. Establish links and a mechanism for interdisciplinary dissemination of the aesthetic curriculum.

•  Learning environments

1. Promote the re-benchmarking of aesthetic learning environments and disseminate the new benchmarks.
2. Nurture educators’ aesthetic literacy pertaining to teaching environments.
3. Guide the integration of aesthetic principles into learning environment related programs and strengthen links with professional advisory teams.

•  International links

1. Make the Aesthetic Education Resources Integration Platform bilingual.
2. Promote international aesthetic education related exchange activities.
3. Establish a mechanism for international training cooperation.

•  Support measures

1. Liven up the Aesthetic Education Resources Integration Platform.
2. Strengthen aesthetic education related dialogue and cooperation.
3. Increase administrative support for aesthetic education.