Creating the cultural environment of a school fostering the creative development of adolescents

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the main components of the cultural environment of a school that contributes to the creative development of adolescents and the ways to engage the student to this cultural environment. The conducted study consisted of a standardized online survey of 1,542 school students between the ages of 12 and 18, the focus group method (involving 159 students from 15 to 17 years old) and SWOT-analysis of the creation of the school cultural environment in educational organizations from five regions of Russia. The authors argue that the cultural environment of a school is constructed based on the continuum of 21st-century art, which is understood as the spatial and temporal cultural environment that exists at the present moment and incorporates folk, classical, popular, and contemporary art. The article reports the results of a comprehensive study of school students’ interest in and motivation for engagement in art, as well as the relevance of creating a holistic cultural environment of a school that unites fragmented knowledge based on the continuum of art. The main directions of activities to create the cultural environment of a school in interaction with cultural institutions are identified.