Arts and Design Education MA, Teaching Diploma for Secondary Schools

The master’s degree in Arts and Design Education, Teaching Diploma for Secondary Schools is offered in collaboration with the FHNW School of Education. The Institute of Arts and Design Education (IADE) at the FHNW HGK Basel offers training in a transdisciplinary and multifaceted context, which closely links technical knowledge creation with aesthetic and practical research. A central component of the programme takes the form of individual artistic and design-related projects as well as aesthetic-research projects, which are supported by colloquia and mentorships. At the same time, you will expand your knowledge of art, culture and design teaching in seminars. You will also deepen your art pedagogical skills in a collaborative and transdisciplinary way in cross-regional network modules as well as practical and research-oriented modules. The course components of the FHNW School of Education prepare you to develop artistic and design-related content in an educational science-based and didactically competent manner and to successfully teach it in school placements.
The comprehensive MA in Teaching in Art and Design prepares you optimally for employment in schools, museums, sociocultural settings and research – with a deep understanding of the connection between the theoretical and practical fields of the subject area.

Study structure

In your studies at the Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW you enhance and enlarge upon your scientific, artistic and design-related skills and inquire into art and design education as well as artistic research.

In your studies at the FHNW School of Education you learn how to prepare and present artistic and design-related contents on a sound scholarly basis. The skills and knowledge acquired so far flow into self-devised art, design and cultural education projects. In addition you get the chance to expand and elaborate on your acquired skills and knowledge in colloquia and seminars and investigate further aspects of art education and outreach in the context of international block courses and term papers.

The study programme takes place at both the HGK Basel and the FHNW School of Education. At the HGK Basel, students attend lectures in all semesters from the following module groups: ‘Studio, Research and Teaching’, ‘Discourse, Art and Cultural Studies’ and ‘Artistic Methods & Aesthetic Approaches’.
At the FHNW School of Education, you participate in the following modules: Education Studies, Teaching Methods and Vocational Studies.

In the first three semesters, you build your knowledge of art, cultural and education studies, expand your artistic, design and teaching skills, and learn to treat current aesthetic and research approaches and discourses in a professional manner. The main focus of the 4th semester is on developing and completing your master’s thesis at the HGK Basel.

Master’s thesis
You define the subject area and methods of your thesis as an independent, research-oriented project. In principle, the thesis project consists of both artistic and creative, discursive and context-driven as well as teaching-oriented parts that can be combined with one another in different ways. The thesis provides you with a space for dealing with your aesthetic actions and thoughts through research, and for finding your own position in the context of professional discourses, artistic design and education

The master’s study programme is intended for students who are enthusiastic about teaching in the field of art, design and aesthetic research, and who want to link discursive, artistic and pedagogical practices. A successfully completed bachelor’s degree in the area of Arts Education is the prerequisite for being accepted to the study programme. The master’s degree qualifies you to teach at the upper secondary level, in art and cultural institutions as well as to conduct research-oriented advanced qualification work in the field of art, design and education.

Goals and benefits

Having completed your MA course you have the ability to sensitise and motivate learners and the competence to perceive, reflect and act with regard to visual culture as well as in respect to your students and teaching. Based on your own creative work and ongoing engagement with professional theory and practice in the given social context, you are in a position to provide innovative teaching and learning opportunities. You provide guidance in the processes of visual perception, aesthetic analysis and judgement and thus enhance the learners’ visual literacy.

Career prospects

The master’s study programme sharpens students’ ability to sensitise learners to aesthetic issues and motivate them to engage in artistic and creative processes. You have solid perceptual, action and reflection skills grounded in current research discourses on aesthetic cultures as well as learning situations and lesson planning. On the basis of your own artistic and creative work and a critical and reflective examination of professional theory and practice, you will be able to structure well-founded and creative lessons. You initiate and promote processes of aesthetic perception and analysis, and in doing so improve your ability to talk about artistic and creative matters. 

As a graduate of the master’s programme, you will prove yourself as a teacher in various schools and as educators in art and cultural institutions outside of the school system. The study programme also qualifies you for advanced research-oriented work at an art or other university or educational institution. 

With its studios, labs and centrally located on-campus workshops, the HGK Basel provides ideal conditions for combining a curiosity for craftsmanship, the acquisition of new techniques and digital know-how. What’s more, all students have their own work station in the spacious studios, which are open 24/7.

In the institute’s own Learning Lab Arts and Design, creative processes and the design of experiential and cognitive spaces are explored, documented and researched in digital and analogue formats in workshops and seminars. Students have access to the facilities 365 days a year.

Academical qualifications

Admission to the aptitude assessment normally requires one of the following qualifications:

• A Bachelor’s degree in Arts and Design Education.
• Any other Bachelor’s degree aimed at teaching at upper secondary school level (baccalaureate) or at an occupation in the field of Arts and Design Education.

Language of tuition
The language of tuition is German (C2 level or equivalent).

To apply for a place at the HGK Basel, the required documents must be submitted by deadline 15.03.2025.
Please send specific degree programme to email address.

Info aptitude assessment (PDF) is online on 01.11.2024

Dates aptitude assessment 2025

• 01.11.2024
  Publication of the detailed information on the aptitude assessment
• 15.03.2025
  Registration deadline and upload deadline for all required documents via the application portal.
• The placement for «Berufseignungsabklärung PH FHNW» is needed.
  More information: www.fhnw.ch/studium/paedagogik/berufseignungsabklaerung
• 15.09.2025
  Fall Semester begin 2025/26

Study Regulations, Arts and Design Education (MA) PDF in German

Here you will find answers to FAQs about preparing and registering for a Bachelor’s (BA) or a Master’s (MA) degree programme at the HGK Basel FHNW.

FAQ online registration

Here you will find answers to organizational, administrative and legal questions all about studying -->

A week-long networking event is held each semester in cooperation with the arts education programmes of the ZHdK, HSLU and HKB (i.e. Zurich University of the Arts, Lucerne University of Applied Arts and Sciences, and Bern University of the Arts). This block week focuses on students interacting with others beyond the walls of their own university, as well as the examination of current international practice, research and theory in the field of art education. Collaborations with museums, exhibition halls, schools and educational places outside of schools round off the range of the study programme. During these collaborations, you gather hands-on experience, implement your own educational projects, and test and reinforce your educational skills.

Further information on our events, projects and publications can be found on our blog.

International students can find further information on the website of the International Office of the HGK Basel.

Public transport
The campus is easy to reach by public transport. The stop Freilager on BLT line 11 is immediately in front of the Campus (from Bahnhof SBB in direction Aesch)

By car
Leave the motorway A2 at the junction Basel-St. Jakob and follow the sign Dreispitz. Approaching from Münchensteinerstrasse enter the Dreispitz complex through Gate 13 and park your car in one of the public car parks (Ruchfeld or Leimgrube). When setting your satnav, please note that the Freilager complex is part of the municipality of Münchenstein, Canton Basel-Landschaft.

Access by car for people with disabilities
Choose the access via Florenz-Strasse in the direction of the High-rise building (Building D). To lower the bollard at the gates of the campus please ring the bell. You will be connected to our reception in Building D.

Map as PDF

The buildings of the HGK Basel are accessible by wheelchair, stroller,  and for people with walking difficulties. The entrance to the highrise building (Building D) is at ground level, the studio building (Building A) can be reached via a ramp. There is at least one lift in both buildings.

Access by car for people with disabilities: See Gender-neutral toilets: See ‘Getting there‘.

Toilets for people with disabilities: 

Highrise building (Building D): Ground floor to 8th floor in the centre of the building
Studio building (Building A): Ground floor to 3rd floor, southern section of main corridor

Gender-neutral toilets: See ‘All Welcome WC’.

Parent-child-room: See 'Parent-child-room'.

Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW
Institute Arts and Design Education (IADE)

Freilager-Platz 1
Postfach

CH-4002 Basel

Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW
Institute Arts and Design Education (IADE)

Oslo-Strasse 3, Building A: A1.18
4142 Münchenstein / Basel

Phone: +41 61 228 40 88
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