Chapter 5   Civics Teacher Training

Our  reflexions so  far  would  remain little  more than a theory of what  should be, if we left  out teachers who are expected to put such civics into practice. The ability of the children to  develop cultural empathy that  can be of crucial importance for their civil  attitudes and activities depends, above all,  on the teacher.  This combination of  citizenship and  cultural   empathy  is  regarded,   in  this  book,   as multicultural education ensuring  genuine dimension of civics in the first place. Therefore, when focusing our attention at teacher training for this kind  of education, we can speak of multicultural  teacher training  "which is  designed to  help teachers to function effectively  with pupils in a culturally diverse society".101  This kind of  training develops certain cultural competencies,  cultural equipment102 in  the teacher enabling him to prepare children  for real civil attitudes in a multicultural   society.   In   such   training,  aesthetic education,    general   cultural    education   and   special multicultural education closely cooperate.

Cultural Competencies of Civics Teachers

The  four basic  (general) competencies  of a  teacher, as quoted  by  K.  Ryan  and  J.  M.  Cooper,  can  serve  us as a starting point:
"1.  display of  attitudes that  foster learning  and genuine human relationships
2.  sureness  and  adequacy  of  knowledge  in the subject matter to be taught
3.  command of  theoretical knowledge  about learning  and human behavior
4. control  of skills of teaching  that facilitate student learning."103
Accordingly,  they   are  "those  particular   verbal  and non-verbal skills, behaviors,  and attitudes which facilitate the   interaction   of   social,   physical,  emotional,  and intellectual  growth."104  The  teacher's  competency  level, according to Laura Pettigrew,  can be evaluated in accordance with  "a)  cognitive  acquisition  of  concepts,  principles, facts,  ideas,  and  postulates;  b)  performance  skills  in utilizing  cognitive   materials  in  teacher   planning  and performance; and c) product skills - learner growth - used to evaluate teacher performance".105 If we think of a teacher as a person  competent   to  educate  future   citizens  in  the direction we  have so far  indicated, we have  to examine his cultural  competencies forming  that part  of his personality which controls the activities of a civics teacher. We have to ask what set of psychic  qualities enables the teacher to act in such a way. We are concerned here with individual cultural equipment, his individual cultural  psychic tools and aids he acquires in the process of education and training. A teacher, lacking   this   cultural   equipment,   cannot  develop  the personalities  of future  citizens towards  the priorities of Slovak culture.
In our opinion, the main cultural competencies of a civics teacher are as follows:
a) If the  teacher is expected to develop  in the children the consciousness  of their own cultural  background, his own unambiguous  cultural  self-definition,  that  is a developed awareness  of  cultural  self-identity,  is  an indispensable precondition.  As the  teacher has  to be  always and  in all situations "one  step ahead" of  the children -  if he should guide them - then the mere awareness of his own membership in a given  culture  is  not  enough.  This  awareness should be backed by  a deep knowledge of  and inner identification with his own  (national, regional or other)  culture: his cultural equipment should contain deeper  knowledge of his own culture and its relations to other  cultures. The teacher should feel and  have  experienced  the  links  and relationships between Slovak  culture  and  other  cultures,  which  is fostered by elementary   knowledge  of   the  main   world  cultures.This competency  includes the  ability to  express one's  cultural identity clearly  and with precision.  The teacher's cultural identity  need  not  be  the  same  as the students' cultural background.  It is  nevertheless indispensable  since only in this  way the  teacher can  set an  example and  stimulate or provoke the cultural self-expression of the students.
b)  If,  considering  the  problems  associated  with the education  of citizens,  we presented  cultural tolerance  as a point of departure for multicultural vision and feeling, in the case of a teacher,  as done with the previous competency, the fact  that he has  to be ahead  of the children,  must be taken  into   account.  Therefore,  if   he  is  to   promote children's  understanding  of  various  cultures,  he himself ought  to understand  them -  to  be  able to  gain an  inner experience of them and,  at least partially and occasionally, look  at  the  world  through  their  eyes. Consequently, the second  cultural   competency  of  a  teacher   will  be  the capability of  cultural empathy. The  latter is based  on the abilities  to  discover  cultural   values  even  in  unusual contexts  and on  the abilities  to perform  various cultural comparisons.  Cultural  empathy  is  backed  by an elementary knowledge of  cultural anthropology. In  the world of  today, knowing the laws and functioning  of mass culture can help in this respect as well. The  influence of mass culture today is such  that the  products of  remote cultures  are encountered only through the distorted optics of mass media. In this way, the teacher will be able  to tolerate various cultural layers and  groups in  his  class,  encourage their  mutual peaceful communication and  eventually settle conflicts  between them. Without  the  ability  of  cultural  empathy,  in the case of conflict, the teacher could take sides with the culture he is more familiar with, and his decision in the conflict could be unjust.
c) The third competency which, according to W. Welsch, can be called aesthetic  thinking,or new aesthetic sensibility,is essential  both  for  previous  cultural  competencies of the teacher and for his  faculty to develop ecologically oriented cultural  awareness  of  the  children.  W.  Welsch  does not understand this  term exclusively as the  ability to think of things of  beauty in theoretical  terms. He speaks  of a more general    Greek   concept    of   aisthesis    which   means a thematization  of  all  kinds  of  perception,  sensual and spiritual, common and sublime, coming both from real life and art106.  It  means  the  development  of  the  total of man's spiritual capabilities, it means perception which can be both sensual  and extra-sensual,  that  is,  in more  exact terms, imaginative moments are always present107. It is that kind of actualizing human mental capabilities  in which the following psychic activities  are used as  valid ways of  contemplating the  world:  observation,  imagination,  sensual  perception, abstract  thinking, emotions,  intuition and  others. This is the only  way to develop cultural  empathy mentioned above in full,  since a  teacher can  be empathic  towards the complex personality  of  another  man  (that  means  also towards his culture)  only   if  he  himself  reacts   as  an  integrated personality. This holistic attitude is an indispensable basis for  expressing one's  cultural identity  as well.  It is  an indispensable    basis   for    an   ecologically    oriented consciousness  of the  teacher. Previously,  we defined  this consciousness as a consciousness of the relationships between man and nature, man and other  people, and man in relation to himself.  All  this  is  made  possible  thanks  to  the  new aisthesis. In it, perception and thinking, or imagination and reflexion, cannot  be opposed108. It  does not rise  from the logocentric interpretation  of the world as  the European man was  accustomed to  in the  last centuries.  According to  W. Welsch, the new aisthesis  emerges from sensual perception as the primary  source of our experience  including, at the same time,  all  other  capabilities  of  the  human mind that are present in our perception from the very beginning.
That  is why  we consider  the new  aisthesis as the third cultural competency of the teacher educating future citizens.

A. Purpose

First let's take a glance  at the immediate purpose of the formation of cultural competencies -  how they can be used in educating children  in elementary schools  (much of what  has been said  can probably be extrapolated  for use in secondary schools). Besides civics, there  are several subjects, taught in elementary schools, that offer the teacher the opportunity to  introduce multicultural  vision and  feeling to students. They  are:  musical  education,  art  education,  the  Slovak language,  geography and  others.  In  many of  the subjects, except the two first  named, the education towards perceiving aesthetic  values  is   directly  associated  with  education towards  cultural  and  national  tradition, patriotism, even with  linguistic  that  means,  at  the  same  time, rational education,  and  the  like.  On  the  other  hand  - not only aesthetic education  can result in  other approaches but  the opposite  is  true  as  well:  a  simple  grammar, that means training the  correct use of  language, often (unconsciously, with no direct effort on the  part of the teacher) results in aesthetic education - in perceiving beauties of the language, stylistic  niceties  of  the  language,  and  the  like. This indicates  that  a  cultural  and  educational  aspect may be included in  much greater number  of disciplines than  civics alone.
It  is  hardly  possible,  however,  to attempt practicing panaesthetic  functioning   in  all  subjects.   Calling  for intentional,  aesthetic, cultural  or multicultural education in other specialized subjects (besides civics or e.g. musical education) as  well, reveals, in  our opinion, an  inadequate understanding   of   reality.   When   speaking  of  possible culturally oriented education in a wide range of subjects, we have to  focus our attention  at humanities and,  among them, especially at those displaying  a close affinity to aesthetic and  cultural values.  It should  be stressed,  however, that such  engagement depends  above all  on the  teacher, on  his insight  into  the  problems  of  culture  and his ability to search for relations among various spheres of reality and his capability to present them to the children.
Humanities  or subjects  related to  aesthetic or cultural values offer an opportunity  to develop critical abilities in children,  eventually  to   provide  them  with  introductory instruction  in the  history of  arts and  culture. The  last mentioned  kind of  guiding is  possible only  in the  higher grades   of  elementary   school  where   the  children   are intellectually developed enough to accept such information.
There are materials, however, that  can be used right from the  first  grades  of  elementary  school  - those providing information  about  the  cultural  development  and  cultural characteristics of  the region. This  kind of subject  matter can  be  directly  used  in  the  civics lessons. By bringing cultural  monuments or  personalities near  to the  students, using such materials as e.g. historical legends, biographies, works  of  art,  and  the  like,  children  can be brought to understand cultural  peculiarities of their  regions and thus to  acquire  greater  sensitivity  to  aesthetic and cultural values in general.
What can  from this point  of view aesthetic  and cultural education offer  to teachers? In what  way can this education help  them  in  their  profession?  How  can the formation of cultural competencies  of students help them  in their future work as teachers?
The work  of a teacher  and its impact  on the student  is many-sided. From  a cultural point  of view every  teacher is primarily a representative of certain culture. As a result of this- consciously  or not -  he transmits a  certain culture. "Although educators may think they are interpreting the world to the young, what they  are ordinarily doing is transmitting their  own culture  and its  values. ...  If we ask educators what,  broadly  speaking,  they  are  trying  to do, they are likely to reply that they are teaching what the real world is and how to deal with it.  But, in fact, our schools teach our version  of  reality  and  our   way  of  handling  the  real world."109  This  process   is  unconscious,  teachers  being unaware  of  it,  but  its  consequences  for  education  are nevertheless serious. The teacher, who does not realize he is transmitting  his  own  world  view,  is  sure to prefer e.g. Europocentric view  so that in  a historic course  he may pay less  attention  to  India  than  prescribed  by the syllabus (Europocentric enough  anyway). As a result,  India as one of the  cradles  of  world  culture,  is  left  out. Or, e.g. in a geographic  course, inadequate  attention will  be paid  to Africa in spite of the fact that Africa is a very diversified and dynamic  continent. Multicultural education  can help the teacher to control such tendencies:  "As the world culture is often used  about tacit, unspoken knowledge  about what is in the  air concerning  values and  norms, it  is important that teacher education develops the teacher students' awareness of these  values, so  that they  can establish  a basic cultural knowledge on  which to build  their actions."110 It  means we have  to   become  aware  of  European   foundations  of  our contemporary culture  as well as individual  culture of every student. With regard  to the fact that teachers  form part of humanist intelligentsia as well as  to the fact that artistic values  form an  important part  of culture  and the  teacher transmits  much of  his own  culture to  children, we have to take into  account the indispensable  degree of cognition  of the principles  and functioning of  arts. The future  teacher will   naturally   function   as   a   cultural   worker  and educator,that is, he will  also promote aesthetic culture. In this capacity, he  should have at least a  basic knowledge of how arts  function, why people  create works of  art and what their place in culture and in human life is. For a humanistic intelligentsia (including civics  teachers), the apprehension of  arts is  an indispensable  part of  their basic  cultural equipment, an  essential part of their  cultural status. This is not only because exactly  this part of intelligentsia work in  culture where  arts play   an important  role. I  see the reason also  in the fact that  this intelligentsia works with man, human activities and  human products which are precisely and deeply mirrored in arts.
This postulate does not involve only the cultural level of future  civics teachers.  The  insight  into the  problems of culture  deepens the  cultural  level  of teachers,  makes it possible for  them to set  an example to  their students, and prepares them  for reflecting the  multicultural situation of their  students.   All  this,  however,   has  its  immediate pedagogical consequences.
Children   are  extraordinarily   sensitive  to  aesthetic values: as quoted by T. Kuklinková, the basic aesthetic needs and  interests  of  children  and  the  criteria of aesthetic evaluation  are   formed  at  the   early  stage  of   school attendance. At the second stage of primary school, in puberty and  adolescence,  a  purposeful   choice  of  aesthetic  and artistic values emerges, and this period is "decisive for the formation of the actual system of the individual taste norms" 111 (Let's  consider a higher  degree of sensitivity  towards arts, especially  poetry, in puberty  and immediately after). an indispensable constituent of  education, in this period of children's lives, is a sensitive mediation on the part of the teacher,   i.e.  a   presentation  of   cultural  values  and explanation  of   their  depth  to  children.   When  we  say sensitive, we  have in mind teacher's  ability to respect the interests  and needs  of children  and, at  the same  time to transform  the  abstract  notions   of  cultural  values  for children.  To  attain  this,   the  teacher  has  to  acquire "sufficient  mastery  of  the   language  of  aesthetics  and criticism  to  be  able  to  expand  upon  students'  initial responses and ideas" 112, in other words, to be able to guide students'  initial responses  to the  perception of aesthetic values by means of his own knowledge of arts. To attain this, a suitably  programmed  cultural  or  aesthetic education can provide him with a necessary inventory of concepts as well as with an ability to understand  the functions and structure of culture. The  final aim on the  part of the teacher  could be "the  disposition   to  perceive,  discriminate,   and  judge intelligently in matters of art"  113 and under his guidance, the  final  aim  on  the   part  of  the  children  could  be - "understanding of humanity through art".114
In  the  background  of  all  so  far  mentioned  modes of aesthetic or  cultural education in  teacher training is  the supposition  we discussed  in the  second part  of this book: aesthetic   education   can   support   the   development  of flexibility of students' feeling  and thinking, enhancing, in this way, the development of their emotional and intellectual tolerance.   Accordingly,   it   is   an   education  towards humaneness.  Here,  however,  we  have  to  stress  the great importance of an education towards humaneness with the future teachers, above  all in the  light of the  first of the  four teacher competencies  previously quoted. Teachers,  more than other people, have to adhere to the principle commanding them to  instill only  what  they  themselves had  experienced and felt.  "If  teachers  are  to  help  students have meaningful experiences,  develop  their  aptitudes  and  abilities, face their  inner difficulties,  and accept  themselves as people, they need  to know and understand  those students. But before teachers  can  do  that,  they   must  work  at  knowing  and understanding themselves."115 Humaneness, having its roots in knowing oneself  and understanding oneself and  others, is an extraordinarily important aptitude of a teacher. It's exactly in  the process  of knowing  oneself that  arts and  cultural values can  essentially help the  man by showing  him what he is,  by transmitting  him the  experiences he  could not have acquired otherwise. By transmitting artistic values aesthetic education can  help future teachers learn  to know themselves and understand  other people. In the  end, this process leads to tolerance and respect for others.
We  can  enumerate  further  teacher  qualities  in  whose development cultural  education can be  helpful. There is  no need  to deal  with other  details concerning  the purpose of developing cultural  competencies, since the  same effect can easily be reached by using other educational methods or other disciplines,  such  as  psychology,  didactics  of particular subjects taught  in schools, and  the like. Here,  we have in mind e.g.  future teachers' capabilities  for generally valid estimations which can be developed both by cultural education and by psychology and pedagogics. This may refer, as well, to a capability   for   generating   analogies   essential   for successful teaching. This quality may effectively be enhanced not  only  by  cultural  education,  but  also by psychology, logic, and philosophy. In this  way we could proceed further. We  have  tried  to  analyze  only  those  domains of teacher training  where  cultural  (aesthetic)  education  is  either indispensable  (e.g. understanding  of arts  and culture)  or where its influence is considerable (e.g. multicultural world vision). We stressed the fact that aesthetic education is but one  of  the  whole  range   of  disciplines  taught  at  the university or college and the impact of other subjects should not be ignored.

B. Content

As  in all  teaching  activities,  in teacher  training at universities the  content of instruction is  derived from its goal and  intentions. Cultural education serves  a wide range of  purposes starting  from mediating  knowledge of  arts and culture up  to the development of  intellectual and emotional tolerance  and flexibility.  Each of  these purposes requires a slightly   different   form   of   cultural  education  and a slightly  different  content.   Basically,  this  means  to combine effectively theoretical studies of arts and aesthetic values with a practical training aimed at reflecting arts and culture  as  well  as  with  acquiring  elementary habits for multi-cultural education116.  Let's  now consider the content as  it can  be presented  to future  teachers in an efficient cultural education.
The content of cultural education is here derived from the information  of  functioning,  structure  and  meaning of the culture of arts since, in  their future practice, the student will  probably be  asked questions  concerning these problems - both because  of the great sensitivity  of children towards culture and arts, and because civil attitudes are principally determined by the cultural background of the citizen.
Other field  of knowledge useful  for the future  educator involves  information  about  the   nature  and  progress  of aesthetic perception and aesthetic  experience as well as the nature,  formation and  cultural context  of aesthetic taste. A teacher should  understand aesthetic perception  to be able to explain  the children what is  or can be going  on in them while perceiving works of art  and other cultural values, and to be  able to expand aesthetic  experiences of children into a broader existential  experience and thus profit  from it in both  cultural  and   multicultural  education  of  children. Information on taste may not  seem essential for the teacher, nevertheless,  the opposite  is true,  for it  is by far more important than  the information on  aesthetic perception. The personality  systems of  the taste  norms get  their definite forms with  children both in  lower and higher  school grades and the  intentional choice of  artistic values develops.  As a result,  the  students  permanently  confront  their  taste norms.  Their ability  (or willingness)  to accept  the taste norms  of their  schoolmates, their  hierarchies of  cultural values,  let alone  the acceptance  of the  taste systems and cultural values hierarchies of  the older generations, depend to  a considerable  degree on  their individual  tolerance or magnanimity. Here,  the educator has  unlimited possibilities to explain the cultural  and personality background of taste, an  inevitable taste  diversity and  connecting links between taste and value orientations, or aspirations. A wide range of opportunities  for  promoting  multicultural  feelings of the children  presents  itself  to  the  teacher.  This  process, leading  to the  socialization of  the children  can only  be attained  provided   the  teacher  himself  has  intensively experienced  knowledge   of  taste  and   of  cultural  value hierarchies.
The  knowledge of  aesthetic perception,  however, can  do more for a  teacher of the first grades  of elementary school than just enable him to  explain the differences in the taste of children  or generations. As  stated by B.  Sundin: "Small children  play  with  sound,   rhythms  and  movements,  tell fanciful  stories,  sing,  dance,  sculpture,  paint. Through these  sensual media  they  orient  themselves in  the world, formulate cognitive  and emotional conflicts  and communicate with others"117.  During the first  years at school  children still preserve such relations to  the world and it depends to a great extent  on the teacher  whether they will  be able to retain  this complex,  fresh relation  to the  world, full of imagination and sensual experiences  (even pleasures) in full or at least  in part or whether they  will definitely lose it or substitute  it by the  world of intellectual  abstractions and  constructions.  According  to  Piaget's  stages  of  the intellectual development of children, gradual transition from a sensual and intuitive understanding  of the world to formal abstractions of  thinking is inevitable  in a child.  Despite this, the cultivation of the faculty of intuitive and sensual immersion into reality in a  child is desirable, for, in this way,  preconditions  for  a  more  complex  world  vision  in a child's later  life are created.  Students in lower  school grades are still receptive to  both ways of viewing the world and "our responsibility as adults  is to help the children to discover  the rich  nuances in  life and  to trust  their own senses. In a world  overloaded with obstrusive, confusing and often contradicting  information this is a  hard work for the children to do."118  An able teacher is at  home in the field of aesthetic world perception, as well as in that of cultural value orientation  and individual aesthetic  taste formation: From that he can derive the laws of the child's understanding of  the  world.  Since  aesthetic  perception  is governed by similar  laws  as  a  children's  viewing  of  the world, the knowledge  of aesthetic  perception helps  the teacher better understand  the  peculiarities  of  the  child's  sensual and intuitive viewing of the world.
Sundin's finding of the existential character of aesthetic values for children is of great importance for civics. In its light  we  can  see  that  the  development  of  the cultural dimension  of civics  is not  solely a  development of one of ordinary aspects  of civics. The  education of civil  virtues should proceed  hand in hand  with the education  of cultural aptitudes  of children,  especially with  those in  the lower school  grades.  The  education  of  citizens  aims  at  such personality growth that will make  it possible for a child to take  a full  part in  the community  life.119 Coming back to what we have said about he character of the world of today at the beginning of this book,  it becomes clear that the future citizen  will not  be able   to function  in full  unless his imagination,  his  sensual  experiences  (even pleasures) and further extra-discursive and extra-rational psychic faculties are involved.
According  to  Sundin,  the  socialization  of children is being attained through cultural values, through the aesthetic qualities of things and  through aesthetic material. All this must necessarily  be incorporated in the  education of future socialized citizens.
Aesthetic, cultural  and multicultural education  in their complexity -  all that can  be conceived as  an irreplaceable part of civics. For the same  reason, they cannot be left out of  the  civics  teacher  training.  Unless  his own cultural competencies are  developed, the future  teacher could hardly affect the children in such  a culturally relevant way. If he himself   lacked   cultural   competencies,   the   essential importance of  aesthetic qualities for  children could escape him.  His civics,  in that  case, could  be just  little more a mere  unfolding of  intellectual abstractions,  as well  as discursive  aptitudes  of  human  psyché  in  the name of the generally  accepted  opinion  that  human  thinking cannot be separated from its linguistic expression.120
Besides  this  more  or  less  theoretical  content of the future teacher cultural education  it is naturally inevitable to  develop  the  teachers'  practical  cultural competences, especially   the   practical   training   of  art  perception abilities. The  educator whose knowledge of  arts and culture is only  theoretical, not mediated by  his own experience, or whose aesthetic  experiences are limited  and shallow, cannot transmit  cultural  values  to  children. Sensitivity towards arts, on the other hand, can  help him learn to know himself. Since learning to know himself is important for teachers, the cultural  or aesthetic  education, by  developing sensitivity towards works of arts, is an indirect contribution to teacher competencies.
This  work, however,  has one  more aspect.  By developing sensitivity towards  arts we are, at  the same time, creating in the students' psyché favorable conditions enabling them to perceive  the changes  of contemporary  culture and  enabling them  to understand  these changes.  Remember our  reflexions about  the  teacher  as  a  personality  transmitting his own culture to children. If  the teacher understands contemporary culture and is familiar with  it,he also can change under the influence of regular contacts with the cultural products, but above all - he can transmit a richer, more varied personality culture to children  and to guide them, at  the same time, to the   understanding  of   just  contemporary   culture.  When realizing that  the growing up  children live exactly  in the culture of today (see e.g.  selective listening to the latest music only), then  it is quite obvious that  here the teacher does not  guide the students  to a mere  understanding of it, but rather to  a much deeper understanding of  it and innerly experiencing  it, as  well as  experiencing a  wider range of contemporary cultural  values. If the  teacher is capable  of perceiving  contemporary cultural  products in  full, he  can teach  the children  to  understand  their contexts  given by tradition, possibilities offered by  the means of expression, etc. The  development of these capacities  in students should not be neglected since students,  as future teachers, are the culture bearers  of their own  generation and are  not always able to  understand the culture  of the incoming  generation. Therefore   we  cannot   take  for   granted  that   students automatically, by themselves, will  learn to explain cultural contexts of their pupils. The opposite is usually true - when left as  cultural objets trouvés, most  of them will probably be fossilized in the culture of their own generation and will reject the  culture of the children  as something strange. In such  situation,  the   teachers'  multicultural  work  among children will remain just a dream.
Let's consider now in short  the concrete themes we regard as reasonable  to develop in civics  teacher training. Since, primarily,  we  are  reflecting   on  the  relations  between aesthetics and aesthetic education,  on one side, and civics, on  the other,  we shall  examine the  main aesthetic  themes which can, through cultural  and aesthetic education, develop cultural competencies  of the teachers. At  the same time, we ask  the  reader  to  interpret  the  following  inventory of concrete themes  as a kind  of modeling the  matter examined, too. We regard aesthetics and aesthetic education as the core of  cultural education  (as the  core of  developing cultural competencies). Why?
Together  with   Wolfgang  Welsch  we   examined  the  new aesthesis. This  very concept points to  the relevance of the impact  of   aesthetics  on  the   civics  teacher  training. Aesthetics  dealing  with  cultural  products  par excellence - works of art - is, by  its very nature, predestined to form the  cultural equipment  of the  teacher. Works  of arts with their creative  nature and modeling human  reality are, to be sure, the extract and essence  of culture and reflect all the peculiarities human  creation takes if it  is a true cultural creation.  Works  of  arts  are  small  models  of  all  main relationships of culture - it  is not without reason that art and works  of art are,  either exclusively or  predominantly, identified with culture.
Art   unambiguously   involves   the   artist's   cultural self-identification,  as  well.  Moreover,  it  stands in the foreground  of  an  artistic  expression.  Art  is based upon congeniality with other people's destinies and cultures. Art, at the same time, prefers a complex world view and a holistic concept  of man  in the   unity of  all peculiarities  of his psychic life. Art clearly concentrates  in itself all what we labeled  as  priorities  of  the  Slovak  citizens'  cultural education.   Art    gives   plain   evidence of cultural self-identity, of cultural empathy  and of ecological concept of man.
That's why  aesthetics is concerned  with the contemporary cultural education.121
Here we have  to stress that in the  cultural education of the  future civics  teachers,  aesthetic  is not  involved as a scholarly   discipline,   i.e.   a   theoretical  activity, transmitting  to students  the structure  of science  and its understanding of the laws of beauty  and art. We have in mind the  educational  work  where  aesthetics  could (and should) serve  as  a  means  of  introducing  the  students  - future teachers  - into  matters of  art and  culture, into a deeper understanding of cultural  products and processes. Aesthetics leads  students  to  a  basic  orientation  in the history of culture,  it  provides  them  with  elementary  concepts  for reflecting on and discussing  cultural products. On the other hand, it  need not present them  a comprehensive knowledge of aesthetics  as  a  scholarly  discipline.  We  do  not expect students  to learn  aesthetic categories  and concepts, these have  to  be  mere  tools  enabling  them  to  seek their own approach to aesthetic phenomena and cultural products.
In this  context aesthetics need not  work with all themes and  chooses only  those relevant  to cultural  education. We will discuss them in the  order of their importance, but this order will also indicate how they can be temporarily arranged in the  process of teaching.  Our starting point  is the fact that culture  and related problems  are concentrated in  arts and  in the  works of  art and,  as a  result, aesthetic  can primarily concentrate on artistic culture.
a) The center  of gravity of artistic culture  is the work of art.  The whole artistic  culture developed thanks  to the work  of  art.  It  secures  its  existence  and  directs all activities at  the work of  art. A work  of art, at  the same time,  is  a  concentrated  manifestation  of human thinking, feeling,  world  view,  needs,   cultural  norms,  and  value hierarchies. We have  to take into account that  the works of art  were  not  always  created  for  pleasure  only or to be aesthetically  consumed122 and  this  holds  true up  to now. That's why  the works of art  reflect modes and forms  of the cultural creation of a given period and a given social group, as well - as a result, the culture of that culture and social group. In  terms of a  work of art  the whole culture  can be understood. That's  why, in cultural education  we start with the analysis of works of  art (how they are structured), but, at the  same time, we  encourage students to  experience them emotionally, and also explain them their symbolic relatedness to  the culture  of the  period that  means, we interpret the symbolic structure of works of art.
b)  The following  crucial  point  of artistic  culture is artistic creation.  This is the process  of creating works of art. In  it, in a  concentrated form, ways  and modes of  the cultural  creation  of  a  period   or  a  social  group  are reflected. Artistic  creation can be used  to explain the way man  in  a  certain  period  created  his  culture - what his relation  to  material  was,  how  he  planned  his  cultural products,  what he  aimed them   at, what  his idea  of their structure and  function was, and the  like. Art work creation can serve as  a general model of culture  creation. This fact is extremely important for cultural education, since cultural empathy can  effectively be developed  when understanding the genesis of cultural products - when we understand the origin, we also grasp the motives and, as well, a cultural and social affiliation of  the creator and  the product, the  meaning of a concrete human activity.
c)  The  introduction  into  the  processes  of  aesthetic perception can  have similar impact  on cultural empathy.  If the student  - the future teacher  thoroughly understands how his  own  aesthetic  perception  operates,  it  helps  him to discover  his own  cultural prejudice  or it  may confirm his cultural  openness.  Therefore,  the  problems  of  aesthetic perception are also an important stage on the way to cultural tolerance and empathy.
d) If students have understood cultural creation (artistic creation), the structure of  cultural products (works of art) and  the  modes  of  their  reflexion  in  the  human  psyché (aesthetic perception), we can proceed towards a more complex picture of cultural tradition.  This transition is important, since the  previous themes are by  themselves fairly isolated and only  in cultural tradition  they gain their  complex and concrete form. Through the study  of the problems of cultural tradition  we  can  immediately  pass  over  to  the national culture and  thus to a  direct attempt to  formulate cultural consciousness  of a  nation. Since  no cultural  tradition is homogenous,   containing  many   subcultures  or  alternative cultures,  the students  can be  brought to  become aware  of their own cultural group  identity. Every culture originates, is formed  and changes under  the influence of  various other cultures, taking something from  them and, in turn, enriching them.  Penetrating   into  a  cultural   tradition  can  also stimulate  the  multicultural   understanding  of  the  world provided the students do not  understand their own culture as homogenous or autonomous, but as a result of a set of stimuli coming   from  various   cultures,   and   as  a   result  of relationships with various cultures, or as a set of different cultural layers.
e) Learning  to know one's  own tradition and  penetrating into  it must  constantly be  accompanied bu  an introduction into the processes of the functioning of artistic culture (in its complex structure  consisting of institutions, creations, creators, reflection and the  like). Seen without this frame, the   understanding   of   a   tradition   could   lose   its socio-creative ring,  it could become  just little more  than a constant  mystical change  of meanings  and values.  If the tradition is  anchored in the structure  of artistic culture, it  will be  obvious who,  why, and  in what  context is  the creator  of this  tradition. Unless  concretely anchored, the tradition would be an impersonal and super-social one.
f) Aesthetic terms, both usable and useful in the cultural education of  future civics teachers, can  be complemented by issues  related  to  the  aesthetic  and  artistic values and meanings. These issues include  the way people valorize their tradition, what  meanings they take  out of it  and how, what values serve  them as motives  for further activities.  These problems  have  to  be  included  in  the process of cultural education,  since only  thus the  future teachers  can become aware  of the  inter-linking of  the themes  discussed so far with the whole of human activities. In this way, they realize or, at  least, are forced to  formulate how and why  they are going to valorize for themselves their own cultural tradition and  cultural  tradition  they  are  likely  to  come across. A similar kind of conscious valorization is indispensable for forming one's own cultural self-identity.
In  our   opinion,  cultural  self-identity   is  the  key component  of  the  whole  cultural  equipment  of the future civics teacher. The reason is  simple: If I know myself well, it is  easy for me  to understand others123.  If I understand other  people  better,  I  can  teach  them  to learn to know themselves. This is the way of the educator.
All   these  aesthetic   themes  need   one  more   thing: a theoretic  basis of  cultural anthropology  that has  to be present all the time - so that the categories or knowledge of aesthetics be  supported by its  categories. We have  in mind especially the following themes:
- what  is a culture, subculture,  alternative culture and how are they related,
- what  is value and meaning,  and what role they  play in human activities,
-  what is  a norm  and  what  impact it  may have  on the formation of value hierarchies.124
Civics  teacher   education  requires  a   combination  of aesthetics  with aesthetic  education, as  well, which  means that  education  in  scholarly  categories  should proceed in a close  relation with  aesthetic experiences  and a  special stress   should   be   laid   on   the   symbolic  (semantic) interpretation of works of art.
The following activities could be involved:
a)  Practical aesthetic  perception. The  students have to encounter  aesthetic  categories  and  laws  where  they  can simultaneously   acquire  varied   aesthetic  experiences  in abundance.  The  most  advantageous  procedure  seems  to  be starting from  an experience derived  from a work  of art (or a cultural  product)  and   then  gradually  categorize  this experience and,  in analyzing it, point  to various aesthetic and cultural laws.
b) Interpretation  of works of  art, aesthetic values  and norms.  Here,   we  have  in  mind   not  only  a  linguistic interpretation that means  transferring semantic structure of culture into a linguistic system but as well, as presented by H.S.  Broudy, engaging  an individual  basis of  reference125 which  contains  images  and  memory  traces,  and is closely inter-linked  with  imagination  and  aesthetic  images.  All psychic  potential of  a student  ought to  take part  in the interpretation of  values. This is made  possible by the fact that  in the  process of  interpretation, the  values are not just subjects  of a lecture,  but the educational  process is conceived in such a way that the student is expected to be an active seeker  of values. In  his active search,  the student can  also learn  various characteristics  of cultural product values, he learns to formulate his attitudes towards them, to experience their functions in other contexts and the like.
In the complex process of interpretation it is possible to pass over  to a comparison  of the Slovak  culture with other European   or  extra-European   cultures,  or   with  various subcultures  in such  a way  that the  evaluation process  be transferred  to   the  formation  of   the  future  teachers' self-identity, too.
The entirety of all  above mentioned approaches enables us to form the psychic capacities  of the future civics teachers so  that they  may be  able to  express and communicate their cultural  identity;so that  their culture  be experienced and cognized; so that they may understand foreign cultures and be able  to feel  empathy towards  them; so  that they  can take a stand towards culture and extra-cultural realities as fully autonomous  personalities  trusting  their  senses  and their reason, their  intuition, their feelings  and emotions, their fantasy and their logic. A certain combination of aesthetics, cultural anthropology and aesthetic education - a combination as we have analyzed here  - can efficiently form the cultural equipment of a  civics teacher. It can form it  in such a way that  the  future  teacher  may  be  able to educate students guiding them  to the priorities of  the development of Slovak culture.

C. Methods and Forms

Including  aesthetic education  and practical  experiences into  the  educational  process  should  not  make  us prefer cognitive  acquisitions  and  knowledge.  For  thus, we would neglect  the development  of the  future teachers  abilities, their value orientation and their attitudes. As a result, one of the  priorities of the cultural  education of the citizens of  the  Slovak  Republic  and   one  of  the  main  cultural competencies of a civics  teacher - his ecologically oriented consciousness could  thus be ignored. For,  in this case, the complexity  of  education  might  be  lost  -  as a result of a one-sided preference of education in the domain of culture, the experiences  from cultural products could  become lost or neglected, and the student would  not get a sufficient amount of stimuli for the development  of his fantasy, his sense for the mythical,  magical and miraculous.  That's why -  as also evident in the process of  applying aesthetic education - the methods  and forms  the cultural  education can  use must  be varied and cannot  be limited to a lecture.126  The number of forms and  methods is unlimited  for they actually  depend on the teacher, on  the possibilities of the school,  on a given students   group  (its   size,  intellectual   capacity,  its receptivity,  and  the  like),  on  the  possibilities of the cultural  region, and  other circumstances.  Let's examine in brief the main possibilities.
Besides  the theoretical  lecture -  which, of  course, is also   legitimate  just   as  transmitting   information  and broadening knowledge  is also legitimate -  it is suitable to introduce  many specimens  of  art  works, which  fosters the development  of  sensual  perception   of  the  students  and cultivates their  habit to accept variable  forms of culture. Thus,  the  interpretation  of  cultural  values becomes more concrete.  The teacher  should  ask  the students  to compare works of art, search for historical and cultural analogies or fill  the missing  contexts of  cultural products.  We can as well make use of discussions where the students are guided to solve a given  problem of culture, or choose  the best of the set  of alternative  evaluations of  the same  work of art as published  by different  critics in  the press,  or they  are encouraged  to  argue  in  favor  or  against  a  given taste estimate.  Riddles and  aesthetically oriented  psychological games can also be recommended. Various excursions to cultural monuments, museums and galleries  are very useful, since here the students learn  to know the region where  they study and, at  the same  time -  provided the  excursion is well planned - they  can themselves  experience some  methods of aesthetic education.  With  regard  to   the  complexity  of  aesthetic experiences,  and to  the complexity  of the  image of man in arts,  to combine  various kinds  of learning,  sensomotoric, conceptual,  verbal  and  also  a  problem  learning, is very conveyable,  too.  In  such  a  way,  students can experience various methods of cultural  education both during excursions and in every  lesson at school. So they  will become familiar with  the  methods  and,  on  the  strength of their personal experience, their skills in using  these methods will be more easily developed.
Since  cultural  processes   and  phenomena  exhibit  many aspects  and  contain  a  variety  of  human  and  historical connections,  cultural values  can be  related to  any social sphere.  Therefore the  cooperation with  other humanities or social  sciences  should  be  a  matter  of  course.  Besides explaining  external connections  of cultural  values, it has a much deeper impact. As stated by Maurice J. Sevigny, "to be educated  calls  for  a  developed  capacity  to  interrelate knowledge  and  concepts  from  the  humanistic dimensions of experience."127  The children  at school  often ask questions which sometimes  pass unnoticed by the  teacher. Provided the teacher has the ability to  see the wider context of cultural problems,  he  can  feel  a  simple  child's  question  as an essential  cultural  problem.  This  makes  him  to  take the question seriously and explain the problem to the children in a wider context.  This ability of  the future civics  teacher will  result  exactly  from  the  cooperation  of  humanistic disciplines.

D. Results

Model CEMSAC,  by Miron Zelina128  can help us  to explain the results of the  formation of civics teacher competencies. In the third part of the  present book we have discussed this model in  connection with the  civil education of  the future citizens.  Here, it  can help  us to  structure the  cultural education  of  the  future  civics  teachers.  We  resume the problem while we are convinced  that it is necessary that the future teacher  training should substantially  proceed in the same  way as  his educational   work in  future: that  is, if a civics  teacher  should  be  a  true  teacher, he should be endowed with the same civic virtues as those he wants to form in his students. 129
Model  CEMSAC is  based on  six constituents  of education structure:
-  on cognitive  development (=  development of  cognitive capacities)
- on emotionalizatiomn (= development of an inner relation to problems)
- on motivation (= development of interests and needs)
- on axiolization (= development of value hierarchies)
-  on  creative  development  (=  development  of creative capacities).
The future civics teacher is guided by all six directions. When considering the cultural  dimension of civics, we should have in mind the development  of cultural competencies of the teacher in the course of his  study in all six directions. In an  efficient   cultural  education,  in   which  aesthetics, aesthetic education, education  through art and multicultural education take part, the results are as follows:
a) Cognitive  development: information of  how culture and art function, acquired by the students, operates as cognitive structures through which the  future teacher reflects his own culture  and  that  of   the  students.  The  information  of processes  of creative  processes in  a culture  (i.e. of the essence,  structure,  conditions  and  progress  of creation) helps  teachers understand  human expressive  power and  thus reflect the child's attempts  at expressing oneself. When the teacher knows how artistic culture functions, it may help him to transmit the children ways and modes indispensable for the emergence and existence of  national culture, to explain them how a cultural tradition operates and how various culture are inter-linked and influence each other.
b) Emotionalization:  Through the development  of cultural empathy the student - future teacher acquired a capability of feeling cultural differences in  the behavior and thinking of various  citizens. This  might  motivate  him to  respect the cultural diversity of children he is working with.
c)  Socialization:  Cultural  education  guides the future teachers to an active  participation in creating the cultural tradition  and  in  forming  the  cultural  identity  of  his surroundings. That means that if  a future teacher behaves as a cultured  citizen, then  he  either  takes part  in culture creation  or, at  least, he  lives a  cultured life,  full of cultural experiences.  He then transmits them  to children in the  process of  civics. Through  his capability  of cultural empathy and  tolerance he supports cultural  diversity of his students, but at the same  time, he guides them to preserving their own cultural identity. The socialization of the teacher manifests  itself in  his  active  or responsible  efforts to promote the culture of his society.
d)   Motivation:  Cultural   education  can   enhance  the motivation  of the  future civics  teachers by  forming their value  orientations. It  instills a  respect towards cultural diversity. A  teacher who respects the  cultural diversity of the people,  feels an inner urge  to stimulate the children's cultural identity, for he understands  that a society is that much richer as much it is diversified. Here, motivation meets axiologization, since both of them form value hierarchies.
e) Axiolization:  Here, a more complex  formation of value hierarchies  takes  place.  By  means  of  understanding  the cultural tradition  the students - future  teachers - acquire an  awareness  of  their  own  cultural  identity  (personal, regional, group,  national identity, and the  like), pride in it and an effort to cultivate it.
f) Creative development: The content of cultural education can  hardly   contribute  to  the   development  of  creative capacities of the students. These  can mainly be developed by means of various forms and methods of cultural education. The creative perceptive  capacities of teachers,  however, can be substantially developed in the first place.
The result  of forming cultural  competencies of a  civics teacher can be summarized as follows:
A.  From the  point of   view of  the content  of cultural education we can mostly  promote the development of cognitive structures   in   the   teacher's   consciousness  (cognitive development)  and  the  formation  of  his  value hierarchies (axiolization).
B. From  the point of  view of educational  targets we can mainly  promote  the  development  of  cultural tolerance and empathy   (socialization)   and   the   formation   of  value hierarchies   or   needs   of   students   (axiolization  and motivation).
C. From the point of view of educational forms and methods we  can  stimulate  creativity  of  the  students  (creativve development) and again - formation of their value hierarchies (axiolization).  When viewed  from this  angle, the  personal attitude of a university  teacher to cultural problems130 may have  a considerable  impact which  can deeply  influence the students'    interest    in    the    problems   (motivation, emotionalization and axiolization).
We see that Zelina's model CEMSAC explains further aspects of  the civics  teacher training.  This model  shows that the cultural  education  of  future   teachers  can  promote  all important structures  of their psyché  so that they  can form their  future  students  through   the  complexity  of  their personalities and  not only through  their abstract thinking. Zelina's  model  shows  us   that  through  forming  cultural competencies  it is  possible to  form a  "can-know-want-act" teacher.131   He  will   thus  become   compatible  with  the personalities of  his children whom  he will want  to form as "can-know-want-act" citizens.  The teacher, to  be sure, will then  not  just  explain  the  children  what  it means to be a citizen,  for he  himself will  be a  true responsible  and active citizen. And exactly this  will make him a good civics teacher.

101)  Asa G.  Hilliard, "Restructuring  Teacher Education for Multiultural Imperatives," in Multicultural Education Through Competency-Based   Teacher  Education,   ed.  W.   A.  Hunter (Washington,  D.C.:  American  Association  of  Colleges  for Teacher Education, 1974), 41
102)   The  concepts   cultural  competencies   and  cultural equipment are used here as synonyms. The concept competencies - used  in  world  literature  -  puts  more  stress  on  the teacher's  ability   to  work  with   children.  The  concept equipment emphasizes the complexity of abilities.
103)  Kevin Ryan  and James  M. Cooper,  Those Who Can, Teach (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1988), 435
104)   L.   Eudora   Pettigrew,   "Competency-Based   Teacher Education: Teacher Training  for Multicultural Education," in Multicultural  Education   Through  Competency-Based  Teacher Education, 75
105) L. Eudora Pettigrew, 75
106)  Cf.  Wolfgang  Welsch,  Estetické myslenie (Bratislava: Archa, 1993), 9
107) Wolfgang Welsch, 36
108) Cf. Wolfgang Welsch, 40
109) Kevin Rayn and James M. Cooper, 156
110)  Anne-Lise  Hoestmark  Tarrou,  "The  Goals  of Enhancing National  and International  Cultures. Challenges  to Teacher Education?   Contribution  to   Teacher  Training   Congress. (Jyväskylä: Univesrity of Jyväskylä, 1991), 18
111)  Teodora  Kuklinková,  "K  problematike rozvíjania vkusu v estetickej výchove," in Estetická  kultúra (Teória - výskum - prax), ed. J. Šalgovičová and J. Tazberík (Bratislava, VÚK, 1982), 103
112) Maurice J. Sevigny,  "Discipline-based Art Education and Teacher Education,"  The Journal of  Aesthetic Education 21.2 (Summer 1987): 112
113) Ralph  A. Smith, "The  Changing Image of  Art Education: Theoretical  Antecedents of  Discipline-based Art Education," The Journal of Aesthetic Education 21.2 (Summer 1987), 27
114)  E. Feldman,  Becoming  Human  Through Art  (New Jersey: Prentice   Hall,  1982),   quoted  by   Rachel  Mason,  "Some Student-Teachers' Experiments in Art Education and Humanistic Understanding," Journal of Art & Design Education 4.1 (1985): 31
115) Kevin Ryan and James M. Cooper, 437
116) We repeatedly emphasize  the purposefulness of a complex aesthetic education (discipline-based  art education) in this case.
117) Bertil  Sundin, "A Comment  of Aesthetic Socialization", Council for Research in Music Education Bulletin 85 (1985): 1
118) Bertil Sundin, 1
119) Remember  the unity of  citizenship as legal  status and citizenship as activity
120) Compare the  ideas of Louis A. Reid  and Harry S. Broudy as quoted in the previous part of the book.
121) Aesthetics,  however, in this  functioning cannot remain isolated, because,  in spite of  the richness of  the subject - art - it does not by far comprise human culture as a whole. That's why  it is obliged  to resort to  the cooperation with other  disciplines, among  others  for  the sake  of cultural education:  a) with  philosophy  that  can supply  world view aspects  of  culture  and   thus  complement  the  domain  of aesthetics; b)  with ethics that  searches for and  indicates moral dimensions of human culture;  c) with history that adds aesthetics  and   its  function  a   historic  dimension;  d) religious  science   explaining  an  important   -  religious - aspect of a great number of cultural acts, and with others. Here,  we  are  not  going  to  deal  with their relations to aesthetics in  teacher training, for  it would go  beyond the framework of the present inquiry.
122) Erwin Panofsky, Význam ve výtvarném umění (Praha: Odeon, 1981), 19
123) As already stated by  Thales of Miletos, to know oneself is  the most  difficult of  all things.  The more  important, however, it is to guide teachers towards knowing themselves.
124)  We  have  in  mind  here  a  French  model  of cultural anthropology rather than an Anglo-American one.
125) Cf.  Harry S. Broudy,  The Uses of  Schooling, 21. Harry Broudy writes about allusionary base.
126)  We have  in mind  a lecture  which is  not only de jure registered as a lecture but, in fact, it is a presentation of theoretical problems
127) Maurice J. Sevigny, 120
128) Published  in Miron Zelina,  Stratégie a metódy  rozvoja osobnosti dieťaťa (Bratislava: IRIS, 1994)
129) We point to a certain advance of the teacher with regard to  children -  as mentioned  when dealing  with problems  of cultural education in the first part of the present book.
130) An  often recurring situation  when the educator  has to formulate his personal (not merely professional) attitude and opinion or feeling, is meant here.
131) Cf. the third part of the present book.