Curricula

The Institute for Education in the Arts (IKL) at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna is characterized by the curricular integration of the practice of art, design, culture, education, and theoretical reflection. The Bachelor’s and Master’s programs offered at the IKL qualify graduates to teach at secondary level schools: the program Art and Education for the teaching subject Kunst und Gestaltung, and the program Design and Education for the teaching subject Technik und Design. In addition, the interdisciplinary programs qualify students for creative and educative professions beyond school: from adult education in the fields of art and culture to independent forms of practice in the areas of art and design.

The courses offered are designed to enable students firstly to acquire interdisciplinary skills in the fine arts, architecture, design, fashion, and related fundamental skills in technology and media, and secondly to engage in reflection based on insights from cultural studies and the practice and theory of being an educator of art and culture. The programs provide students with extensive skills beyond teaching qualifications enabling graduates to work as cultural educators, in art and cultural studies, and in design and artistic fields.

A teacher-training program in Austria must be a combined training program of at least two school subjects. The Institute for Art Education offers two teaching subjects that can be combined with each other (internal combination). It is equally possible to study one teaching subject at the IKL and enroll for the second teaching subject at another Austrian university (external combination).

To be admitted to the BA programs in Education in the Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, applicants must – in addition to a high school certificate or an equivalent qualification – successfully complete an entrance examination. For further information on the admission examination, see below. 

Info on German skills required

INFO ON THE NEW CURRICULUM

As of 1 October 2026, the National Council has decided that education programs for teaching secondary level schools will be restructured into a three-year Bachelor’s and a two-year Master’s program. Accordingly, as of 1 October 2026, the new curriculum for Art and Education - teaching subject Kunst und Gestaltung - as well as for Design and Education - teaching subject Technik und Design - come into effect. The new Bachelor’s degree comprises 180 ECTS credits and consists of two subjects of study including subject didactics, pedagogical studies and teaching practice with 95 and 70 ECTS credits respectively, as well as 15 ECTS credits in general educational sciences. The workload of the Master’s program amounts to 120 ECTS credits. The Master’s program consists of two-degree courses including subject didactics, pedagogical studies and teaching practice with 50 and 25 ECTS credits respectively, as well as 15 ECTS credits in general educational sciences and an MA completion phase of 30 ECTS credits.

The new curricula and detailed information on them will be made available here as soon as possible.

Content of the teacher training programs "Education in the Arts"

The teacher training programs offered at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna are based on a notion of art and culture that critically reflects upon changes within society. The result is a definition of art and culture that forms a framework for cultural expression and social production to be mutually dependent. Art and culture are considered as a locus to be inhabited, something to be negotiated, comparable to a language that constitutes and reconstitutes itself and its speakers as it is used. On a methodological level, this is manifested by the combination of cultural production, reflection, and communication. Within this context, cultural production stands for the ability to articulate one's creative ideas, which contains - without being limited to - the notion of art; cultural reflection is the capability of understanding and embedding artistic, creative, and social action in discursive contexts; and communication is the principle of dialogue whereby art and culture are conveyed, a principle which is defined by interaction with a variety of target groups and formats.

While the teacher training programs Art and Education and Design in Context are each focused on different aspects of cultural activities, they are also integrative in nature. The mutual interrelatedness in diversity aims at breaking with historical conventions determining artistic practice and cultural education both within schools and elsewhere. Specifically, this means that everyday culture is increasingly integrated into the thematic fields and practical forms of art, design, fashion, architecture, urban life, and textile practice. In this context, everyday culture refers to a wide range of expressions of life, both urban and rural, connected as much with pop, style, and practices of resistance as with popular culture and rituals of adaptation, and equally well versed in new technologies and old craft traditions.