The Seoul Agenda: Goals for the Development of Arts Education was unanimously endorsed by all UNESCO Member States in 2011. It is the only existent policy paper of global relevance on arts education. It provided the frame of reference for an international inquiry into arts education experts’ perceptions of key issues in the field: access and participation, quality, and the benefits of arts education. Nearly 400 experts from 61 countries around the world participated in this research. The book presents findings, commentaries, and reflections contributed by 51 international scholars and expert practitioners.

This yearbook reflects the growing practice around the world of interchanging the terms arts education and cultural education to such an Extent that they may eventually be regarded as (nearly) synonymous. We question if there are differences, and how arts and cultural education may be interwoven in different regions of the world. With this in mind, we want to reconsider fundamental questions of what arts education is about. The articles of this volume analyse and discuss the possibilities and challenges of arts and cultural education around the world.

This yearbook is the third in an annual series of publications by the International Network for Research in Arts Education (INRAE). 104 scholars from across the world convey the zeitgeist of key issues in research in arts education through 91 entries. Various disciplines of arts education (music, art, visual arts and digital media, drama and theatre), as well as sections on interdisciplinary themes (culture, communities, teaching and learning, assessment, policy, morals, ethics and aesthetics) and methodological issues (a research section), are incorporated in a compendium for every researcher, student, teacher or artist who wants to be engaged in the recent exchange of scholarly ideas on what is considered significant by the many.

This Yearbook published by the International Network for Research in Arts Education (INRAE) is designed as a forum for information sharing and discussion of issues arising from the adoption and implementation of the Seoul Agenda. It is intended as a vivid contribution to the international debate about quality in arts education: short, contextual contributions summarize recent advances made in this field and establish the parameters for ongoing discussion.