Transformation of Conventional Conservatory Educational Methods in Turkey During Pandemic

Abstract

Conservatories are institutions born within the 19th century nation- state paradigm with the aim of preserving art education. Professional artists are aimed to be trained in conservatory- style art schools organized with a combination of music, dance, and theater. Traditional conservatory training focuses mainly on the master- apprentice relationship and mostly face- to- face practical lessons. However, the COVID- 19 pandemic, which started in 2020 and is still ongoing, has caused radical changes in the learning processes of educators and students by breaking all the routines in the field of arts education. It would seem the traditional conservatory education should be revised on the global axis to continue both education and artistic production in the new normal after the pandemic. Compelling pedagogical and artistic consequences in conservatory education occurred due to the mandatory hybrid transformation caused by the pandemic, lack of digital preparation, and technological infrastructure problems. In addition, there are different perspectives regarding digital education transformation in performing arts. In this chapter, the new trends in conservatory education in Turkey during the pandemic period are analyzed. First of all, the hybrid approaches in conservatory education and theoretical foundations of digitalization in art education are reviewed. Then, semi- structured interviews are held with the academicians who work at the state or private universities. Data is collected, and inferences are made on the data generated for the post- pandemic period. It is desirable for future work that the hybrid approaches and distance learning methodology used in performing arts education are discussed by both academics and students. © 2022 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.