FORMATION OF STUDENTS' CULTURAL COMPETENCE IN GEOGRAPHY LESSONS THROUGH INTEGRATION WITH ART

Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive examination of the formation of students' cultural competence as one of the key components of contemporary geographical education within the framework of the New Ukrainian School concept. The relevance of this study stems from the need to bridge the cognitive gap between the acquisition of purely factual geographical knowledge and the understanding of its deeper socio-cultural significance. The author offers both a theoretical substantiation and practical validation of a methodology for the interdisciplinary integration of school geography with the visual and musical arts.
Central focus is placed on the author's methodological technique, “The Story of a Painting”, which transforms an artistic canvas from an illustrative supplement into a full-fledged source of scientific information. The study presents a step-by-step algorithm for analyzing works of art, including cultural-historical perception, geographical identification of the object, as well as natural and socio-economic analysis of the landscape.
Using Arkhip Kuindzhi’s masterpiece “Moonlit Night on the Dnieper,” the article demonstrates the potential for visualizing hydrological features and forming a mental image of the native land. Special emphasis is placed on patriotic upbringing and the formation of civic identity through the analysis of Albert Bettannier’s painting “The Geography Lesson” (“The Black Spot”). The author draws conceptual parallels between the historical experience of France and the contemporary challenges of Ukraine regarding the preservation of territorial integrity and the study of the geography of temporarily occupied territories as an integral part of the national space.
Additionally, the potential of auditory integration is highlighted through the “Auditory Landscape of a Region” technique, illustrated by the example of a musical map of the United States, in which musical genres (jazz, country, techno) are analyzed as outcomes of human interaction with specific geographical environments. The conclusions emphasize that the proposed integrative approaches foster the development of students’ visual literacy, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence, transforming geography into an effective instrument for an individual's self-identification within the global cultural space and a means of educating a conscious citizen.