Faculty of Visual Arts and Music, Education and Sport (Savaria Campus)

The faculty was established in 2002 within the Berzsenyi Dániel College and today it is called University of West Hungary – Savaria Campus. This faculty trains secondary and primary school teachers. The training structure went through smaller changes and finally in autumn 2007 the faculty was renamed Faculty of Visual Arts and Music, Education and Sport. On 1st January, 2008, this faculty of the Savaria Campus was incorporated as one of the faculties of the University of West Hungary.

 

The three main fields of training combined are unique in the country. These fields of training are connected through the secondary and primary school teacher training. As a centre of the new M.Sc. and M.A. teacher training, the faculty has an excellent cooperation with the Bolyai János Demonstration Primary and Secondary Grammar School as well as with the Regional Pedagogy Centre in Szombathely, which is a part of the university. This regional centre connects the faculty to the public education of this region.

Adult education is becoming more and more important. The faculty trains educators to organize adult education, to develop human resources and communities, to convey culture, and to provide vocational and career counselling, and to coordinate education and the labour market. This far-reaching education is done by the Institute of Andragogy, which was established in 2008.

The faculty educates teachers of music and drawing. The B.A. level education for applied artists and teachers of religious music is unique.

The faculty’s sport training is important throughout the country. The Sports Association, the largest sports association in the county, offers the largest variety of sports activities. The Szombathely-based consortium organizing research on sports will provide further improvement in sports education in cooperation of 23 European higher educational institutions.

This program has been expanded to fit the needs of the region. The faculty trains recreation specialists. In 2008 the Institute of Health Development was founded to further expand the program of education. These graduates know the modern approach to health, having theoretical knowledge and the appropriate skills. They are important links in the development of a positive attitude to health. They will be able to improve the awareness towards health at various stages of our life, at schools, workplaces, in communities and in civil organisations.

 

There is subject based and general pedagogical research connected to public education. The faculty does research on the development of curriculum and methodology of higher education. The faculty’s research on the history of education is important.

Research on adult education is closely connected to other social sciences, especially to the relation between higher and adult education and demands of the labour market. There is also research on the development of communities in disadvantaged rural areas and minority groups.

The main fields of research in sports and recreation are the following: defining values of sports, taking a survey of values leading to a physically active lifestyle and its effects. They emphasize the investigation of health conditions and attitudes to health among higher education students. The Institute of Health Development investigates the effects of lifestyle and physical activity on bone density in school-age children.

The teachers at the Institute of Arts are mostly artists and performers. The teachers study and show traditional and modern types and methods of visual art. Teachers and students are involved in the Music Workshop. There is research on Hungarian religious music. The music of the Esterházy court is also an important subject matter. The faculty is proud of its Berzsenyi Dániel Mixed Choir, which is nationally and internationally recognized.