Development and Implementation of a Modular Curriculum on Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Arts for Students Majoring in "Art Education"

The purpose of this study is the development and testing of a modular curriculum on Chinese intangible cultural heritage (ICH) for Russian art students. The relevance of the work is determined by the fragmented content on Chinese ICH in Russian art education, the lack of systematic goals and a structured approach, which hinders the formation of a holistic understanding of this topic among students. To address these issues, a modular program was developed, focused on key ICH art forms: paper cutting, shadow theater, and Peking opera mask making. The program is based on three principles: cultural adaptation, integration of theory with practice, and differentiated instruction. The program features a three-dimensional structure of "theoretical knowledge – practical skills – innovative application" with a total volume of 36 hours (40% theory, 60% practice) and includes three difficulty levels (basic, intermediate, advanced) to account for individual student differences. The research employed methods of pedagogical experiment, comparative analysis, and questionnaires. The experiment was conducted at Moscow State Pedagogical University with 120 art majors divided into experimental and control groups. The scientific novelty lies in the first development for Russian art education of a specialized modular program on Chinese ICH, comprehensively integrating the principles of cultural adaptation, theory with practice, and differentiation. The experimental results confirmed the program's high effectiveness. The students of the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group on key indicators: the level of cultural knowledge (by 21.7 points), practical skills (by 27.4 points), and the ability to develop lesson plans (85% vs. 32%). 80% of students successfully applied ICH-related skills in creative works and the creation of adapted curricula. The study provides a practical tool for intercultural art education, promoting the systematic dissemination of Chinese ICH in Russia and the mutual enrichment of the pedagogical approaches of the two countries.