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Arts & Culture

Specialist High Skills Major - Arts & Culture

The Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) in Arts and Culture enables students to build a foundation of sector-focused knowledge and skills before graduating and entering apprenticeship training, college, university, or an entry-level position in the workplace. 

Where local circumstances allow, boards may elect to offer one or more variants of the SHSM in a given sector, each with a particular area of focus. This SHSM may be designed to have a particular focus – for example, on dance, dramatic arts management or technical production. This focus is achieved through the selection of the four major credits in the bundle.

Bundle of eight Grade 11 and Grade 12 credits

These credits make up the bundle:

  • four arts and culture major credits that provide sector-specific knowledge and skills. The four courses must include at least one Grade 11 and one Grade 12 credit, and may include one cooperative education credit related to the sector. (This cooperative education credit would be additional to the two that are required in the bundle; see below);

  • two other required credits from the Ontario curriculum, in each of which some expectations must be met through a contextualized learning activity (CLA) for the arts and culture sector. The two credits include:
    • one in English; 1
    • one in business studies or Canadian and world studies (or a cooperative education credit related to the sector, which would be additional to the two cooperative education credits required in the bundle; see below);

  • two cooperative education credits that provide authentic learning experiences in a workplace setting, enabling students to refine, extend, apply, and practise sector-specific knowledge and skills.

Note:  A compulsory English credit is required in Grade 11 and in Grade 12 for graduation with an OSSD. Schools may determine whether the CLA, required for the SHSM bundle of credits, is completed in the Grade 11 or Grade 12 English course.

Sector-recognized certifications and/or training courses/programs

This SHSM sector requires students to complete a specified number of compulsory and elective sector-recognized certifications and/or training courses/programs, as indicated in the following table.

Note: Where an item in the table is capitalized, it is the proper name of the specific certification or training course/program that is appropriate for the SHSM. Where an item is lower cased, it is the name of an area, type, or category of training for which specific certifications or training courses/programs should be selected by the school or board. 

Three (3) compulsory

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Level C – includes automated external defibrillation (AED)

Standard First Aid

Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) – generic (i.e., not site-specific) instruction

Three (3) electives from the list below

advanced training in a technique (e.g., figure drawing, conducting, sewing)

advanced training in a technology (e.g., 3D printing, laser cutting, Serato)

advanced training in an art form (e.g., mime, tap dance, improvisation)

advanced training in art therapy

anti-oppression and allyship training

audition preparation

basic electrical safety

Beauty Specialist Certification Program – three-part course

curatorial techniques

customer service

elevated work platforms

event coordination

fall protection

framing and matting

game design

 health and safety – basic

instructor certification

interactive art forms

ladder safety training

leadership skills

lighting and sound equipment maintenance

makeup/cosmetology

musical instrument repair

portfolio development

 project management  proposal/grant writing  pyrotechnics  recording equipment

sector-specific software 1

(e.g., animation, graphic arts)

sector-specific software 2

(e.g., photography)


stage combat

technical staging

 Working at Heights wrapping and taping for performance and injury     



Experiential Learning & Career Exploration

Experiential learning and career exploration opportunities relevant to the sector might include the following:

  • one-on-one observation of a cooperative education student at a placement in the arts and culture sector (an example of job twinning)
  • a day-long observation of an artist (an example of job shadowing)
  • a one- or two-week work experience with a member of an industry association or a professional in the sector (an example of work experience)
  • participation in a local, provincial, or national competition focused on one of the arts
  • attendance at a sector trade show, conference, symposium, or job fair
  • a tour of a local theatre, museum, studio, or art gallery

Sector Partnered Contextualized Experience (SPCE)

Innovative, Creativity & Entrepreneurship Training (ICE)
The ICE training in SHSM programs will allow students to understand the world from the perspectives of others, generate new ideas, and give students the confidence to develop strategies to implement and sustain their ideas while considering the impacts and consequences their innovation has on the world around them.

OR

Sector-delivered Contextualized Coding
(e.g. SHSM-Agriculture:  GPS, GIS, Computer-controlled Devices with Ontario Federation of Agriculture)

OR

Sector-delivered Contextualized Mathematical Literacy
(e.g. SHSM-Horticulture and Landscaping: estimating, measuring, and budgeting with Landscape Ontario)

Reach Ahead Experiences

Students are provided one or more reach ahead experiences – opportunities to take the next steps along their chosen pathway – as shown in the following examples:

  • Apprenticeship: visiting an approved apprenticeship delivery agent in the sector
  • College: interviewing a college student enrolled in a sector-specific program
  • University: observing a university class in a sector-related program
  • Workplace: interviewing an employee in the sector
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