Art Literacy as a Core Competency: A Study on the Paradigm Shift of Aesthetic Education Evaluation System in Higher Education

Abstract

Against the backdrop of the complex and ever-changing 21st century, art literacy has evolved from a marginal “soft skill” into a core competency integrating aesthetic judgment, innovative thinking and value shaping, emerging as a crucial underpinning for moral education and the all-round development of talents in higher education. As a key component of the holistic education system that integrates moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic and labor education, the adaptability of the aesthetic education evaluation system directly determines the effectiveness of education. However, the current aesthetic education evaluation in Chinese universities is still trapped in the traditional paradigm of “technologism” and “knowledge-based orientation”, facing bottlenecks such as a narrow-minded conceptual understanding, a single evaluation method and an unbalanced evaluation subject. It can hardly meet the demand for fostering art literacy, making the promotion of a paradigm shift in the aesthetic education evaluation system an urgent task. From the perspective of core competency, this paper explores the internal driving forces of this paradigm shift, constructs a philosophical framework for evaluation centered on “literacy-based orientation”, and proposes practical paths featuring multi-dimensional indicators, progressive whole-cycle evaluation, intelligent empowerment and closed-loop application. It also establishes an institutional support system from the dimensions of governance structure, institutional design and resource guarantee. The research aims to drive the transformation of aesthetic education evaluation from “skill and knowledge assessment” to “literacy and competency evaluation”, and from “summative appraisal” to “developmental guidance”. It is intended to provide a theoretical reference and practical framework for universities to deepen the reform of aesthetic education and improve the quality of talent cultivation, helping aesthetic education truly become a core support for nurturing a new generation of talents with sound personalities and innovative capabilities in the new era.