Vol. 12 No. 2 (2016)

EDITORIAL

Glen Coutts

Pages: 135–136

ARTICLES

Beyond museum walls: Visual narrative through images and history

Valeria Peixoto de Alencar

Pages: 137–151

Abstract: This article presents the analysis of visual narratives produced by 13–14-year-old students after visiting a historical exhibition at Museu Paulista of the University of São Paulo, Brazil. Our goal was to understand which memories and reflections remained latent after the educational visit. In order to do so, we proceeded with a follow-up activity at the school the students attend. The discussion we propose concerning the relationship between image and history was mainly introduced by Burke, whereas Hooper-Greenhill focused on the images in a history museum context. Furthermore, we analyse to what extent a display designed 90 years ago can impact the production of these students. In addition, there was considerable effort by the museum educators to help them develop critical interpreting skills. The idea of ‘real learning’ of Atkinson also contributed to my considerations on the students’ work.

Learning bodies and engaging with art: Staging aesthetic experiences in museum education

Helen Illeris

Pages: 153–165

Abstract: How can we stimulate encounters between students and artworks that are both sensuous, meaningful and transformational? How can we involve students’ bodies in aesthetic experiences in art museums? Inspired by Richard Shusterman the article focuses on three dimensions of the aesthetic experience: the phenomenological, the semantic and the transformational. Together with Judith Butler’s concepts of performativity and performance, these notions are used to discuss the role of ‘the learning body’ in three case studies carried out in art museums over a ten-year period. The study sheds light on how the concept of aesthetic experience can be used for understanding the pedagogical value of encounters between young people and contemporary art. Another aim is to show how the body as locus for aesthetic experiences can challenge traditional understandings of the learning body and to discuss how to develop performative forms of art education that actively involves students’ bodies.

Patterns of awareness – preschool teachers’ integration of arts and mathematics

Eva Ahlskog-Björkman and Camilla Björklund

Pages: 167–180

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate how preschool teachers reason about art in thematic work where art and mathematics are integrated. Specific research questions were: how do teachers reason about learning goals in thematic work and what meaning do art and aesthetics contribute to children’s learning? Data for analysis were collected from a digitally distributed questionnaire that was answered by 27 participants from Finland and Sweden. Participants were selected from preschool teacher networks and from municipalities’ official websites of preschool staff. The method for analysis was explorative and inductive, as we condensed meaning from the written answers. A meta-analysis revealed that art and aesthetics appear mainly as a means for children’s learning of other knowledge areas or as experiences bearing their own values. In contrast, the analysis also revealed that integration of art and mathematics may contribute to the learning of both knowledge contents, for deeper and conceptual learning.

Knowing me knowing you: Enhancing emotional literacy through visual arts

Margaret Nixon

Pages: 181­­­–193

Abstract: This article presents Enhancing Emotional Literacy through Visual Arts (ELVA) an

innovative approach, developed by The Dax Centre, incorporating visual arts and mental health for primary school students. ELVA, beginning as a five-year project, and funded though a philanthropic grant, is the result of the collaborative efforts of a multidisciplinary advisory group of teachers, child psychotherapists, psychiatrists and art therapists, is lead by a project manager and overseen by the Director of the Dax Centre. Through an examination of ELVA’s theoretical frame and its unique

experientially based teacher professional learning component, this article will high-light the contribution ELVA offers to existing well-being and visual arts approaches in schools. It will also present the findings of an independent evaluation of the initial pilot phase of ELVA.

The landscape of websites for art education and a portrait of their designers

Tingting Windy Wang

Pages: 195­–210

Abstract: The increasing visit numbers for art teaching and learning-related websites indicated that websites have become an indispensible resource and information provider for art learners and teachers. In this study, I sought answers to questions such as what websites were art learners and teachers using? What technologies were used by these websites? Who built these websites? Why did they build these websites? What expectations did these website builders have for their audiences? I shared over 70 art teaching and learning-related websites, and had 33 of them evaluated by 57 research participants using a seven-part coding scheme. On the basis of the evaluation survey results, I interviewed four website builders/owners. The top-rated websites were shared and discussed, focusing on website builders’ motivations, over-all purposes, their expectations towards the websites, as well as their technological applications in their websites.

Mobilities, aesthetics and civic engagement: Getting at-risk youth to look at their communities

David Pariser, Juan Carlos Castro and Martin Lalonde

Pages: 211–225

Abstract: This article describes a mobile media art curriculum for engaging at-risk students with their schooling and with civic engagement. The pilot study was conducted with at-risk youth who were seeking their high school diplomas. The curriculum encouraged participants to use mobile media in school and outside. Students examined aspects of their neighbourhoods and sometimes explored themes suggested by the workshop leader. Data consisted of participants’ images, their posts and interview responses. We noted that civic engagement grew out of participants’ initial interest in, and concern for, the formal, technical and aesthetic aspects of their images. Our participants recognized that, if an image is well made, it will be that much more effective in communicating its civic message. In this article, we will consider the primacy of the aesthetic as a promising principle for developing curricula that reorient at-risk youth.

BOOK REVIEWS

Arts-Based and Contemplative Practices in Research and Teaching: Honouring Presence, Susan Walsh, Barbara Bickel and Carl Leggo (eds) (2015)

Marni J. Binder

Pages: 227–229

Art Education in Germany, George Peez (ed.) (2015)

Harold Pearse

Pages: 229–231

Doctoral Writing in Creative and Performing Arts, Louise Ravelli, Brian Paltridge and Sue Starfield (eds) (2014)

Julia Lockheart

Pages: 231–233