Creativity and design thinking skills are considered pillars in arts practice in general. Traditional arts education, in particular, involves a tension between pure technical skill and the ability to design creatively regardless of craft limitations. The present study focuses on eliminating the boundaries between craft and art and bridging the gap…

This article analyses the educational possibilities of art installations in the training of future early childhood and primary school teachers. I start by reviewing the origins of installation art before presenting an experience designed for teachers based on the creation of scale models and installation experiences. Scale model installations…

This article critically reflects on the pedagogical practices I explored, reimagined, and employed while shifting dance improvisation education from face-to-face lessons in a dance studio setting to existing online platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Through self-study research as a method of inquiry I analyse my experiences…

This article adds to the discussion of arts-based approaches to teaching poetry by exploring an example of Poetry on the Wall and its potential for poetry education. Poetry on the Wall intertwines literary and visual elements by materializing and visualizing poetry in a physical environment. The study centers on the poem Reading List created and…

Peers influence each other and learning can be shaped by shared processes. The purpose of this article is to pedagogically explore collective effort in the dance technique studio in a conservatoire setting. This practice-based research flows from the studio and has relevance for all higher arts education contexts. It is developed from the…

Classroom drama holds promise for student learning across disciplines. When Shakespeare's works are included in diverse classrooms, supported by drama activities, students can embody, voice, and explore themes and societal issues, bringing such themes alive. This study documents challenges and opportunities reported by teachers in their first-year…

In an attempt to bridge the gap between the distinct pedagogical strategies often employed in the respective fields of song and dance, this study investigates how collaborative teaching and dialogue can serve as a starting point in finding new teaching and learning methods. This pilot study involving three teacher-researchers and three students…

Research claims that entrepreneurial skills and knowledge are important for the careers of musicians (Bennett, 2016; Breivik, Selvik, Bakke, Welde & Jermstad, 2015; Coulson, 2012). Alumni of higher music education (HME) report "a gap between the perceived importance of such [entrepreneurial] skills and their acquisition" (Miller,…

Racism is a social construct that is inscribed on the body. In this study, two dance educators working in the U.S. engage the body in the dismantling of racism. This case study is presented on teaching anti-racism in dance education, through embodied dance making processes. For this study, over sixty undergraduate students participated in…

A four-month research period into the practice of free music improvisation in Brazil during February-June 2014 allowed intriguing insights into how musicians think about, play and teach the music practice that is referred to as 'free improvisation.' An overview of the term 'free improvisation' with some historical context on its development will…

"Strange Fruit," a song popularized by Billie Holiday in 1939, paints a gruesome picture of racial violence suffered by former African-American slaves following Reconstruction, 1863-1877 (Foner, 2011). While many scholars have analyzed the lyrics of "Strange Fruit", research that focuses on young people's reaction to the song…

Maxine Greene championed that teachers and students can discover openings providing space for the development of wide-awakeness through art and aesthetic education. Wide-awakeness is a heightened sense of consciousness encouraging critical awareness and deep engagement with one's world. As individuals come alive in this way, their open-minded…

Drawing on theories and practices in literacy education and in particular, the concepts of semiotics and transmediation, we explored the possibility of arts-based experiences such as Augusto Boal's Image Theatre in facilitating transformation of thinking in the context of global citizenship education. The objectives of this research were twofold.…

In this paper, co-musicking in teaching is discussed on the basis of findings from a study on pop band and piano teaching. We understand co-musicking as collaboration between music-makers, including pupils. For this study, we chose to focus on the actions that teachers and student teachers take during pupils' performance of a piece of music in a…

During this inquiry, I describe my journey as a beginning arts-based researcher, using this methodological approach to explore the "peak experiences" of five, second-grade gifted students in a general classroom. Concerned with collecting valid data from young children through traditional interviewing techniques, I turned to Arts-Based…