This article documents work with pre/in service teachers who are university students across three universities in three regions of the US, across multiple courses. Given our shared concern about the narrowing of space for imaginative literacy practices in schools, we focus on our collective use of open-ended, arts-based pedagogies as a way to…

Because long-term English language learners (LTELs) in California normatively take two hours of English language instruction beginning in middle school, their schedules disallow participation in electives, such as arts, representing a significant opportunity gap. This mixed methods study examined the student, parent, and teacher experiences as…

An extensive body of work has demonstrated the benefits of participating in the arts, including when it is integrated into other disciplines, for young adults. In addition, this work highlights the likely advantages of engagement with the arts for students from low-income backgrounds as they transition into elite postsecondary institutions. Such…

This study employs interpretative phenomenological analysis to investigate theatre artists' perceptions and experiences of the phenomenon of devising and performing an ethnodramatic play about depression. Specifically, it explores reflective journal entries the artists wrote after each rehearsal and performance. The analytic process included…

Much has been written on the history of Abeokuta and their artworks since their occupation of Abeokuta. Yoruba works of art are in museums and private collections abroad. Many museums in the Western part of Nigeria including the National Museum in Abeokuta also have works of art on display; however, much of these are not specific to Abeokuta.…

The Sugar Plays are a family-focused health intervention. The goal of the play is to explore the experience of living with a Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) diagnosis in Appalachia. This present study examined audience reactions using three data-collection methods: (1) open-ended questionnaires, (2) participatory sketches and (3) semi-structured…

This paper shares the results of an exploratory study that measured the change in Executive Function (EF) skills of At-Risk third-grade students with varying Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) before and after an Arts-Integration (AI) program. Student EF skills were measured using the Minnesota Executive Function Scale (MEFS) and a statistically…

Pupils with intellectual disabilities have personal, social and communication challenges as stated in DSM-5 (APA, 2013) and ICD-10 (WHO, 1992). As such, their cognition in general and language acquisition in particular are difficulties they struggle with in school. As a result, teaching them becomes cumbersome for teachers and caregivers. However,…

The present study adopted a case-study qualitative design to discover how science undergraduates at one public university in the eastern U.S. understood writing and how they evaluated creative or personal writing in relation to their science identities. Findings suggest that science majors in this volunteer sample defined science writing as…

While middle school is a critical phase for science career development for all students (Maltese & Tai, 2009), this stage presents considerations for females in science, in particular. During middle school, the decline in science interest is greater for females than males and, for most students, the level of science interest developed during…

Little is known about the connection between arts-integrated education and social-emotional learning, particularly for students with disabilities. This paper draws on data from a case study of a federally-funded arts integration program called Everyday Arts for Special Education (EASE) to identify the mechanisms by which arts-integrated teaching…

The concept of flow, or being so immersed in an activity that awareness of self becomes inextricable from the action, and motivational theory can work collectively to help us better understand how fine arts curricula can impact student learning. In this article, we use Csikszentmihaliyi's concept of flow as a way to explore high school students'…

Arts programs are often credited with helping children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) gain cognitive and social skills. As with all claims of transfer from experience in the arts to abilities in non-arts domains, empirical evidence is mixed, and often criticized for both imprecise methodologies and a lack of connection back to the art form…

This case study investigates the factors that challenge and support preservice teachers' (PST) arts integration beliefs and practices. The participants include a total of 74 PSTs enrolled in a mandatory university arts course at a large Southern university across three consecutive semesters. Concurrent with arts class enrollment, PSTs are also…

Contemporary schooling produces unequal educational outcomes in Australia and across the globe. While mandated high-stakes tests supposedly place all students on a common scale, they can limit pedagogic practices and often fail to recognize the "abilities" or embodied knowledge of many children. In addressing these challenges,…