Art Technology Integration: Digital Storytellying as a Transformative Pedagogy in Primary Education

The emergence of new media provides new tools for promoting critical thinking and creativity in an environment that encourages collaboration, co‐authoring and sharing ideas and artworks with audiences. Embedding new media in art lessons and integrating art with other disciplines not only promotes visual competence but also transversal competences necessary for the future lives of children. Despite the many benefits that this process entails, there is still no broad integration of new media in art lessons or art integration through technology in primary schools, as teachers are often oblivious of the new possibilities and means of engaging children. However, there is a need to embrace today’s dominant culture of communication if we really want to prepare children for the future. This article is about art technology integration in the primary classroom. It discusses ways of studying important real‐life issues with children and of bridging the gap between school life and daily life. It reports on two case studies with sixth grade classes (11–12 years old) that engaged in a stop motion animation project to communicate messages that were important to the children. Children shared powerful stories, anchored in real‐life contexts and developed critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity skills. The findings contribute to the discussions about arts integration that are grounded in empirical qualitative data. The implications of the study move beyond the art subject itself and highlight how generalist teachers can embrace interdisciplinarity and art integration, and view art as transformative pedagogy in the curriculum.     

Interrupting Everyday Life: Public Interventionist Art as Critical Public Pedagogy

In this article we explore two urban interventions art projects in the public sphere designed by our Masters’ students at New York University as they set the stage for a discussion on how urban art interventions can function as a form of critical public pedagogy. We argue that these kinds of public art projects provided a space for dialogue with people on the streets about the increased corporatisation of the public sphere. This kind of urban interventionism, we believe, is needed in art education today, as the public sphere is increasingly being eroded by private interests and it is only by reclaiming the public sphere that we can develop a cultural politics that in turn renews our democracy.     

Without Criteria: Art and Learning and the Adventure of Pedagogy

A key aim of this article is to present a discursus on learning and teaching in the context of art education that softens transcendent historical and ideological framings of art education and its purpose. In contrast it places emphasis upon the immanence and necessary transcendence of local events of learning that occur in whatever framing and which have the potential to extend our comprehension of what art and learning can become. It recommends a ‘pedagogical reversal’ whereby external transcendent lenses and their respective knowledge and criteria for practice are relaxed and proposes a pedagogy ‘without criteria’. A key pedagogical issue revolves around ‘how something matters’ for a learner in his or her experience of a learning encounter and trying to comprehend this ‘mattering’ constitutes a pedagogical adventure for a teacher. The notion of mattering in the context of art practice and learning cannot be divorced from the force of art which is the motive force that precipitates a potential for learning and can expand our understanding of what art and learning can become. The article is therefore premised on the idea that it is not a case of coming to understand art through established knowledge and practice but the force of art challenging us to think. The force of art, or art's event, can be conceived therefore as a process with a potential for the individuation of new worlds or to see that other worlds might be possible.     

Public Pedagogy and Social Justice in Arts Education

In this article we explore examples of public pedagogical actions and interventions, reading them through a social justice education framework lens. In our discussion we start with definitions of social justice, public pedagogy and case study methodologies. Then, we look at a variety of international examples to highlight the pervasiveness of public pedagogical opportunities in visual culture that include a festival, an individual, a citywide symposium, an online community, a cultural group and a museum exhibition. They are divided into three categories based on social justice principles suggested by Ayers et al. and later interpreted by Dewhurst: (1) Public pedagogy and social justice is rooted in people's experiences: Fiesta del Señor de Choquekillka: Ollantaytambo, Peru and Janet Weight Reed – an artist's public pedagogy utilising social media; (2) Public pedagogy and social justice is a process of reflection and action together: Ideas City Festival and the Vlogbrothers; (3) Public pedagogy and social justice seeks to dismantle systems of inequality to create a more humane society: CULTURUNNERS and sh[OUT]: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex art and culture. It is our hope that in looking more closely at these international examples of public pedagogy and social justice education that the power of such alternative sites of learning is apparent and encourages further interventions and investigations in such spaces of inquiry.     

Philosophical Review of Pragmatism as a Basis for Learning by Developing Pedagogy

This article discusses the use of a pragmatic approach as the philosophical foundation of pedagogy in Finnish universities of applied sciences. It is presented that the mission of the universities of applied sciences falls into the interpretive paradigm of social sciences. This view is used as a starting point for a discussion about pragmatism in higher education. The Learning by Developing (LbD) action model is introduced, analyzed and compared to pragmatism. The paper concludes that, at least in practice‐oriented academic subjects, a pragmatic approach to pedagogy, as well as the LbD action model, is effective and could be considered in several universities as the basis of philosophy of pedagogy.     

A Shared Place of Discovery and Creativity: Practices of Contemporary Art and Design Pedagogy

This article is based on a project that explored the practices of art and design beginning teachers (BTs) working with learners in a post‐age‐16 context. The aim of the project was to: explore contemporary art and design practices; explore the concept of artist teacher learner researcher; enable beginning teachers to collaborate with post‐age‐16 pupils and develop new approaches and strategies to art and design pedagogy. Through practices that blurred learner‐teacher identities a dialectical pedagogy emerged and a collaborative community of practice developed, all enabled through a renegotiation and reconceptualising of places of learning. The beginning teachers also started to construct their artist teacher identities, understand what it means to practise as an artist teacher in the classroom, understand the impact of these practices on teaching and learning and develop new learning and teaching methods. This project demonstrates the possibilities of these practices for contemporary art and design pedagogy and also how these practices can endure and be sustainable for this community of beginning teachers in the current cultural, social and political contexts of education.     

Developing Design through a Creative Problem‐Solving Process: A Group Community Art Project

For the past few years, creativity has gradually become an important element in the national cultivation of talent in Taiwan. Although traditionally art education is closely linked with creativity, the academic research on general art education is very insufficient. Therefore, the goal of this research is to investigate how creativity could be cultivated in curriculum planning for general art education at technology universities as well as what students’ learning process was when they participated in a course's creative activity. The research applied the theory and steps of creative problem‐solving (CPS) on a general art course to design a group practical activity combining with the local community. This involved converting the steps of creative problem‐solving into different stages of group design activities with the goal of constructing a design process equivalent to the process of problem‐solving. The main research results revealed that students could experience the problem‐solving process through group design activities and develop their divergent and convergent thinking at the same time. Moreover, the cooperative learning model is the most appropriate teaching strategy for students from non‐art‐related departments when cultivating their creativity.     

Teaching Research to MSW Students: Effectiveness of the Team-based Learning Pedagogy

Social work students often have been labeled as research-reluctant. Consequently, it is important to identify effective teaching strategies. One innovative strategy is team-based learning. The effectiveness of team-based learning has not yet been evaluated with a social work research class. As a result, the current study compared the effectiveness of team-based learning with that of other pedagogies. Findings suggest that team-based learning was not more effective than alternate pedagogies in increasing MSW students' intent to incorporate research into practice. Notably, the team-based learning approach was more effective in increasing research self-efficacy. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

Creating scientific dialogue through social media: exploration of Saudi pre-service science teachers

Background: This study explored how Saudi Arabian pre-service science teachers’ (PST) use of social media (SM) creates scientific dialogue.Design and method: Data were collected via (a) in-depth interviews with eight science PSTs completing their practice teaching during a field experience course (2017 academic year at a Saudi Arabia Eastern province university), (b) focus groups with 21 female science students being taught by the PSTs, and (c) an analysis of SM artifacts (i.e. PST’s students’ Tweets and Snapchat comments about their SM-based science homework).Results: Findings from content analyses indicate that the PSTs overwhelmingly perceived SM-based science teaching as providing their students with opportunities to pose critical questions, improve science learning, and engage in scientific dialogue and argumentation. Students welcomed the SM-based science learning, saying it excited them, made them want to learn science and helped with collaborative science learning. The majority (87%) of PST’s students expressed an interest in using SM to engage with science concepts. Also, findings affirmed that social media serve as mediating agents for reaching students in their learning Zone of Proximal Development; that is, SM-scaffolded science learning. The findings are considered in terms of further pre-service science teacher education and Saudi-based educational research.     

Turning Polemics into Pedagogy: Teaching about Censorship in Art Education

In recent decades, the field of art education has seen an increasing interest in issues of social justice and social reconstruction which has led to pre‐service art educators often being encouraged to include potentially controversial topics in their pedagogy. Surprisingly, however, there seems to have been little concurrent discussion concerning the inherent risks involved in introducing polemical themes within the classroom. Indeed, despite its obvious importance, the subject of censorship is often given little attention in art education circles, save for when it has already become an active problem, such as when an instructor is accused of censorship by a student, or when forces outside the classroom seek to involve themselves in pedagogical decisions. In this article, I describe my experience creating and implementing an undergraduate pre‐service art education course on the subject of censorship. I begin by examining my students’ reactions to some of the themes explored, and then explain how discussing cases of art censorship and controversy can serve as a platform for introducing students to the key role that context plays in how we perceive, value and react to artworks. Finally, I make the argument that by including censorship as a subject within their curriculum, teachers can help students better to navigate the psychological, moral and ethical complexities of contemporary art making.     

Expressing identity: the role of dialogue in teaching citizenship through art

Images and Identity (2008–2010, http://www.image-identity.eu/) was a Comenius funded project in which six European Union countries explored the cross-curricular links between Citizenship and Art Education with both primary and secondary age pupils. The aim of the project was to enhance and develop a sense of the pupils’ identity as European citizens using digital media as a means of expression and communication. As the project developed, it became evident that the role of talk and collaboration was a key element of supporting the pupils’ understanding of their European identity. This article explores that particular dimension in relation to the work carried out with two classes of culturally diverse 9 and 10 year olds in two inner-city primary schools in London, UK. As Zander argues, when working on an artistic production, a creative community is established whereby pupils develop a shared meaning through dialogue which in turn becomes an inherent part of the understanding of their own creative output. In this study, such a creative community was established and this supported the pupils’ emerging understanding of the EU and their own identity within it.     

Learning social responsibility in schools: a restorative practice

Vygotsky regarded the site of learning to be within a matrix of relational action. From this perspective, learning social responsibility will involve a focus on the learning environments that are made available in schools. Adapting the concept of restorative justice to a school context, restorative practice offers a range of relevant learning opportunities. These learning opportunities relate to episodes of wrong‐doing, and to actions that reflect the values and principles of a socially responsible school culture. The importance of dialogue, respect for “the other” and social collaboration will be evident in school‐based restorative practices.     

Reflections of an Online Social Work Professor: Illuminating an Alternative Pedagogy

ABSTRACT

Research in distance education has investigated student satisfaction and learning outcomes, comparing face-to-face with online delivery formats, and tested various technological tools, but has yet to consider alternative pedagogies. Liberatory pedagogy facilitates critical thinking, awareness, reflection and social action around constructs such as race, gender, and class. This paper uses Scholarly Personal Narrative to explore opportunities and challenges of implementing liberatory pedagogy within a virtual classroom. Themes include identity, body, mind, spirit, voice, authenticity, and self-actualization. Liberatory pedagogy emphasizes critical consciousness of oppression, aligns with professional values and ethics, encourages societal well-being, and would appear to enhance online social work education.     

全球化:挑战新世纪的中国美术教育

新世纪科技的发展与经济全球化，对中国美术教育提出了新的挑战。在新的历史条件下，中国美术教育应加强科技创新应用与艺术教育的速度，把中国美术教育办成与全球化经济时代紧密对接、跨学科、全方位的具有高水平的教学、科研、设计、理论研究基地。积极回应全球化的变化，展开与科技时代的对话，创建具有中国特色的当代美术教育。     

Learning a practice through practise: presenting knowledge in doctoral spoken presentations

Learning to ‘become doctor’ requires PhD candidates to undertake progressive public displays – material and social – of knowledge. Knowledge in doctoral pedagogy is primarily realised textually, with speaking and writing remaining as the primary assessment rubrics of progress and of the qualification. Participating textually begins, in a public sense, with the Confirmation of Candidature presentation/paper and culminates in a Viva Voce/dissertation. Drawing on linguistic ethnographic observations and analyses, this paper uses practice-based perspectives to examine a doctoral candidate practising to present knowledge publicly in a university research centre. The paper focuses on sociomaterial shifts in the trial run and final delivery of the two presentations examining how the candidate is initiated into new actions in response to these changes. Findings reveal how the candidate engages with collective understandings of the practice of presenting knowledge provided by feedback from her doctoral ‘friends’. Learning a practice through practise highlights the importance of participating as learning and learning as participating. This is particularly so in a time of change for doctoral pedagogy, when honing a practice collectively is argued to be advantageous in a localised setting that recognises and fosters the benefits of participation.     

Networked Learning and Learning Analytics: A Study on the Employment of Facebook in a Virtual Training Program

The growing popularity of Social Networking Sites (SNS) that are embedded with networked infrastructures serves as an ideal platform for developing a networked learning environment connecting geographically dispersed learners. Unlike the traditional learning systems which provide only limited sources of data, the learners engaged in virtual networked social environments tend to produce huge volumes of digital footprints that cannot be analyzed using conventional analytical techniques. Two new branches of analytical sciences – Educational Data Mining (EDM) and Learning Analytics (LA) – are being employed for processing digital data derived from online educational platforms in order to obtain meaningful inferences and data-driven insights.

Hence, the present experimental study involving a small group of geographically dispersed learners intend to examine the engagement level and interaction patterns that occur within a feminist networked learning environment created in Facebook using popular EDM and learning analytical techniques such as K-means Clustering, Social network analysis and correlation mining. Upon analysis, it was found that the peer network influence played a vital role in activating passive learners, eventually leading to the development of a closely bound networked learning community over time.     

Learning about social movements through news media: deconstructing New York Times and Fox News representations of Standing Rock

ABSTRACT

This article critically examines how news media, as a form of public pedagogy, functioned to ‘educate’ the public about the Standing Rock pipeline protests in North Dakota, USA. Drawing on literature in public pedagogy, social movement learning and communication studies, we employed ethnographic content analysis to identify emergent patterns, emphases and themes in all online media coverage by the New York Times and Fox News of the Standing Rock protests from April 2016 to March 2017. We analysed representations of Standing Rock in 164 NYT articles, and 96 Fox News articles, respectively. This ethnographic methodology allowed us to understand how the Standing Rock movement, its actors and meaning were constructed through the use of imagery, metaphors and emphasis on particular voices, narratives and perspectives. Our findings showed how both Fox and NYT were able to effectively frame the protest as a fundamentally human story focusing on Indigenous people, celebrities and US war veterans, and address broad-based public concerns about global climate change, water pollution and land rights. These results point to the importance of mainstream media as public pedagogue shaping social movement learning, and to the need for further research on this topic in adult education.     

Digital Media for Low-Income Preschoolers' Effective Science Learning: A Study of iPad Instructions with a Social Development Approach

As digital media devices have been increasingly used in early childhood educational settings, this study examined whether the iPad with a Vygotskian social development approach—namely, More Knowledgeable Other—can be integrated into low-income preschool classrooms to improve science learning. An analysis of variance was used to examine the overall improvement and differences in improvement among English language learners, children with special needs, and children without special needs or English language learner status. Results showed that all participants improved their science learning abilities as a consequence of the iPad instruction. Among all groups, English language learner children benefitted more than the other groups, but only with a game that had less verbal directions. There were no significant differences by gender.     

Opportunities and Challenges in Collaborative Reform Practice: School–Community Partnerships through Art in Korean Schools

The Korean government’s policy toward art in schools and educational autonomy has recently undergone major directional changes, with the Ministry of Education (MOE) encouraging individual schools to find their own ways to become more self‐regenerating, especially by developing community partnerships through art. This recently published policy direction has the potential to challenge traditional school practice as it demands an initiative role of schools and the active involvement of teachers in building partnerships with local communities. Concerned about the impact of the new school art policy on practice, this article attempts to clarify the opportunities and challenges involved in the expected collaborative reform practice by examining the outcomes reported by pilot schools based on their first year of implementing the new school art policy. To this end, this article first identifies the distinctive aspects of the new policy from previous studies on school–community partnerships developed in Korea over the past decade. This is followed by an identification of practical issues and needs by reviewing the outcomes of recent survey results on the perceptions of teachers who participated in conventional school–community partnership programmes. These results will be compared to the problems found in the outcomes reported by pilot schools. Findings will be discussed to assess implications and provide suggestions. This contextual analysis of practitioners’ responses to new art‐based collaborative reform practices developing in Korea may contribute to an expansion of international discussions about educational reform through art.     

Collaboration at a Distance: Using a Wiki to Create a Collaborative Learning Environment for Distance Education and On-Campus Students in a Social Work Course

Continuing moves towards more flexible approaches to the provision of higher education have been reflected in the increased provision of social work education through distance learning and the related increase in the use of online technologies for social work education. This article reports on the use of a wiki in a final year social work subject. Wiki technology was used to create a collaborative learning environment where on-campus and distance students were able to work together to produce assessable material. Drawing on student comments regarding the process and outcomes of the wiki assignment, a number of issues and benefits of the use of wikis in social work education are identified and discussed.