Practice-Based Research in Arts Learning

EDU S309 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

Practice can be understood as ‘what we do’ as artists and arts educators. It involves patterns of behavior, thought, and values that construct the conditions for teaching, learning, and experimentation. Practice-based research opens up opportunities for deep thinking around the decisions we make and the assumptions we hold with the aim of transforming practices so they are more equitable, effective, and socially just. 

This course introduces the methodology of practice-based research as an orientation for producing arts educational practice. Students will explore strategies for planning, facilitating, and reflecting on ‘what we do’ to generate new perspectives and ways of working with and in communities. We will also explore different qualitative and arts-based methods that can be incorporated into research projects. What research strategies can we use to better understand and transform our arts education practices? What forms of knowledge are generated by the arts? How do different power structures limit/open up possibilities for creative inquiry? How can we generate research outputs that serve the communities we work with and in?

Through group discussions, readings, guest presentations, and case study analysis of schools and cultural organizations, students will gain a rigorous understanding of this methodology.

Students' activities in this module will be focused on designing and conducting a small-scale, inquiry-driven research project on a topic of their choosing. Students are not required to have a background in the arts to register for this class.