Doing it differently: youth leadership and the arts in a creative learning programme

Notions of youth ‘leadership’, partnership or collaborating with young people as ‘service users’, are currently being endorsed and elaborated across a very broad spectrum of thinking, policymaking and provision. This paper argues that if we want to understand this phenomenon, we should not look in the first instance to young people as the prime source of commentary or agency: instead, we need to understand it as a way of ‘doing’ – in this instance - the arts or education differently. The paper draws on research into how one organization, the flagship English ‘creative learning’ programme Creative Partnerships run in schools between 2002 and 2011, attempted to ‘put young people at the heart’ of its work. It argues that youth leadership should be analysed as it is enacted within and through specific sites and practices, and in terms of the subjectivities, capacities and narratives it offers to teachers, students, artists and others involved. The result is a more ambivalent account of participatory approaches, acknowledging their dilemmas as well as their achievements, and observing that they reconfigure power relations in sometimes unexpected, and sometimes all-too-familiar, ways

A Qualitative Study: Integrating Art And Science In The Environment

The study was used to develop an understanding of the nature of a creative learning experience that incorporated the foundational elements of Reggio Emilia, place-based education, and experience design. The study took place in an urban high school with eight students in an advanced placement art class. The qualitative research project revolved around the pollinator garden that the science teacher planted in the year prior to the study and the garden that was planted in the spring. Students were asked to create an art project that could withstand the Michigan climate. The science teacher lectured on elements of the pollinator garden, with the researcher showing examples of other artist\u27s works found in natural settings. The students were asked to research, develop, and create a unique piece for the garden. The work was to be completed in the 6-week card marking. Qualitative data for the study were collected through the researchers\u27 field notes, personal journal, student journals, interviews, and students\u27 finished projects. After six weeks, the students completed their projects and six of the eight projects were hung in the garden. Participating in the study was the first time in their education that the students had opportunities to be autonomous in choosing their projects, deciding on the appropriate media, and completing the artwork on a specific schedule. During the study, the students became collegial and collaborative, offering suggestions and critiquing each other\u27s work. The students grew educationally in a number of ways. They learned to work independently in planning and completing their art projects. They saw the link between science and art and they moved from being competitive to being cooperative. The students became engage with the environment as well as incorporating elements of the environment in their artwork. Further research is needed to determine if students in high school art classes could link the environment, science, and art to build a more comprehensive, inclusive, and cross curricular learning experience by completing similar projects to enhance their schools environment and develop an understanding of the interconnectedness between education and its practical applications

CHANGEABLE DESIGNS IN PRESCHOOL EDUCATION ENVIRONMENTS: SUPPORTING SENSORY DEVELOPMENT AND CREATIVITY

Preschool education has special importance in the development processes of children at 3-6 age, which is the period when the foundations of individual development are established. In this period, the development of children is supported by education and appropriate environmental conditions, and in this context, the quality of the physical environment has great significance in education process. Today, the development of creative thinking of individuals is considered as one of the conditions which improve the standards of societies. Since creative thinking is significantly developed and formed in preschool period, the improvement of children's creativity is considered as one of the objectives of preschool education. In this context, proposes a design approach taking changeability as its basis to support creative thinking of children in preschool environments. This paper is based on the findings of a doctorate thesis, integrating preschool education and architecture, completed by B. Ece Şahin at Uludağ University Department of Architecture, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Neslihan Dostoğlu. The research was carried out with 30 children of age 5 in three public kindergartens in Bursa. Methods used in the study can be described as; discussions through the images of changeable toys, watching a movie about changeability, drawing a desired classroom and discussions held during a computer game where the action of change is experienced. In the research, it has been observed that changeable designs, support mental activity by stimulating feelings, encourage to think differently and to propose new ideas. Changeable designs can be consider as the products of design which trigger imagination. In this context, changeability can evaluate a parameter in designing education environments in order to support creativity in preschool years.  Article visualizations

Art is Experience: An Exploration of the Visual Arts Beliefs and Pedagogy of Australian Early Childhood Educators

In early childhood settings, visual arts provisions are considered central to multidisciplinary curricula that facilitate children’s processes of meaning-making, communication and play-based learning. Meanwhile, the personal and professional beliefs of early childhood educators influence both the planned and unplanned curriculum and resulting learning outcomes for children. If early childhood educators lack the confidence, skills, and visual arts knowledge required to effectively support children’s visual arts learning and engagement, children’s learning in the visual arts domain may be restricted. While several studies confirm the problem of low visual arts self-efficacy amongst pre-service primary and high school contexts degree qualified teachers (DQT), very few studies describe the visual arts beliefs and pedagogy of practicing early childhood educators. Even fewer studies support the voices of educators to be heard, particularly in the Australian context. Therefore, the central aim of this thesis is to describe and better understand the visual arts beliefs and pedagogy of practicing Australian early childhood educators. The study aims to consider how educator’s visual arts self-efficacy beliefs, personal arts experiences and pedagogical content knowledge inform visual arts planning, pedagogy and provisions in early childhood contexts. A further aim is to give voice to early childhood educators’ visual arts beliefs and pedagogy to support professional reflection for both practitioners and educator training contexts. In so doing, this thesis hopes to inform and extend professional understanding about quality early childhood visual arts pedagogy that may in turn enhance young children’s experience and development in visuals arts learning contexts

The Place of the Arts in Early Childhood Learning and Development

This paper has been commissioned by Arts Council Ireland to inform the development of a national strategy for early childhood arts in Ireland. The paper is based on contemporary thinking and knowledge of child psychology, early learning and development and childhood studies, in particular the theoretical principles and pedagogical approaches to early childhood art-based learning. It begins with an exploration of the concept of pedagogy. International research on the importance of effective pedagogy in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is then discussed setting out the evidence and rationale for public policy attention to the area of the arts in early childhood. Pedagogical organisation or framing is then considered along with the underpinning concepts of supporting children’s creativity, thinking and language relevant to the practice of early childhood arts. The importance of interactions between novices and experts (adults and learners) is highlighted throughout and specific interaction strategies thought to enhance children’s learning are identified. The principles underpinning early learning and development in relation to how children learn are then outlined. Finally, drawing in part from the literature on effective pedagogy, and the principles underpinning early childhood education, contemporary perspectives on children and those who work with very young children (incorporating both early childhood artists and early childhood educators) are presented

A Holistic Approach to Makerspaces and Pedagogy: Linking 20th Century Pedagogy with the 21st Century Makerspace Classroom

This major research paper is a narrative account of Makerspaces and my experiences as a teacher who has embraced this pedagogy. Educational reformers are calling for a dramatic shift in educational practice to meet the needs of the 21st Century learner. A Makerspace is an innovative 21st Century concept and describes a space where people can meet to share ideas, collaborate, invent and use hands-on approaches. It is a do-it-yourself movement that often involves technology, such as a 3-D printer, but also may involve knitting needles and a sewing machine. I examine the content, processes and guiding pedagogies within Makerspaces in education. Alternative forms of education such as Reggio Emilia, Waldorf and Montessori are explored to make connections to the Maker Culture. Chapter 4 offers an e-book that is intended as an educator resource. This resource may help educators and school leaders to implement a Makerspace in their own contexts

Embracing the Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education

Each year, hundreds of early childhood educators from the many parts of the world travel to a small town in the northern part of Italy to study the arts-based, project focused, a child-initiated method known as the Reggio Emilia approach. This unique approach focuses on infant-toddler through preschool and primary education. While teachers are engaged in professional learning and growth, it is hard to determine how many early childhood programs and classrooms are truly influenced by the Reggio Emilia approach. The purpose of this study was to explore and examine the experiences of five teachers from West Virginia who have implemented the Reggio Emilia approach in early childhood. This study examined the question: How is the Reggio Emilia approach being implemented by educators in both the public and private school settings and what are the challenges and supports that occur during implementation? The study revealed educators value this type of experiential learning and project work for children. There are critical supports that need to be in place to ensure effective implementation such as administrative and collegial support. The data also show that barriers such as curriculum mandates and other regulations make this type of implementation difficult. Also, children show great learning leaps when experiencing this type of learning approach. Future research recommendations include studying children longitudinally who have experienced a Reggio-inspired classroom environment to determine long-lasting impacts

Nurturing the young shoots of talent: Using action research for exploration and theory building

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 19(4), 433-450, 2011, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/1350293X.2011.623515.This paper reports the outcomes of a set of action research projects carried out by teacher researchers in 14 local education authorities in England, working collaboratively with university tutors, over a period of three years. The common aim of all the projects was to explore practical ways of nurturing the gifts and talents of children aged four–seven years. The project was funded by the Department of Education and Skills in England as part of the government's gifted and talented programme. The project teachers felt that their understanding of issues relating to nurturing the gifts and talents of younger children was enhanced through their engagement in the project. It was possible to map the findings of the projects to the English government's National Quality Standards for gifted and talented education which include: (1) identification; (2) effective provision in the classroom; (3) enabling curriculum entitlement and choice; (4) assessment for learning; (5) engaging with community, families and beyond. The findings are also analysed within the framework of good practice in educating children in the first years of schooling. Participating practitioners felt that action research offered them a suitable methodology to explore the complexity of the topic of giftedness through cycles of planning, action and reflection and personal theory building