International Journal of Education & the Arts

Through the use of puppetry with objects as an educational strategy, the Chilean Theater Company PerroBufo, specializing in linking theater with education, is developing a case study in Primary education. The goal is to assess how boys and girls, through a process of creating puppets with objects, are able to reflect on identity and gender equality. This research has enabled students to develop creative, expressive, and socio-emotional skills. Theater has contributed to the acquisition of critical thinking competencies among primary students, encouraging them to reflect on gender perspectives and stereotypes.

This participatory action research examines the effectiveness of the movement-based constructivist “Lighthouse Framework” (Weatherly & Weatherly, 2023) within the higher education context of Macau. The study adopts a mixed-methods design within the participatory action research, employing both pre- and post-intervention surveys (N = 71) and two focus groups discussion (n = 12) to assess students’ acquisition of musical content knowledge, learning preferences, and the development of the 4Cs (Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity) through the Lighthouse Framework. Results indicate that the Lighthouse Framework significantly bolsters students’ learning outcomes and fosters an environment conducive to the significant improvement of speaking skills, collaboration skills, confidence, and critical thinking skills. Challenges encountered during the framework’s implementation include difficulties in group coordination and leadership navigation. Despite these minor obstacles, the study underscores the Lighthouse Framework’s potential as a transformative educational tool, capable of revitalizing collaborative learning and suggesting its adoption as a pedagogic innovation in Macau’s higher education landscape.

Over the past decade, Swedish sloyd educators have grappled with the challenge of integrating "aesthetic and cultural expressions" into their teaching practice. As part of a larger research endeavor focusing on discourses surrounding sloyd pedagogy, this article examines the evolution of the concept aesthetical and cultural expressions in educational guidelines. The study's aim is to show how ideas regarding teaching and learning in and about aesthetic and cultural expressions in sloyd emerge in steering documents from 1994 to 2022. Using a social constructionist approach, the material in focus for the investigation are syllabi, commentary materials, and support documents, which are analyzed through Iterative Curriculum Discourse Analysis. The results reveal that various interpretations coexist within and between the chosen policy documents. These differing views may impact opportunities for expressive acts in sloyd creation.

Media installations and performance are potent ways to creatively grapple with critical theories about cultural identity. This case study explores students’ use of these arts methods to engage mass/lay audiences about the intersections between theory and their lived experiences of cultural identity. Sixteen students enrolled in an upper-division communication studies course worked with discipline-based theories related to their socio-cultural/intersectional identities. Their projects were featured in an end-of-semester exhibition called “Expressions of Identity.” Using Dewhurst’s criteria for justice-based pedagogy, this article explores how media-arts projects 1) engage lived experiences, 2) work with complex theories of identity, and 3) use mediated communication and related strategies to involve lay audiences in the service of public advocacy and justice-based pedagogies.

This article explores the role yarning has in supporting Aboriginal high school students to connect to culture through creative projects in partnership with First Nations artists, knowledge holders and Elders in the local community. Following an exploration of literature on yarning as method and Aboriginal pedagogies in Australian schools, Neville Williams-Boney and Debbie Higgison reflect on what yarning means to them and the role yarning played in their own education. The article then shifts to discussing how yarning was integrated as a pedagogical tool within weekly sessions of the Solid Ground program. Here Aboriginal students engaged in a process of negotiation and collaboration with industry mentors as they developed and shared several creative outputs with the local community. We conclude by evaluating the benefits of devoting space for Aboriginal pedagogies in school contexts and the broader possibilities of yarning to collect, analyse and disseminate data in music education research.

We designed, developed, and researched a virtual and in-person curriculum for how to explore computational thinking using dance choreography, focused on engaging upper elementary and middle school girls. However, this paper explores our observations and interactions with our young participants who identified as boys through a series of vignettes. Here, we explore how the possibilities of how the intersectionality of gender and race, ethnicity, and sexuality converged, influencing the boys' embodied and narrated identities. By employing a design-based research approach and drawing upon a theoretical framework that integrates concepts from computational thinking, embodied cognition, and gender theory, the paper aims to question and challenge gendered assumptions and broaden participation in dance and computing. Our findings suggest that expanding definitions of dance and normalizing dance participation can be crucial in dismantling stereotypes and providing inclusive educational opportunities for all children.