Challenges and Opportunities
School and Society in East Vancouver: How Dewey’s Dream Lives at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ingrid Mary Percy
Although art and design institutions are arguably the most cutting edge and avant-garde institutions of our time, many of the fundamental underpinnings and core values of such, are based on educational theories established almost 120 years ago. In 1899, American philosopher and educator, John Dewey (1859 – 1952), published The School and Society, a ground-breaking text that laid out some of the key principles of the progressive education movement. This paper will focus on identifying central ideas contained in the first three chapters (lectures) of the book and illustrate (through words and images) how these principles are manifested in a contemporary, post-secondary visual arts institution today – in particular, the Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Great Northern Way Campus that opened in September 2017.
The Arts for Reading and Spelling in Different Educational Contexts
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Patricia Carson
This research focuses on the delivery of the Davis Learning Strategies® Program, an Arts-based reading and spelling program delivered in two different educational settings. The first setting is a traditional kindergarten, where it was provided as a supplement to reading instruction for a small group of children. The second setting was a group of home-schooling parents and children. The program has three main components: self-regulating tools to prepare children for learning; clay work to create the letters and visual representations of words, definitions and spelling; and a three-step reading program. This Action research focused on similarities and differences of working with these two groups; and how program delivery was adapted and changed to meet the learning needs and styles of the children.
It Takes a Village: Investigating the Challenges of Implementing Arts Curricula in South African Schools
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Mareli Hattingh Pretorius
Educational curriculum reform since 1994 has changed the face of arts education in South African schools. Addressing the inequalities of the past remains an overarching mandate of the South African education policy, with the arts perceived as vehicles for social and cultural redress. Despite these policy intentions, challenges regarding the implementation of the curriculum, however, seem to be perpetuating the inherited inequalities, especially in previously disadvantaged communities. Through inherent integrative reflective practice this research aims to investigate the challenges of, and map the community based resources for, the implementation of arts curricula in South African schools. Initial stages of an extensive research project include focus group discussions with role players, as well as the development of a skills-based training course for teachers. In the role of participant observers and researchers we become part of the community of interest in trying to identify entry points for possible interventions by means of a strength-based approach. The end goal of the project is the establishment of networks and the strengthening of infrastructure in order to enhance arts engagement in schools and related communities and hopefully bridge the gap between the education policy mandate and the perceived reality on grass root level.
Linguistics in Drama : Exploring the Working Processes in Drama Rehearsals
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Andrea Milde
What is going on in drama rehearsals? How do theatre groups work, learn and perform? Drama processes such as drama classes and theatre rehearsals are complex and rely on the spoken communication between the participants (such as actors, directors, and performance artists). The research focus in drama often lies on the performance rather than on the process, e.g. in the rehearsal space or in the studio, during which the piece is being developed. In this paper I will present the general approach and method I have developed for analysing drama working processes that involve two or more people. I will explain how it can be applied in the various fields of communication in drama such as in drama education. This method allows me to break drama processes down into phases and analyse them using linguistic-communicative categories which I will demonstrate by showing some short video-clips of different drama working processes. This paper is based on a new approach to drama and performance arts processes that use a communicative perspective to look at rehearsals and other preparational interactions involving a spoken artistic text production process (Milde 2007; 2012). This approach draws on a combination of spoken discourse analysis (e.g. Cameron 2001; Jaworski and Coupland 1999; Schiffrin 1994), and an adapted version of critique génétique (or genetic criticism) (Grésillon 1999; Deppman/Ferrer/Groden 2004), a contemporary critical movement in France.
