Svendler Nielsen, C., et al. “‘Seeing’ and ‘Being Seen’: An Embodied and Culturally Sensitive Arts-Integrated Pedagogy Creating Enriched Conditions for Learning in Multicultural Schools.” International Journal of Education & the Arts, V. 21 No. 2 (2017): 1-24.
Abstract:
The abstract for this article, as well as the complete article, is available on the International Journal of Education & the Arts website.
Supports for the Findings:
This is a qualitative and multi-modal study that used interviews, body movements and drawings to engage reflection and responses from the participants. It explored how dance and visual arts could be integrated into educational activities to deepen learning. The authors argue that this pedagogy is an example of effective culturally responsive pedagogy.
Implications of the Findings:
The study explores how an arts-integrated pedagogy can contribute to creating enriched conditions for learning in multicultural schools. This article is significant in that it breaks down some established silos of art education to engage dance and visual arts teaching alongside a complex pedagogical theory to better engage and teach diverse students in a single classroom. This study may benefit teaching artists who can bring this approach to their practice, educators who are trying to better understand culturally responsive teaching, and ultimately, students.
Continuing to explore and develop an understanding of the techniques, including silent teaching and embodied learning, can help inform future research. The arts-integrated and culturally responsive pedagogy used in this study could help to support the inclusion goals of South Africa and Denmark’s education policy frameworks and may be replicable in other areas of the world. This type of pedagogical approach provides youths with opportunities to explore kinesthetic, musical, verbal-linguistic and visual modalities.
Limitations of the Findings:
This study has a very limited scope (two classrooms in two countries), but the depth of qualitative materials and the analysis that accompanies it does provide value if not strong validity. The study was cross-national and does provide questions for generalizability.
*This article is part of an expedited review cycle that AEP conducted in the spring of 2021. Members of the ArtsEdSearch Review Panel provided the content (edited by AEP staff) in this summary.