Module EDUC3331: Understanding the Arts in Education

Department: Education

EDUC3331: Understanding the Arts in Education

Pre-requisites

Corequisites

Excluded Combinations

Aims

• To introduce students to some of the major theories about the nature and purpose of the arts
• To introduce students to foundational ideas informing arts education today
• To help students develop a personal perspective on the purpose and value of the arts in education

Content

• In Understanding the Arts in Education we explore some of the major theories about how we define art, how we judge what is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ art, and how we should communicate ideas about the arts and develop pupils’ artistic ability. In the first term, we look at foundational theories, placing them in their historical context and considering their resonance today. In the second term, we look in more depth at drama in education, and how it is used in school, prison and therapeutic settings. We question Shakespeare’s place in the curriculum and consider how the arts may be used as a form of social control. We conclude this series of lectures by turning the ideas on their head: by looking at cultural representations of schools, colleges and universities, we ask how the arts are used to communicate ideas about the social value of education.

Learning Outcomes

• Critical understanding of the ways in which theorists have influenced our understanding of the arts and their place in education.
• Critical awareness of the influence and significance of social, historical and cultural contexts in the construction of ideas about the arts.
• The ability to select a range of relevant primary and secondary sources, including theoretical and research-based evidence to extend your knowledge and understanding of education policy.

• The ability to begin to critically analyse arts and educational concepts, theories and issues in a systematic way.
• The ability to begin to use your knowledge and understanding to critically locate and justify a personal position in relation to arts educational policy development.

• The ability to begin to organise and articulate opinions and arguments critically in speech and writing using relevant specialist vocabulary.
• The ability to begin to process and synthesise empirical and theoretical data critically, to create new syntheses and to present and justify a chosen position having drawn on relevant theoretical perspectives.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures and seminars

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment

Essay plan and proposed reference list for first summative essay