Learning Together
Arts and Business - An Unholy Alliance to be Avoided: Or, an Academic Imperative Now?
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Margaret A. Murphy
How to avoid the starving artist trope for a college or university’s alumni? For years, many have contended that for those pursing a higher education degree in the fine arts should also be developing business and entrepreneurial skills as part of their curricular pathway (Thom, 2016; Hong, Essig & Bridgstock, 2012). Many believe a practical hands-on understanding of key business and entrepreneurial implementation tactics is part of art students’ future career success, especially given the prevalence of polyoccupationalism (Hénaut, Lena, Accominotti, 2023). However, a recent review of literature reveals an ongoing art school graduate self-perceived deficit in much-needed entrepreneurial and business academic kills (SPAAD, 2022; Guo & McGraw, 2023). Even practicing artists and faculty strongly suggest the need for these missing business and entrepreneurial skill sets (Bridgstock, 2012; Zhang & Wang, 2022). Through an original comparative analysis of 50+ art schools and current digitally published curriculum outlines for 150+ artistic majors within higher education institutions, this author contends there is still a gap between the acknowledged need for arts and business skills in higher education and curricular realities. This analysis concludes by highlighting new directions at some universities and potential continuing education opportunities for schools globally to consider. Curricular efforts to develop students’ artistic visions, refine their craft and build their entrepreneurial business skills could lead to greater institutional outcomes in terms of employment and alignment with artistic education, a stronger alumni network and potentially, exciting new directions for a plethora of artistic products and services.
Passive Resistance to AI : A Discovery of Voice and Freedom in the First-Year Writing Class View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Gina Burkart
This project leads participants through an active process of free-writing and discovery. The process is presented as an example of a first-day activity of a writing class that engages students in the release of self, ideas, thought and helps them find their own authentic voice. The process demonstrates how others' writings in a variety of genres illicit a response from our own voice of self and that the process of writing connects us and grounds us in humanity. The process will be used as an example of how we can demonstrate to students through first-hand experience and discussion of the experience the value and need for authentic writing grounded in human voice and experience and how we are at a pivotal junction where the value of perfection and convenience threatens to strip us of our access to this human connection. Discussion of the process, students' reactions to the process and outcomes as a result of the process follow the activity--as well as discussion of other ways to passively resist AI in the classroom. Theorists James Gee, Foucalt, Bandura, and Marzano are used to raise questions and initiate discussion of the intersection of teaching writing, voice, and human connectivity in the age of artificial intelligence.
Using Arts-Based Research to Engage Learners and Transform Teaching: Facilitating Cognitive and Social Skills Development Among Children with Autism through Explorative Artmaking
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Terese Giobbia
Integrating art activities into student-centered educational programs can significantly enhance cognitive and social skill development among learners (Escala, 2024). With one out of every 36 students in grades K-12 in the United States diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), preparing pre-service teachers to implement lessons to improve cognitive and social skill development among diverse learners will become critical to their future success in the classroom (Maenner et.al., 2024). This study explores the beneficial role artmaking plays in cognitive and social skill development among learners with ASD (Blandy, 1999; Read, 1945). Using arts-based research and observations pre-service teachers made while conducting art workshops students with ASD participated in, a critical analysis of the data is presented that supports the beneficial role artmaking plays in the development of cognitive and social skills of learners with autism. The research discusses workshop findings and provides recommendations for facilitating beneficial art making experiences for persons with autism. The study demonstrates how observing the creative processes of learners with ASD during exploratory art workshops can help inform the pedagogical practices of pre-service art teachers. The implications from the workshops show how pre-service teachers can adjust their roles of being a provider of propositional art knowledge to being a supporting participant in tactile explorative artmaking. Reflective practice on their artmaking experiences provides pre-service teachers with practical suggestions to improve their practice with autistic learners. Pre-service teachers can apply these principles to create more engaging and personalized learning experiences especially for diverse learners with autism spectrum disorder.
Bridging Cultures and Literacies: The Role of Visual Arts in Supporting Immigrant Students' Academic and Cultural Integration
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ruben Rendon
The visual arts are a powerful tool for promoting immigrant students’ literacy development and cultural integration. This work investigates the intersection between literacy development and visual-arts-based interventions and how they can help with the cultural identity formation of immigrant high school students. The significance of this work highlights the transformative role of visual arts in promoting inclusivity and addressing the necessity for literacy acquisition. It contributes to the interdisciplinary fields of education, literacy studies, and visual arts. The paper utilizes a critical reappraisal of existing research and investigates prevalent educational narratives from the perspectives of sociocultural literacy theory, multimodal meaning-making, and theories of transcultural identity development. The method used for this paper examines research on multimodal literacy practices, immigrant education, and visual arts through a theoretical reconceptualization that challenges conventional assimilationist models. This interpretive study illustrates the value of integrating visual arts into immigrant education, fosters academic engagement, enhances multimodal literacy development, and facilitates cultural affirmation. By drawing insights from interdisciplinary research, this paper emphasizes the significance of the visual arts as a creative tool in promoting cultural inclusion and enhancing literacy development for immigrant students.
Career Minded Musicians: Music Academization Within Neoliberal Capitalism
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Douglas Mutch
The research focuses on a qualitative analysis of classical music students in a university music program. This research investigates the interplay between personal-musical meaning and labor-market value in identity forming and the hierarchizing of academic spaces. This research investigates the personal impacts of situating music within neoliberal capitalism, and the processes used by musicians to negotiate this tension. The research involved two qualitative interviews with classical music students, field work, and extensive bibliographic analysis. The research contributes an analysis of musical hierarchies within academic spaces by demonstrating connections between music pedagogy and neoliberal capitalism. The resulting "musical capital" is an asset for artists who are actively developing pathways through which they may make economically viable their passion for music. I develop both the economic-political results of music education while highlighting the agency and reflexivity of students in pursuing classical music performance. The outcome is a theory of music practice which structures music as a forum for risk and reward, where students must navigate their art skillfully to achieve preferred results.
