Research in Visual Arts Education - The National Society for ...

MULTIFACETED APPROACH TO VISUAL ARTS EDUCATION
If there is a continuous thread that runs through these research projects it is
learning through the visual arts, not just about them. Art Camp in Art School
builds on the objective to provide a greater number of primary school children
the opportunity to acquaint themselves with the studies and working
environment characteristic of art school workshops. The research carried
out within the school is for the most part arts- or practice-based research.
These projects have been carefully documented and reported in an academic
manner and as such they offer a valuable contribution to the discourse
of innovative education where art practice has high esteem.
The largest research undertaking by RSVA so far is Project KNOWHOW
(www.knowhow.is) which was initiated by the school as a research project
with the aim of documenting the nature of making integrated learning
and teaching, and of sharing this method with other practitioners in the
field of education. Ethnographic research methods have been applied. The
research uses a multi-site case study method involving tutors and students
of ceramics departments in six European Art Institutes of Further and
Higher Education. The research is designed to gather a range of perceptions
on the learning, teaching and making interface. The project undertakes an
audit of methodologies to uncover knowledge about non-textual teaching
methods in art education. Practitioners within the field of art and design
education are often convinced of the importance of practical activity to the
learning-experiences of their students, yet there is little documented analysis
of the relationship between learning, teaching and making.
Practice may be crucial in which understanding is tested or in which
commitment is affirmed, it’s the pivot point, one might argue, around which
most of education revolves (Shulman, 2002). This research project hopes
to articulate tacit understandings of learning and teaching within studio
contexts.
Looking ahead – challenges
As stated before, the role of research in art education needs to be emphasized
more decisively in Iceland. Looking ahead, the number of master’s thesis
rooted in the field of art education, will increase. Although these make up
a substantial part of the Icelandic research in art education, the authors are
mostly linked to the academic community (universities) during their education.
The need to establish a permanent research community or a forum
for researchers in the field seems self-evident.
122 NORDIC VISUAL ARTS EDUCATION IN TRANSITION