Schooling the imagination : an experiment in arts-based education

This classroom-based interpretive inquiry investigates how the teaching strategies used in a grade-three classroom in a small, private, arts-based primary school implement the arts mission of the school. Further, it explores the relationship between art subjects [music, visual arts, theater, and dance] taught in art ateliers and academic subjects taught in the classroom. The art teachers' practices and the classroom teacher's practices are conceptualized within a Vygotskian socio-cultural framework. Further theoretical background is provided by the literature from art-based curriculum studies, developmental psychology, philosophy of education, and theories of qualitative research. This inquiry challenges the traditional view of arts reflected in most North American classroom practices. The chief research participants were the classroom teacher, the arts teachers, the school's founder, and the school's Principal. The children in the school also participated in focus groups. Data collected and analyzed include 40 hours of classroom-based observations in one class over a three-month period, 12 hours of interviews with the research participants over 16 months, and documents such as course handouts and small brochures describing the school's mission. Findings indicate that the arts instructors and classroom teacher collaborate closely to develop the yearly "theme unificateur" or unifying theme. Attitudes and strategies revealed in the study fit the constructivist model of classroom instruction. Despite growing pains experienced by the school's current expansion, findings suggest that the arts instructors and the classroom instructor are not only filling the academic mission of the school, but are also (a) creating strong relationships with their students, (b) promoting self-esteem and emotional intelligence, and (c) creating artistic and cultural literacy