Connecting curriculum, connecting learning; Negotiation and the arts
Project Director: Deborah Fraser
Research Team: Viv Aitken, Graham Price & Barbara Whyte
Partnerships: Faculty of Education, The University of Waikato with Omanu, St Thomas More, Welcome Bay, Hillcrest Normal and Knighton Normal schools.
This two year TLRI project involves five primary schools; three in the Bay of Plenty and two in Hamilton. The focus is upon negotiated and integrated curriculum that includes the arts.
The project builds upon a previous Teaching & Learning Research Initiative (TLRI) project The art of the matter (Fraser et al., 2006). The key difference in this project is that it does not focus solely on the arts but rather, examines the ways in which the arts can be meaningfully integrated with other curriculum areas. There is much misunderstanding around curriculum integration and a fear that subject knowledge may be jeopardized. Furthermore, most of the international practices in this field fall into the ‘good idea’ category rather than in the research-based practice realm. Thus, this project aims to address this gap in knowledge. We are particularly focusing on children’s learning during arts-based integration and the connections they are making. We are also examining the integrative possibilities that foster negotiation, that is, where children have a say in the learning focus and processes.
Thus far we have mainly focused upon drama and visual art within integrated units. For example, the drama pedagogy Mantle of the Expert (Heathcote, 2009) is an approach being studied which includes student-teacher negotiation and cross-curricula learning. Alongside the use of drama strategies we are interested in how these foster children’s learning in other areas such as science, technology, literacy, and ICT. We are interested in the ways in which arts-based integration fosters children’s engagement and are trialing a tool we have devised for assessing their engagement. The implications of engagement for learning are part of a debate in the literature to which this study also contributes.
Preliminary findings will be discussed with colleagues at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and in Melbourne at a symposium at the Australian Association of Research in Education.
For further information about the Teaching & Learning Research Initiative (TLRI) visit the TLRI website: http://www.tlri.org.nz/
Project outputs
Intentions poster can be downloaded from the TLRI website.
Fraser, D., Whyte, B., Aitken, V., & Price/Gilbert, G. (2010). Connecting curriculum, connecting learning; Negotiation and the arts. Symposium presented at the Australian Association for Research in Education Conference, University of Melbourne, Australia, 28 November - 2 December 2010.
Aitken, V. (2010). Mantle of the expert; Positioning children as competent co-constructors for meaning. Paper presented at the Making a Difference Symposium; an Extended Conversation About Learning, The University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand, November 2010.
Fraser, D. (2010). Engagement and integrated curriculum. Paper presented at the Making Difference in Classrooms and Centres. Presented at the Intersection of Theory and Practice Symposium, The
University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand, November 2010.
Aitken, V. (2010). ‘It’s like everything links to everything really’. Drama as research tool in connecting Curriculum, Curriculum Learning. Paper presented at Critical studies in drama in Education International Symposium, Auckland, New Zealand, 26-27 October 2010.
Deane, P. (2010). Social conscience and the politics of help; the complexity of an aid project. Paper presented at the University of Waikato, Faculty of Education, Colloquia series, Hamilton, New Zealand, October 2010.
Fraser, D. (2010). Connecting curriculum, connecting learning; featuring the arts. Paper presented at the University of Michigan Colloquia series, October 2010.
Price, G. (2010). Interrogating the use of the visual; A visual arts perspective. Paper presented at the Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research (WMIER) Research Colloquia, The University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand, October 2010.
Tauranga, W. (2010). Integration and the arts; one teacher’s journey. Teacher workshop for the University Musical Society, Michigan, USA, October 2010.
Fraser, D., & Whyte, B. (2010). A collaborative research project on the arts and integration. Seminar presented to the University of Waikato, Windermere Campus, Tauranga, New Zealand, May 2010.
Aitken, V., & Pirini, E. (2010). Connecting curriculum: connecting learning - a case study. Paper presented at Branching Out: Drama NZ conference, Napier, New Zealand, April 2010.
Robertson, A. (2010, 29 March). Art for learning’s sake Tukutuku korero. New Zealand Education Gazette, 89(5), 4-5.
Fraser, D., & Deane, P. (2010). Making a difference: Agents of change through curriculum integration. Set: Research Information for Teachers (3), 10–14.
