Arts education takes place in many contexts. It takes place in schools and arts centres, in museums and theatres, in community centres, on the streets or in people’s homes. Within the professorship Arts Education, we are interested in the many forms of art education in all of these different contexts. We conduct practice-oriented research into current issues in all forms of in-school and out-of-school art education, in formal, non-formal and informal settings, and for all ages and across all artistic disciplines.
We approach this research from the perspective that arts education becomes meaningful when it helps learners to develop into the artistic individuals they want and are able to be. That is why we view arts education within the current Dutch socio-cultural context, to better connect with the lived experiences of learners.
Our research, for example, leads to insights for designing arts education tasks or learning environments, and to developing tools that help professionals expand their repertoire of actions in arts educational contexts. We also hope our research will lead to a better understanding of the meaning that everyday artistic practice has for people. This, in turn, enables professionals working with learners to better respond to that meaning in themselves and in their pupils, students or course participants.
Three topics receive special attention in our research: the role of arts in daily life, the voice of the learner, and arts education in rural areas.
The research projects are carried out by lecturer-researchers connected to the arts education and general teacher education programmes at Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen. The professorship is part of the Research Centre Art & Society and works closely with other education-focused professorships within Hanze. The group is led by Dr Evert Bisschop Boele and includes lecturer-researchers from, among others, the Prince Claus Conservatorium, Minerva Art Academy, the School of Education and the Master of Arts Education.