Opening Doors: using the creative arts in learning and teaching

Simons, Helen and Hicks, Judy (2006) Opening Doors: using the creative arts in learning and teaching. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 5 (1), 77-90. (doi:10.1177/1474022206059998).

Record type: Article

Abstract

This article explores how using the creative arts in teaching in higher education can engage and empower individuals who learn in different ways, and who may have been excluded form traditional forms of learning which value cognitive and verbal means of learning and assessment. Drawing on an evaluation of a creative arts module in higher education, which used drama, movement, music, and visual art as teaching methods, the article first outlines a case for the kind of learning it is possible to engender through the creative arts. The second part exemplifies the argument in illustrating how use of the creative arts in teaching influenced the students' learning. The article concludes by arguing that, given the current emphasis on inclusive education, an opportunity exists to use the creative arts as a bridge to facilitate inclusion and open doors to those previously disenfranchised in the education system.

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