This paper introduces the life and work of art educator and designer Kurt Rowland (1920-1980) who authored the first set of textbooks on visual education and played a role in the shifting world of art and design education in post-war Britian. We detail the foundational experiences of his extraordinary life in the first half of the 20th century…

Media scrutiny of initial teacher education (ITE) programs in Australia has been intense in recent years, with particular attention being drawn to ITE graduate preparedness to teach. Simultaneously there is a worldwide shortage of graduate teachers to fill gaping holes in teacher workforces, and a decline in community perceptions of the role…

Wellbeing education (WE) is increasingly offered among secondary schools internationally to promote the physical, social, emotional and mental health of young people. Current and emerging evidence proposes that scope exists for the enhancement of universal WE, and that arts-based approaches have significant potential for school programmes in…

Pre-service teachers need to experience authentic arts activities to confidently impart the quality arts engagement that young learners deserve. Most importantly, these experiences should contribute to shaping emerging teacher identities. We sought to understand the student experience of online early childhood pre-service in their arts courses,…

In this article, a teaching artist shares their understandings about designing a large-scale interactive intermedial arts experience for children aged five to eight years, and articulates findings about the conditions that promote quality experiences of this kind. When designing interactive arts experiences, a tension exists between providing…

The impact of digital technologies in education has been the subject of numerous studies. The findings have produced mixed results, highlighting the high degree of complexity involved in teaching and learning and the uniqueness of school settings. Continuous and rapid technological developments present educational communities with opportunities to…

Expert secondary Arts teachers are highly trained specialists well versed in face-to-face individual and group teaching pedagogies. Given the highly personalised nature of Arts teaching practice, the shift to online teaching resulting from COVID-19 lockdowns presented many with challenges for which they had little or no formal training. Many…

The rise of online arts education content delivery has created challenges for arts educators in Initial Teacher Preparation (ITP). Consequently, educators in various arts disciplines across Australia have been regularly meeting online to share, explore and experiment with ITP arts learning practices with the aim of establishing authentic learning…

Projects assisting Aboriginal youth to acquire attributes for effective learning require community or elder mentoring, to ensure learning about culture and history will connect with the skills of the planned project. A Koorie art class at a secondary college in north eastern Victoria, Australia, relies on the positive attributes of mentoring in…

In this action research study, we investigated how art teachers demonstrate critical and creative thinking when engaging in collaborative reasoning exchanges about the meaning of contemporary Chinese artworks. The study was conducted in a professional learning program for art teachers in conjunction with a privately owned gallery housing a…

Online learning has radically altered educational access; however, challenges emerge for learning domains relying on practical learning experiences, such as the creative arts. Research shows praxis is vital to effective arts teacher preparation. However, as Australian initial teacher educators, we noted the challenges of engaging online students…

There is growing recognition of the value of the Arts in helping shape understandings and capabilities for life essential for meeting the challenges of the 21st century. Consequently, in Australia, the Arts are now mandated for all students from kindergarten to year 9. In the lower secondary setting, this has led to a high demand for educators…

This paper investigates the preparation of Australian undergraduate university arts students for a life challenging arts-teaching and creative experience in Timor-Leste. It explores university teaching practice and how we may achieve better student experiences in preparation for their futures as teaching artists. This narrative inquiry research…

Capacity to teach the arts is a problem reported by many teachers in primary (elementary) school settings in Australia. This paper reports on research which explored how to build primary school teachers' capacity in arts-based pedagogy. It outlines the design and development of a co-mentoring program between arts mentor practitioners and…

This paper draws from a cross-cultural study of young children's arts curricula. The initial phase of the original study consisted of a comparison of the intended arts curriculum for 5--6 year old children in China and Australia. This was followed by a survey in Beijing exploring 88 contemporary early childhood educators' beliefs about children's…