The arts offer tremendous potential for enriching, enlivening and propelling learning that transforms individuals and communities. Arts learning fuels transformative education that helps increase students’ capacity and motivation to build a more peaceful and sustainable world. However, to fully realize that potential, teachers must mindfully structure and support educational experiences to optimize what students will take away from them.
This guide invites teachers to harness the transformative power of the arts through the research-informed Arts for Transformative Education model. This thinking tool for teachers was developed by analysing data from more than 600 teachers across 39 countries in the UNESCO Associated Schools Network (ASPnet). The model identifies four dimensions of arts learning experiences: Context, actions, relevance and outcomes.
The model also recognizes special affordances associated with the arts that can enhance learning experiences. ‘Arts assets’ are situated within or across the learning dimensions. Arts assets hold the power to provoke transformation.