Creative Pedagogy as a Practice of Resistance: Rhizo-textual analysis of Artist Educators’ Practices within Differing European Curriculum Policy Contexts.

Abstract

Creative learning is increasingly being recognised as a crucial part of children’s holistic education. In this paper, we critically explore our experiences as artist-educators working across four differing European countries, namely, England, Iceland, Germany, and Greece in relation to differing educational policy. These experiences of practice are set against educational policy landscapes which have progressively eroded opportunities for young people to engage in the creative arts in education across many European states. As artist educators, we are involved in a three-year Erasmus+ funded project, "arted", which aims to transfer the knowledge of artists working in education to school and home contexts in response to these eroded opportunities. Using Deleuzian theory (Deleuze and Guattari, 2004) and narrative inquiry, to offer an alternative reading of policy texts, we examine our own ideologies of creativity and principles of practice within differing national curricular contexts. The rhizo-textual analysis (Honan, 2007) highlights the ‘pedagogical characteristics’ which have enabled us to hold resistance spaces for creative arts learning, acting as a social critique of policy. Through the process of this analysis three ethical principles emerge which underpin our interactive guides for teachers and parents within the project.