The case study that I chose to examine for this module was Innovative Learning at Arts Commons. Schools attend Arts Commons for five days and work with various artists and members of the community to help students explore their questions. In this particular Arts Commons video, they were exploring their learning through telling stories. They were also practicing emotional regulation skills through movement and creative imagination. What I appreciated about this particular case study was how engaged all the students were in their learning. Many of the students interviewed enjoyed the non-traditional classroom learning styles and were able to have fun and learn at the same time. I would be interested to see how Arts Commons would differentiate the learning for high school students and accommodate their learning needs.
Arts Commons aligns with both the experiential education and interdisciplinary learning pedagogies. “Experiential education means learning from experience or learning by doing” (Schwartz, 2013). The movement activities that were portrayed in the video had students reflecting on their own learning and created emotional investment, both of which are characteristics of experiential education. Students were able to identify and express their emotions through movement, dance, and practice emotional regulation. “In experiential learning, the student manages their own learning, rather than being told what to do and when to do it” (Schwartz, 2013). While there was a community artist leading the movement activities and guiding their practices, each student was experiencing their individual emotions and expressing them in their own personal and unique way. Furthermore, Arts Commons aligns with interdisciplinary learning because students are making connections across different disciplines. In this video, it combines various Arts disciplines with Literacy (through storytelling) and the Social and Emotional Learning strand. Students are developing “meaningful understandings of complex interactions amongst themselves, their community, and the world around them” (Weller & Appleby, 2021).
References
Schwartz, M. (2013). Best practices in experiential learning. Learning & Teaching Office, Ryerson University, p. 1-20.
Weller, M., & Appleby, M. (2021). What are the benefits of interdisciplinary study? https://www.open.edu/openlearn/education-development/what-are-the-benefits-interdisciplinary-study
Kingston, January 2021
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