Integrating Aesthetics Into Professional Development for Teachers of English Learners

Abstract

The emphasis on testing in curricular content areas has left little room in most U.S. schools for education in the arts. Yet research supports the pedagogical value of aesthetic education, particularly for English learners (ELs), whose representation in schools continues to increase. This article presents a qualitative action research study intended to contribute to the understanding of the impact of incorporating aesthetic education into the training protocol for teachers of ELs. Twenty-three graduate education students at a private university in Queens, New York, participated in an artist-led workshop rooted in the aesthetic education theories of Maxine Greene (1995, 2001, 2007) and structured around the four-stage knowledge acquisition schemas of Torbert (2006) and Heron and Reason (2006). Thereafter, the trainees experimented with using arts-based lessons in their own classrooms, which included ELs. Interviews conducted after the workshop and again after the practice attempts showed that participants gained confidence and facility in integrating arts and aesthetics into their teaching. Participants' reflections also support research that suggests that arts-based education is an excellent means to develop the cognitive, linguistic, and cultural abilities of ELs. These findings are supplemented with recommendations for implementation and with a sample rubric for an EL-friendly aesthetic education unit.

English Activation Through Art: Tensions and Rewards

“…This commitment inevitably “eliminates creative, exciting and participatory lessons” (Rubin, , p. 413), resulting in “a diminishing sense of learning for enjoyment and fulfilment” (Berry, , p. 30). By way of managing a productive tension “between the direct training of skills and the less direct structuring of educative experience” (Hruby et al., , p. 211), the next section explores the potential rewards of aesthetic approaches to teacher education and to English language arts instruction (Dickson & Costigan, ; Greene, ; Murphy, ; Turvey & Lloyd, ).…”

“…Based on Greene's () notion of aesthetic education, Murphy (, p. 88) encourages educators to integrate aesthetics into the classroom by imagining alternative ways of teaching, by embracing ambiguity, and by considering “works of art as storehouses of possible meanings.” The role of aesthetics and the arts in teaching English learners encompasses educational and affective values as well as the potential for skills development, as summarised below.…”

“…Educational and Affective Values: Works of art, as variously meaningful , can trigger inquiry and wonder about the world and social phenomena, which can be examined reflectively and critically through meaning‐making lenses. Viewers respond to works of art imaginatively, creatively, appreciatively, and affectively with their own thoughts and emotions (Dewey, ; Greene, ; Murphy, ). Arts‐based practices can provide “input, context, and background for learning” through careful scaffolding and active engagement in the arts experience (Murphy, , p. 86); reading and writing mediated through the arts can “build content, improve visual thinking, and increase access to prior schemata” in meaning‐making practices (Murphy, , p. 97). Engaging students in aesthetic experiences with a repertoire of texts can lead teachers to reimagine possibilities for language arts instruction and for education in general (Greene, ). Experiments with aesthetic readings can augment engagement and learning in literature classrooms (Dickson & Costigan, ; Turvey & Lloyd, ).…”

“…Generic and Language Skills Development: Arts‐based instruction can establish cognitive links to language, and develop the observation, cognitive, linguistic, and cultural abilities of English learners (Andrzejczak, Trainum, & Poldberg, ; Coleman, ; Hruby et al., ; Murphy, ; Spina, ). Purposefully designed arts‐based language activities can generate conversation, expand vocabulary, and encourage English learners to communicate ideas and feelings, thus fostering their creative, critical thinking, and communication skills (Albers et al., ; Murphy, ). In search of a new paradigm for teaching English as an international language, English activation through art can develop procedural knowledge (the know‐how) among learners by expanding their “language awareness, rhetorical sensitivity and negotiation strategies” for achieving “communicative success and intelligibility” (Canagarajah, , p. 773). …”

“…• Works of art, as variously meaningful, can trigger inquiry and wonder about the world and social phenomena, which can be examined reflectively and critically through meaning-making lenses. Viewers respond to works of art imaginatively, creatively, appreciatively, and affectively with their own thoughts and emotions (Dewey, 1934;Greene, 2001;Murphy, 2014).…”