Postgraduate Module Descriptor


EFPM906: Arts Education Theory, Practice and Potential

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

  • Arts education– the influence of culture, history and policy
  • Practical explorations of the elements of each art form and engagement with examples of learning and teaching through practice.
  • Inter-disciplinary learning between the arts and across curricula
  • Multi modal approaches to teaching and learning in and through the arts
  • How  educational futures are informed by creativity and learning in the arts
  • Inclusion and alternative approaches to teaching and learning exemplified through art forms
  • Tensions and dilemmas within different ways of thinking about the arts in educational futures

Independent, collaborative and peer to peer learning is encouraged. The module staff are well-connected to regional and international arts specialists and practitioners and the module usually includes connections to them.

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
30.5269.50

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities3010 x 3 hour seminar/lectures/workshops/tutorials
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities0.5Academic tutorial
Guided Independent Study80Directed study: preparation for seminars/workshops, including individual and group tasks
Guided Independent Study90Assignment preparation
Guided Independent Study99.5Self-directed study additional reading and practice

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

Abbs P. (2003). Against the flow: Education, the arts and post modern culture. London: Routledge Falmer. Chapter 8: Art against the Zeitgeist and The Coda

Amsler, S. and Facer, K., (2017). Contesting anticipatory regimes in education: exploring alternative educational orientations to the future. Futures (94) pp.6-14.

Athiemoolam, L. (2018). The value of drama-in-education as a decolonising pedagogy through embodied drama strategies in a higher education classroom Journal of Education, Issue 72 http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2520-9868/i72a04

Barnes, J. (2007) Cross curricular learning 3-14. London: Sage

Biesta, G. J. J. (2006). Beyond learning: Democratic education for a human future. Boulder: Paradigm.

Bresler, L. (Ed) (2007) International handbook for research in arts education. Dordrecht: Springer.  (2 volumes)

Eisner, E.W. (2004) What Can Education Learn from the Arts about the Practice of Education? International Journal of Education and the Arts  5:4  pp1-12 

Facer, K., Craft, A., Jewitt, C., Mauger, S., Sandford, R., Sharples, M. (2011).   Building Agency in the Face of Uncertainty.      Outcome of ESRC Seminar Series on Educational Futures (2009-11) –http://edfuturesresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Building-Agency-in-the-Face-of-Uncertainty-Thinking-Tool.pdf  

Fleming, M. (2012) The arts in education: An introduction to aesthetics, theory and pedagogy. London: Routledge. 

Harland, J., Lord, P & Stott, A. (2005) The arts-education interface: A mutual learning triangle? Slough: NFER.

Inayatullah, S. (2015). What works: Case studies in the practice of foresight. Taipei: Tamkang University Press.

Hatton, K. (2015). Chapter 1: Towards an Inclusive Arts Education, pp1-12. In K. Hatton (Ed) Towards and Inclusive Arts Education. London: IOE Press.

Inayatullah, S., (2008). Mapping Educational Futures. Six Foundational Concepts and the Six Pillars Approach.   

Bussey, M., Inayatullah, S. & Milojevic, I. (eds).        Alternative Educational Futures:  Pedagogies for emergent worlds. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

Londesborough, M., Partridge, L., Bath, N. and Grinsted, S. (2017). Learning about Culture. London: RSA.

Robinson, K. (2015) Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That’s Transforming Education.  Viking.

Sabol, F. (2013). Seismic shifts in the educational landscape: What do they mean for arts education and arts education policy. Arts Education Policy Review, 114, 1, 33-45.