Arts Educators' Beginnings: Necessitating Academic Engagement With the Arts in Student Teacher Identity Formation

• In Event: 63.084 - Roundtable Session 22
  In Roundtable Session: 63.084-13 - Art-Making at the Center of Teaching and Learning

Abstract

This paper examines early student experience and identity formation within an arts education module at an Irish college of education. The learning experiences and identity-building development of student teachers are qualitatively explored by inquiring into student reflections and interviews gathered during the first year of a teacher education programme. Student voice centralises the student perspective to explore the complex nature of becoming an arts educator and their emerging identities as teacher-artists are contextualised through their learning and experiential perspectives. Findings show the necessity of both active and reflective experiences for student teachers across the arts to inspire original and imaginative approaches to engaging with art and culture.

Authors

• Eamonn Mitchell, Mary Immaculate College

• Ailbhe Kenny, Mary Immaculate College

• Michael Finneran, Mary Immaculate College