Engaging Students in Intercultural Arts Curricula: Affordances and Constraints of a "Glocal" Technology-Mediated Program

• In Event: Roundtable Session 48
  In Roundtable Session: Innovative Learning Across the Arts: Creativity in Museum, Service-Learning, and College Contexts

Abstract

This study examines the affordances and constraints of a classroom-based intercultural learning program involving creative arts practice at both the local level (school and local community) and global level (technology-mediated contact with students in another country) or what has been referred to more recently as ‘glocal’ arts education. Over the course of 8 months, students (aged 8-18 years) participated in online mediated videoconferencing (e.g., Skype) sessions related to their own classroom-based arts curricula. Results indicated expansive learning opportunities through the program for students to learn about aspects of another culture, to understand the historical and socio-cultural context in which these arts practices take place, and to reflect on how these practices connect to their own cultural landscape and identities.

Authors

• Susan Ann O'Neill, Simon Fraser University

• Elisa Vandenborn, Simon Fraser University

• Rita Helena Gomes, Universidade Federal do Ceara