An interview with Shawn Kinley, teacher and performer of improvisational theatre, whose work has taken him to 52 countries across five continents over a 30-year career. His diverse teaching experience includes working with scientists, opera companies, the military, family therapists, and more. Shawn shares his thoughts about the need for the…

This paper explores the use of performance in a college-level course that teaches education majors how to use drama, dance, and music in their instruction. Students engage in drama activities such as improvisation and playbuilding in an effort to experience firsthand the benefits of such practices for their future classrooms. The essay shares some…

The purpose of this interview is to discuss the aims, objectives and achievements of a pioneering European masters degree -- in the context of the politics of higher education and the economics of the creative industries.

In this interview, biologist, artist, and shiatsu healer Artemis Papert describes how computational thinking can help people organize their thoughts in a more formal way. She discusses TurtleArt, a software that allows both children and adults to create two-dimensional static art images using geometry and coding as a medium. TurtleArt not only…

The praxial philosophy of music education in "Music Matters" (2015) argues that music educators should teach democratically, creatively, and ethically toward empowering students' abilities to achieve full human flourishing through critically reflective music making and listening of all kinds. Moreover, "Music Matters" contends…

We argue in this article for greater role for improvisation in the music classroom. Based on an extensive examination of scholarship about improvisational practices, we propose three conceptualizations--ability, culture, experience--that can serve to guide the teaching of improvisation. When considered as an "ability," improvisation is a…

This author is quite often described by respected critics and musical peers as one of the finest artists in the world--making the young pianist's mark on music both undeniable and admirable. In this speech he shares his thoughts on improvisation. The ability to improvise is integral to the future of classical music. Classical pianists are still…

Scholars representing the field of systems science were asked to identify what they considered to be the most exciting and imaginative work currently being done in their field, as well as how that work might change our understanding. The scholars included Alexander Christakis, Debora Hammond, Michael Jackson, Alexander Laszlo, Ian Mitroff, Dave…

Advocating for improvisational pedagogy in the arts, this article argues for the incalculable benefits of a teaching style that refuses to adhere strictly to orchestration planned in advance; it propounds a pedagogical practice that welcomes cadenzas and that situates itself in the here-and-now of classrooms taken as sites of adventure, discovery,…

In this essay we reference a co-creative art installation entitled Box-ing In/Out (Di Rezze & Mantas, 2006; Mantas, 2004). Through this collaborative project we describe how artful re-search and the co-creative process can help teachers access and reframe tacit understandings of teaching and learning. We argue that the personal meaning making,…

Inquiry-based media literacy is an increasingly important component of an educator's toolbox. The author's own concerns about definitions of media literacy have given way to a focus on establishing clear goals for media literacy education. The National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) articulates these goals: "The purpose of media…

This article presents an interview with James C. Kaufman, an associate professor of psychology at the California State University at San Bernardino, where he directs the Learning Research Institute. Kaufman received his PhD in cognitive psychology from Yale University in 2001. Dr. Kaufman's research broadly focuses on nurturing and encouraging…

It is the goal and the purpose on which the utopia is based that merit attention. As such, in this paper, the author engages in what Gilroy (in Shelby & Gilroy, 2008) referred to as a "utopian exercise" in order to think through one's "romance with" music as "part of the core curriculum" and as "balanced, comprehensive, and sequential". She…

Jamey Aebersold is an internationally known saxophonist and authority on jazz education and improvisation. His series of jazz play-along book and CD sets are valuable tools for music teachers, and his weeklong summer jazz workshops--now in their thirty-third year at the University of Louisville in Kentucky and thirty-seventh year overall--have had…

This dialogue discusses disability and performance through poetic interrogation, interspersed with segments of Neil Marcus's play "My Sexual History." The authors touch on such topics such as sexuality and representation, dance and theatre, the management of disability staring, speech difference and writing, curiosity and shrouding. (Contains 1…