Do psychological perspectives constitute the only way through which the role of musical creativity in education can be addressed, researched and theorised? This essay attempts to offer an alternative view of musical creativity as a deeply social and political form of human praxis, by proposing a perspective rooted in the thought of the political…

The purpose of this study was to compare the levels of anxiety that students experienced according to whether their public performance consisted of a free improvisation or a repertory piece. The researcher had two objectives: (1) examine the relationship of students' levels of anxiety to free improvisation and repertory pieces during a…

This paper argues that learning for human flourishing needs a balance between small-scale, convivial experiences, imaginary and creative expression, logical, rational planning and autonomous, purposive practices. It is the second one--imaginary and creative expression--which is particularly of interest in this paper. The focus is on the capacity…

The paper suggests that phenomenology, the anthropology of the senses and of embodiment, performance theory and multi-modal pedagogies offer a rich set of theoretical ideas with which to consider children's expressive repertoires as overlooked forms of social participation and critique. Four case studies in relation to children's photography,…

The authors examine technology-driven games--especially active gaming--as an evolving form of children's play. They offer an overview of play and its developmental benefits, describe the literature on the emergence of technology-driven play, and reflect on the diminishment of physical play in contemporary culture. They suggest that active gaming,…

One of the most fundamental, ongoing debates in music education involves scholars who argue for a "performance-based" curriculum and those who promote a curriculum that is fundamentally "aesthetic-listening based." Rather than arguing for the primacy of either performance or listening as a basis for a music education curriculum, the paper attempts…

This article reviews a writing-intensive course on nineteenth-century aesthetic prose devised for the undergraduate curriculum of the School of English and Drama at Queen Mary, University of London, and considers the results to date. Using examples of students' coursework, the article examines the use of logbooks and creative exercises, considers…

The purpose of this article is to present the idea that the music education profession's current drive to include improvisation in school music is limited in its approach, and that "teaching" improvisation, in the traditional sense, is not possible. These beliefs are based on an examination of current methodologies and texts in light of the…

This article describes a five-week summer literacy program designed for a group of 70 multilingual refugee boys resettled from their home countries in Africa and Asia to a city in the Southeastern USA. The students attended local public schools but struggled to experience academic success in the traditional classroom. The summer program addressed…

The aim of the Inter-Life Project was to investigate the use of virtual worlds and creative practices to support the acquisition of transition skills for young people to enhance their management of important life events. In particular, the authors have been investigating the role of the Inter-Life virtual worlds in supporting the development of…

Creativity and knowledge management are both important competences that university students need to strive to develop. This study therefore developed and evaluated an instructional program for improving university students' creativity based on a blended knowledge-management (KM) model that integrates e-learning and three core processes of KM:…

I propose a conceptualisation of drama in school education as improvisation within a framework that has a number of fixed but changing structures. I examine how the "drama in schooling" practice of one country, New Zealand, might be seen as a group improvisation in which, through dramatic negotiation, participants evolve their goals,…

Competitions are recommended for identifying and providing for the exceptional talents of young people. Competitions have been a cornerstone of gifted education, putting talents to the test by enabling gifted students to showcase their abilities and receive acknowledgement and recognition for their talents. Competitions have been noted as "a…

This article examines how the use of multimedia sources can deepen student engagement, comprehension, and questioning of a variety of texts. Through an American literature project, "The Art of War", high school juniors work in collaboration to read, analyze, and create original digital texts using Animoto.com. As a result, educators are able to…

The findings of a cultural industries skills audit undertaken in 2008 in Katherine, Northern Territory, are explored. The case study focusses in particular on the practical challenges and implications of auditing skills in a diverse industry sector and considers the usefulness of such an audit in preparing an industry for predicted change. This…