Practice-led research in creative arts

This was a performative-lecture at the Finnish National Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma as part of Baltic Circle International Theatre Festival.

It was a pleasure working with Kiasma chief curator of performing arts Jonna Strandberg & festival managing director Tiff Zhang.

I used my platform to call out on those that weaponise their autism for harm. Tiff Zhang chaired our chat. The young crowd (some 40+ of them) asked how they can use their privilege. I gave out free copies of my book. I apologised on behalf of my generation for the damages we keep doing.

The Festival's theme of amplifying 'inclusive, communal practices' glowed too at the fab Trans Library and a concert by Sámi artist Hildá Länsman.

This article was published on the Society for Research into Higher Education SRHE website on 29/11/2024. Through a loved-filled  Neurodiversity in the Arts Symposium directed by Dr Timothy Smith for which I was the keynote speaker, and which took place amid a severe winter storm in Helsinki, Finland, I outlined the need to dis-arm love-less stormy populist violence today, including those embodied by Musk, Trump and other self-proclaimed ‘high IQ revolutionaries’, weirdos and misfits. The 3000-word article drew on posts I had published on LinkedIn and Instagram previously, found here (15/11/2024, written in response to this Guardian article published on the same morning) and here (24/11/2024). An earlier version of the article was entitled How musk weaponises his autism — and how autistic academics, artists, activists and allies must disarm him. An abridged version focusing on the symposium is published on the CHEAD website, entitled How to curate a love-led symposium? Neurodivergent artist-academics show a way. Founded in 1965, the Society for Research into Higher Education SRHE is a UK-based international learned society concerned to advance understanding of higher education, especially through the insights, perspectives and knowledge offered by systematic research and scholarship. The Society aims to be the leading international society in the field, as to both the support and the dissemination of research. The blog is read in more than 100 countries.

Neste encontro, o professor irá compartilhar algumas ideias que nutrem o processo de cocriação audiovisual “Possessas”, que agencia colaborativamente com cinco estudantes mulheres de ensino médio na periferia de Medellín – Colômbia. Na interface da esquizo-criação e de métodos difrativos, bem como da fabulação especulativa, retomará a ideia de obliquação diagramática para pensar gestos de aquilombamento em aliança com forças afroespirituais como práticas de residência diante de imagens dogmático-racistas do pensamento.

This paper draws on the results of research with artist academics-artists employed as academics within universities principally to teach artistic skills-over a period of almost four years. Through this research we have sought to understand the experience of working in academia within an artistic discipline, one of which has been music. Effective music education is shaped by a complex set of relationships, including those between the musician as educator, practitioner and researcher. Within the higher education environment, all three activities are increasingly required, and we argue that the link, or nexus, between practice, research and teaching cannot be denied. Specifically, we ask: How does the knowledge contained within the process and product of artistic practice construct and inform pedagogy within undergraduate and postgraduate university teaching programs? In responding to this question, the paper draws on a diverse literature including our own previous research.

Celebrating the 5th anniversary of this publication, we offer an overview of the intentions and the contents of the book. "We now know that ecological urgency demands more than a tweak of designed objects, design processes and even design systems. Partnering with nature therefore is a more disruptive and deeper change for design than many imagine when they read the friendly phrase “design and nature”. Caught as we are in our industrial Modern paradigm, embedded in thousands of years of boundary making, to move design from its human centrings and to begin to imagine what Plumwood (2009) calls positive and multiple centrings is radical, heresy almost." This introduction includes descriptions of how we envisioned the four ways of being with nature, or what the Buddha called the Four Postures.

This paper reports on the experiences of creative practice graduate researchers and academic staff as they seek to comply with the requirements of the Australian National Statement on the Ethical Conduct of Research Involving Humans. The research was conducted over a two-year period (2015 to 2017) as part of a wider project ‘iDARE – Developing New Approaches to Ethics and Research Integrity Training through Challenges Presented by Creative Practice Research’. The research identified the appreciation of ethics that the participants acquired through their experience of institutional research ethics procedures at their university. It also revealed a disjunction between the concepts of ethics acquired through meeting institutional research ethics requirements, the notion of ethics that many researchers adopt in their own professional creative practice and the contents of professional codes of conduct. A key finding of the research was that to prepare creative practice graduates for ethi...

Background: Much autism research is predicated on the assumption that autistic people are male and/or malebrained. This gendered diagnosis has led to the marginalisation of a group of autistic people that do not have these stereotypical male autistic traits (i.e., systematising, externalised presentation of autistic behaviours such as stereotypical meltdown and stimming) being mis-/undiagnosed. This group includes autistic women (cis-/trans-) and non-binary people (AWCTN+). The author, who is AWCTN+, did not have these stereotypical traits and remained misdiagnosed with mental health issues until aged 39.

Methods: Their experience became the impetus for this thesis; to address the knowledge gap about adult AWNBT+ peoples' lived experiences using creative methods. Drawing on their performance art background, they designed nine two-hour creative workshops (CWs) to construct an autistic space that encouraged a group of adult late-/ self-diagnosed AWNBT+ university students to articulate their experiences of being autistic. The culmination of these workshops was a 90-minute collaborative performance piece that was to be shown to the public. A series of recordings from the creative workshops plus one-to-one interviews with the participants were transcribed and analysed using elements of grounded theory and thematic analysis. Post-performance interviews were also conducted. This thesis develops a new form which the author has entitled 'embodied autieethnography performance'. A method which has built on other autistic academics' use of autieethnography as the autistic form

This video essay is the result of a co-creation process carried out for six months with vulnerable teenagers who participated in a film workshop informed by a communitarian feminist epistemology in Toro, Colombia. Our aim, as co-creators of this process, is to collectivize the potencies of an emancipatory thought through images, sounds, and words in the face of gender-based violence that continues to take place in Latin America, particularly in the small city of Toro (a marginalized town witness to the violence resulting from drug trafficking). We also aim to affirm academic filmmaking as a propitious space for the consolidation of a material thought that relocates the body to the center of its motivations and movements. Our ambition has been to affirm academic filmmaking as a gesture of social justice, as well as a way of revitalizing and decolonizing the university.

Question: What do Olympian Simone Biles, climate warrior Greta Thunberg, billionaire Elon Musk, artist Leonardo Da Vinci and sci-fi bestseller Octavia Butler have in common?

Answer: They are change-makers who are neurodivergent or, in Tik Tok parlance, ‘neurospicy’.

In the last few years, there’s been an explosion in the interest, awareness and diagnosis of ADHD, autism and other ‘atypical’ forms of cognitive processes, – but beyond the fads, myths and tech-bro cartoon-tycoons, what are the scientific facts – and creative potential – of neurodiversity?         

Drawing on the big-picture thinking and risk-taking approaches of neurodivergence, my new book Neuro-Futurism and Re-Imagining Leadership: An A-Z towards Collective Liberation (Palgrave Macmillan 2024) discusses creative ways to think about and make changes to the troubled moment we live in. 

Written in my trademark ‘ecelctic and cheeky’ style (Sydney Morning Herald) and punctuated with 39 full-colour images, the book introduces ‘neuro-futurism’ as a (co-)creative, diversified, decolonised, neuro-queered practice of change-making and future-making.

Endorsement includes:

‘Astonishing, daring, pioneering, and much, much needed. At once inspirational, creative, subversive, and at times hilarious, Tan provides multiple strategies to disrupt and reclaim ideas and spaces about leadership’.

– Philosopher-Psychiatrist Dr Mohammed Abouelleil Rashed, UK.

'Tan artfully brings together seemingly disparate phenomena in a clever and compelling maneuver, urging the reader to consider their own assumptions and prejudices, while encouraging a re-learning and call-to-action for creative, innovative, and (neuro)divergent practices for change.  The book is meant to disrupt and energize – asking for change and urging us to question assumptions and poor habits we find ourselves easily dismissing under excuses of institutional frameworks. It questions academic agency and integrity, urging to confront difference and diversity, and using the artistic and creative as one mechanism to push for better leadership in this space. This is bold and inspiring – and I cannot wait to use this as an exemplar in my own methods and teaching'.

-- Artist-Geographer Dr Kaya Barry

Background Evidence of ‘what works’ in humanitarian programming is important for addressing the disruptive consequences of conflict and forced displacement. However, collecting robust scientific evidence, and ensuring contextual relevance, is challenging. We measured the biological, psychosocial, and cognitive impacts of a structured psychosocial intervention, implemented by Mercy Corps with Syrian refugees and Jordanian host-community youth. In this paper, we present a case analysis of this evaluation study and reflect on the scientific contributions of the work, the challenges experienced in its delivery, and the strategies deployed to address them. Discussion We identified challenges with respect to study design, methods, and dissemination: these included the logistics and acceptability of implementing a randomized controlled trial in a humanitarian context, the selection and refinement of culturally-relevant research tools and community-based practices, and the dissemination of ...

Background Evidence of ‘what works’ in humanitarian programming is important for addressing the disruptive consequences of conflict and forced displacement. However, collecting robust scientific evidence, and ensuring contextual relevance, is challenging. We measured the biological, psychosocial, and cognitive impacts of a structured psychosocial intervention, implemented by Mercy Corps with Syrian refugees and Jordanian host-community youth. In this paper, we present a case analysis of this evaluation study and reflect on the scientific contributions of the work, the challenges experienced in its delivery, and the strategies deployed to address them. Discussion We identified challenges with respect to study design, methods, and dissemination: these included the logistics and acceptability of implementing a randomized controlled trial in a humanitarian context, the selection and refinement of culturally-relevant research tools and community-based practices, and the dissemination of ...

Pneumonia 17 1968 "The one marked change I noticed in Stravinsky was in his voice. Its deep, melodic strength was gone forever; now it was weak, sometimes falling to a whisper, although even that whisper retained a suggestion of the old timbre." 19 1969 Coughs only when swallowing liquids and not when he eats 14,19

The interpretation of a musical work can draw on multiple sources, including aural experiences, metaphors, written texts, and other works by and interactions with the composer. These "experiential anchors" resonate with previous musical experiences to inform an "interpretive platform" from which a performer's practice and performing process develops. As such, the first stage of learning a new work is vastly different for canonic repertoire than it is for a piece that is newly composed. This paper reports findings from a project of commissioned works that were received without explanatory program notes from the composers. This enabled a unique interrogation of the process through which an interpretative platform is built and negotiated. Focusing on a work for viola and piano composed by one of the authors, the collaborators share their individual interpretive frames with each other for the first time as part of the paper-writing process. The subsequent response and rethinking of the work, when underlying compositional thinking is given, is described as dialogue. The paper uncovers some of the differences and intersections that may lead to a collaborative interpretive platform. They also reveal insights into the hierarchical relationship between creator and interpreter.

The oral examination serves as a reminder that working towards a doctorate is a high-stakes game, and not for the faint-hearted. Not all universities require oral examinations but many still do. They can take various forms. For this chapter, I have consulted my old notes, revisited the literature, and canvassed other members of the cohort of students with whom I shared the research journey. Much of what I report relates to the oral examination process at Auckland University of Technology; clearly there are nuanced differences within and between institutions, and between actual oral examinations. By talking about my own experience
and that of others, I attempt to offer a range of different candidate responses which might be helpful to candidates thinking ahead to their own oral examination.

El artículo ofrece una mirada diversa sobre el diseño en Argentina, recopilando voces de distintas regiones del país. Se destaca la importancia de visibilizar discursos
relegados y promover la diversidad de perspectivas en el campo del Diseño. A través de
reflexiones sobre la identidad del Diseño en comunidades periféricas, la conexión entre
Diseño y modernidad, y la necesidad de una educación del Diseño más crítica y sensible a
las necesidades sociales, se plantea un camino hacia un diseño decolonial y no excluyente
para Argentina y Latinoamérica en general. Este documento invita a repensar los planes
de estudio, proponiendo ejes propios alejados del norte global y central, con el objetivo
de formar profesionales con conciencia y sentido de pertenencia, capaces de diseñar para,
por y desde sus comunidades.

Online education is becoming prevalent across the higher education sector and requires new approaches to teaching and learning. As music is seen as a 'hands on' discipline, there has been a very gradual move toward the use of online technologies in music teaching in tertiary education, especially in the area of performance studies. By surveying existing scholarly research, this article investigates the technology available to consider the possibility of teaching performance studies within a fully online environment. Today, music students are also required to develop meta-skills such as social networking, entrepreneurism, self-management, self-regulation, and self-reflection. Through a constructivist teaching and learning paradigm, this article explores how online technology in instrumental or performance studies can support and develop these essential proficiencies as well as continuing to develop technical skills. This study serves as a foundation for further systematic research, and a practical application for online music education.

The paper investigates the history of instrumental music programs in Victorian Government secondary schools over a 50-year period. These programs were researched using archival materials, State government documents and curriculum changes. Factors which impacted the transformation were government policy, societal trends, developments in the curriculum and policy reform. The study found that there was a demand for these programs despite the issues of costs, access and quality. It wasn't until the government review into the status of music in Australian schools in 2005 that music programs could be discussed more holistically at a national level. This prompted a review into music education at the State level after the subsequent formation of the School Music Action Group. From this, there has been more awareness of the issues and the need for more support for instrumental music programs.

The workshop was a joint event bringing together two M.A. seminars, taught by Dr. Kathleen Loock and Dr. Alexander Starre at the John F. Kennedy Institute at the Freie Universität Berlin during the summer semester 2016. We designed the event to include input from both sides: the seminars' instructors and students and the two researchers from the IASS-Prof. Dr. Julia Leyda and Thiago Pinto Barbosa. That day of multi-directional intellectual exchanges and inspiring discussions from the different perspectives we all bring to climate fiction, or cli-fi, provided the starting point for this paper.

This paper scrutinises the subtleties of my musical composition Kwadehyewa (2019), a re-envisioned adaptation of the 1st movement of Asamanasaw (2015). Utilising a practice-based research method influenced by interculturalism, this paper performs a comprehensive analysis of the piece. In an era where contemporary music increasingly embraces cross-cultural dialogue, Kwadehyewa is a prism to examine the convergence of disparate influences in artistic expression. By delving into Kwadehyewa, this article seeks to glean insights into the broader exploration of cultural amalgamation and artistic innovation, contributing to the ongoing discourse surrounding intercultural artistic endeavours.

In this essay I address the complexities of the political geography of race in Mexico by discussing the research processes and methodologies used in the making of my video installation ‘Portrait of a Nation’. Mexican landscape painter José María Velasco (1840-1912) is considered to have made geography a symbol of national identity through his artwork. His pastoral landscapes act as a mechanism for colonial subjugation, perpetuating Eurocentric artistic values, meanwhile concealing Indigenous genocide and colonial violence. Velasco’s pastoral landscapes aptly depict subjugation and colonial violence as normalized instruments of dispossession. I examine the ways in which colonial violence has been enacted through cultural and artistic nationalistic projects, hopefully gaining a better understanding of the function of Mexican colonialism.

This study aimed to explore the experiences of clinical research nurses recruiting patients in a large specialist care-based cohort study. Background Longitudinal studies are vital to better understand the aetiology and moderators of health conditions. This need is especially salient for congenital conditions, such as cleft lip and/or palate, where establishing large, comprehensive datasets from birth is vital to improve understanding and to inform interventions. Various barriers exist in recruiting patients to large cohort studies. The role of clinical research nurses embedded within health settings has grown over past decades to facilitate data collection, yet challenges remain. Design Qualitative descriptive study. Methods Individual semi-structured interviews with 12 clinical research nurses based in 10 National Health Service cleft services across the United Kingdom, recruiting to the Cleft Collective Birth Cohort Study. Results Out of seven emergent themes, three highlighted challenges to recruiting patients, another three described facilitative factors, and one theme overlapped challenges and facilitators. Challenges included: the life circumstances of potential participants; language barriers; and limited clinical research nurse time for study. Facilitative factors included: integrating research into clinical practice; RESEARCH NURSES IN COHORT STUDIES patient information shared with clinical research nurses; and support from the university-based research study team. The theme 'Method of data collection' related to both challenges and facilitators. Conclusions The qualitative data from clinical research nurses recruiting to a large birth cohort study provide helpful practical detail for specialist healthcare teams, specialist nurses, clinical research nurses and researchers looking to optimise recruitment and data collection in longitudinal studies. Relevance to clinical practice The findings suggest the importance of specialist clinical services and research study teams cooperating to embed research into everyday clinical practice, without compromising care. This should facilitate patients' willingness to participate in important research like the Cleft Collective study and provide them with a positive experience of research.

This research paper deals with a research methodology for Visual Art related research. Practice-based research is common in the art institutions of Europe, America, Australia, and Asian countries like China and Japan. In India, it is not well-known. This paper has been written on the basis of the experience gathered during the practice-based doctoral research of the first author (In India) and second author (In Hungary). To understand the exact scenario the views of senior art educators and research scholars in India were also taken. It has also included the experience through participation in the workshop on practice-based doctoral research, organized by Banaras Hindu University. These experiences and views lead this research to conclude with the requirements and possibilities of implementation of the Practice-based PhD as a suggestion for Indian Art Academia.

We find ourselves at an interesting intersection. As supervisors of practice-led research higher degree students in both art and design, we find ourselves consciously using different vocabularies when we teach our postgraduate students research methods. We encounter stark differences in project designs and we find ourselves switching hats as we alternate between draft exegeses and consider, for example, the poetic goals of an installation artist one day and the pragmatic aims of an interaction designer the next. The contrasts are quite apparent on the ground, yet when we turn to the literature on practice-led research, we find that the fields of art and design are largely undifferentiated. While considerable work has been undertaken to articulate the research paradigms of creative practice (Gray and Malins 1993; Sullivan 2005; Haseman 2005; Biggs and Büchler 2008), and to exemplify it through multidisciplinary case studies (Barrett and Bolt 2007; Bourke et al. 2005; Brien and Williamson 2009), much of the available literature does not distinguish between the approaches of art and design. Research processes, outcomes and knowledge contributions are often undifferentiated and are discussed through reference to incommon traits. At times they are bracketed together as a single term (art-anddesign) or treated as interchangeable terms (art/design) and discussed as if one domain encompasses the other. We can trace the conflation of art and design research back to the mid 1990s and early attempts at formulating practice-led research for the academy. For example, cultural capital' in Proceedings of Speculation and innovation (SPIN)

This Ecosomatics Masterclass is a practice immersion experience to rediscover the embodied resemblance and commonality with matter and the nonhuman, and map ecosomatic approaches and applications for personal and cultural regeneration. The Masterclass a unique opportunity to approach a fast-growing field of practices and knowledges that are spreading nationally and internationally across many artistic, holistic, therapeutic, and community-oriented disciplines and are set to impact broader areas of society such as education, social work, ecology, and health care.

El presente escrito se propone analizar los espacios áulicos como posibles escenarios para la construcción de herramientas conceptuales y reflexivas, en vías de formar estudiantes configurados como sujetos críticos de sus contextos. Para dar cuenta de ello se tomarán tres ejemplos de acciones surgidas en las cursadas de la asignatura Procedimientos de las artes plásticas, de la FBA-UNLP con respecto a casos particulares de la historia argentina reciente: la desaparición forzada de Santiago Maldonado, el conflicto docente durante el 2018 y el debate en la Cámara de Diputados por la ley de interrupción voluntaria del embarazo.

For my creative practice-led PhD, "The Ecological Turn: Living Well with For- ests,"' I developed a comprehensive theory-method framework to understand ecoart, which I call ecosocial art practice. This framework is based on Félix Guattari's ecological philosophy, known as ecosophy, and a social inquiry meth- odology known as action research. It details why and how ecosocial art practices routinely promote ecoliteracy and agency, so practitioners and communities can learn, think, and act for their places' enduring well-being. The framework is ex- pressed through my ongoing ecosocial art practice in The Hollywood Forest Story, which centers on my learning to live well with a small forest in rural Ireland.

Kegiatan meneliti selalu dipertanyakan mengenai derajat keilmiahannya, artikel ini mengemukakan sebuah paradigma metode penelitian seni dan desain. Yang mana instrumen penelitiannya adalah diri praktisi perupa atau desainernya sendiri dimana wahana penelitiannya adalah sebuah kegiatan berkesenian yang paling fundamental bagi perupa dan desainer, yaitu: seni menggambar.

The purpose of this action research study was to investigate the effect of a choral integrated WWII unit on students' perceptions of learning through traditional versus non-traditional approaches. A concurrent triangulation design was used to guide this inquiry. Three types of data were collected from the following sources: (a) a focus group interview; (b) surveys; and (c) WWII exams. Participants were seven 11 th grade students enrolled in either Honors or College Preparatory U.S. History and Advanced Choir. Succeeding the phase of data triangulation, findings suggest that participants perceived the integrated experience to be cognitively and affectively engaging as well as pivotal in helping them access multiple domains (cognitive, affective, and psychomotor) of learning.

Tulisan ringkas ini bermaksud memberikan semacam pledoi kepada seni mural. Suatu romantisasi atas massa sebagai konsumen seni post-auratik. Karya seni diperlakukan sebagai komoditas yang direproduksi, diperjualbelikan, dan dikonsumsi secara massal. Seni mural adalah lukisan pada dinding tembok. Mungkin, bagi pengamat awam kurang bernilai tinggi karena kadang hanya dilihat sebagai dekorasi penghias resto dan kafe. Ketika karya lukis dinding ini selesai dan transaksi pertukaran nilai sudah selesai juga, maka karya seni mural akan terus hidup bagi dirinya sendiri.  Seni Mural dalam diskusi ini dapat kita beri porsi apresiasi dari segi instrumentalis dan juga sebagai contoh seni sebagai salah satu bidang otonom. Dengan bahasa esksoteris seni yaitu seorang seniman perupa dapat mengekspresikan rasionalitasnya dalam karya seni untuk refleksi publik, entah itu mengandung unsur politis atau tidak.

This report follows up a previous paper that outlined the goals and plans of a research project that focused on both theoretical and cultural questions regarding the supervisory process for Māori doctoral students (McKinley, Grant, Middleton, Irwin, & Williams, 2007). The major goal of the project is to enhance understanding of the teaching and learning process of supervision for students and supervisors, particularly around issues of culture that arise in research methodologies and practices. This paper reports on the completed project by providing further operational background, design features, the nature of the student and supervisor samples and a summary of interview findings. The results show that there are indeed distinctive issues arising within the supervision of Māori doctoral students. Some of these are to do with both pleasures and challenges found in the supervision relationship, while others relate to the kinds of projects the students undertake. Many projects for example, push at the disciplinary boundaries of Western knowledge and are often rooted in a political desire to enhance the everyday lives of Māori. Yet others are connected to identity formation processes that concern many Māori during their years as doctoral students. A central message for supervisors from this work is that the supervision of Māori doctoral students may require unfamiliar forms of engagement but that these are likely to be deeply rewarding in many different ways.

The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.

The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.

Family diversity has long been censored, silenced, and ignored in Australian picture books. Despite its long running representation in books for older readers, the concept of exploring family diversity at picture book level remains nothing short of radical. Of the little available, much comes in the form of issue-driven books and from specialist presses overseas, presenting a distinct gap in Australian children's literature. The contentious history of diversity in children's books creates added issues in the struggle for representation, and diverse stories (and diverse authors) face ongoing challenges. Furthermore, public outrage at the 'shunning' of nuclear families, as well as society's distorted understanding of what constitutes diversity, present further complications in the advocating for family-diverse stories. This essay will examine what it means to be a family, the issues surrounding family diversity in picture books, and why such books deserve to be championed.

The aim of this research was to define, circumscribe, and contextualise my drawing practice and understand its “encounter with the divine” while looking for a framework that would validate those experiences.
While I noticed how most of the literature always points back to the artefact as the means to understand the method and the artist, I used drawing followed by a self-reflective journaling system to explore the processual part of the practice with regard to these spiritual experiences. Once I realised that both performativity and in-the-zoneness were providing incomplete answers, materiality presented a connection to alchemy which offered a means to reading my drawing experience.
The findings confirmed the spiritual experiences but also indicated that among all the assessable parameters, at the conjuncture between the Artist, the Material, and the Work, there is always something elusive and ineffable.

MA by Research awarded in FEB 2024

This thesis presents an introspective journey
through my artistic evolution, spanning the
period before my tenure at Goddard and
throughout my MFA program. Commencing
with body-based performance art, the narrative
unfolds into a diverse array of ephemeral
creations that facilitate connections between my
body, mind, and others. The artistic exploration
encompasses performance art, interactive
installations, zines, audio, guided meditations,
and group experiences grounded in yoga and
somatic inquiry.
Informed by a diverse array of artistic
influences, my work has matured into a more
investigative, conceptual, and presence-rooted
practice. The resulting creations deviate
significantly from the conventional Western art
paradigm of the 21st century. They aspire to
foster harmony among individuals through the
act of creation, advocating for body-based
awareness as a means of healing from the
clutches of capitalism and patriarchy, ultimately
contributing to human liberation.
The underlying theme suggests a deliberate
shedding of ephemeral or non-essential
attributes of art, akin to leaves gracefully
descending from a tree. This metaphorical
journey aims to draw closer to the core and the
earth, where genuine nourishment and
transformative artistic expression reside.

The future missions of music schools in our changing societies and the measures and strategies to meet these challenges were the focal points of the First European Music School Symposium in Vienna. It took place from 6 to 7 October 2017 at the mdw-University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and was organized in cooperation with the European Music School Union (EMU) and the Conference of Austrian Music School Associations (KOMU). More than 150 researchers, experts and practitioners from twenty-five countries participated in this event. As keynote speakers the University invited Anne Bamford (England), Heidi Westerlund and Lauri Väkevä (Finland), and Susanne Keuchel (Germany). Researchers from twenty European countries presented research findings and case studies concerning issues such as equal access, social impact, diversity and specialization, collaborations with schools, and the professional profile of teachers. A final panel about future aims of music school research started with a presentation by Herbert Altrichter (Vienna). Therese Kaufman hosted the panel with Helena Maffli and Timo Klemettinen (EMU), Lauri Väkevä (Sibelius Academy Helsinki), Franz-Otto Hofecker (mdw), and Michaela Hahn (mdw and KOMU). The dialogue between researchers and practitioners as one central aim of the Symposium was supported by different formats during the event. The contributions of EMU were posters from several European countries about their music school systems and about the EMU Statistics, which had been published shortly before. The Austrian Music School Association organized a concert on the first evening which gave a glimpse of the inspiring work done by Austrian Music Schools. This post-symposium publication refers to the First European Music School Symposium, which took place from October 6-7, 2017 at mdw-University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. Cooperating partners for the symposium were European Music School Association (EMU) and the Austrian Conference of Music School Associations (KOMU). This volume has set itself the task of providing a first glimpse of the diverse music school research in European countries. Whereas comparative research in education is well established, it has yet to be done for music schools. With the new format of the European Music School Symposium at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna in cooperation with the European Music School Union and the Conference of Austrian Music School Associations (KOMU) this scientific discourse has now started. The 2017 symposium brought more than 150 researchers and practitioners from twenty-five European countries together. Including a keynote and presentations from this symposium this publication offers contributions from twenty-nine researchers from thirteen European countries and paints a multicolored picture of music schools in Europe. _ With the question, "How music schools justify themselves: Meeting the social challenges of the twenty-first century" the article by Heidi Westerlund, Lauri Väkevä, and Leena Ilmola-Sheppard is a fitting starting point for this publication. The authors argue that in our changing societies music schools also need to take ethical responsibility. After describing the Finnish framework for music school education, Basic Education in the Arts, they present two cases, Resonaari and Floora from Finland, using a systems view as a theoretical frame of reference. The concept of gaining institutional resilience through interprofessional collaboration leads to implications for the whole system. Focusing on the Western philosophical tradition of human flourishing as the foundation for music schools, Cecilia Björk and Marja Heimonen discuss the different ways in which music education can contribute to the living of a good life. Against the background of the role of the state in the Nordic countries, they examine how and to what extent national policies can promote the broad aim of flourishing in its variety and complexity, taking into account the necessity of balancing flexibility and regulation in order to meet the needs of different music school pupils. With the next article, Christos Theologos and George Katsadoros take us to the ancient heart of European culture, Greece. The current contribution of Greek music schools to local folk culture is examined in the Music School of Rhodes. The history of Greek folk culture is the rich background for music schools. Interviewed graduates and teachers describe the role of music schools in helping pupils to conceptualize music folk tradition and form their own cultural identity. music school RESEARCH II / INTRODUCTION This publication would not exist without the help of a number of people. Most of all we want to thank all contributing authors for their precious work and their dedication to music school research, but also for their commitment and understanding during the blind-review process and their patience during the editing process. We are especially grateful to Neil Perkins, who did the English editing and to Elisabeth Enghauser and Verena Weiss for their support in the publishing process. Our special thanks go to the provincial Government of Lower Austria and the Department of Music Education Research, Music Didactics and Elementary Music Education (IMP), who favored this project and provided the financial background for publishing this book. As this publication refers to the First European Music School Symposium we also want to thank the European Music School Union (EMU) and the Austrian Conference of Music School Associations (KOMU) for their patronage and support. The symposium in 2017 was made possible through the efforts of two extraordinary women: Helena Maffli, EMU president from 2010 to 2018, who dedicated herself to promoting music schools through a focused European exchange; and Ulrike Sych, Rector of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, who works with a passion for music education in all its diverse facets. We hope that this volume will attract interest and encourage readers to actively participate in the growing community of European music school researchers.

El pensamiento complejo (Edgar Morin), ofrece una nueva visión filosófica para interpretar el mundo. Deja atrás los conocimientos encapsulados, las convicciones y principios de un universo euclidiano, eterno y estable para presentar a sistemas complejos, inestables, donde las relaciones entre las partes toman relevancia. 

https://srheblog.com/2024/02/02/looking-for-love-in-2024/

In this op-ed published for the Valentine's season on the Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) blog, I am looking for and locating concepts and actions around a four-letter word - love -- to counter hate, bias, harm and kill-ings.

I share some of my own efforts and aspirations within and outside of the ivory tower. As Paolo Freire states, education’s mission is to build a world where it is easier to love.

The radical pedagogist aside, James Baldwin and bell hooks also make cameos, as did several contemporary exceptional decolonial movers, shakers and change-makers whom I have been (un-)learning from.

I pay tribute to my own students from the inaugural MA Arts and Cultural Leadership programme @maaclwsa too, whose openness and willingness to embrace love and other radical EDI-focused framings of leadership have been humbling.

The article is a call to co-create ways with fellow artist-lovers, to love-bomb the classroom and beyond, with oxytocin, justice, solidarity, humanisation, liberation and joy, so as to move towards freedom, for 2024 and beyond.

Read short version on Council for Higher Education in Art and Design (CHEAD) website 14th February 2024

Background Evidence of ‘what works’ in humanitarian programming is important for addressing the disruptive consequences of conflict and forced displacement. However, collecting robust scientific evidence, and ensuring contextual relevance, is challenging. We measured the biological, psychosocial, and cognitive impacts of a structured psychosocial intervention, implemented by Mercy Corps with Syrian refugees and Jordanian host-community youth. In this paper, we present a case analysis of this evaluation study and reflect on the scientific contributions of the work, the challenges experienced in its delivery, and the strategies deployed to address them. Discussion We identified challenges with respect to study design, methods, and dissemination: these included the logistics and acceptability of implementing a randomized controlled trial in a humanitarian context, the selection and refinement of culturally-relevant research tools and community-based practices, and the dissemination of ...

Biofiction, a genre that produces ‘literature that names its
protagonist after an actual biographical figure’ [Lackey, M. 2016.
The American Biographical Novel. New York: Bloomsbury
Academic, 1] presents significant technical, imaginative, and
ethical challenges to its writers. This article gives a brief history of
the biofiction novel and explores creative methodologies used by
biofiction authors. The article then describes a post-graduate
attempt at writing the manuscript of a novel about Scottish
author, Naomi Mitchison and English explorer, Zita Baker.
Employing an autoethnographical approach, I explain how I used
a dual-methodology of Colm Tóibín’s idea of ‘becoming’ (2010) as
creative practice and Meg Mundell’s POET model of literary
placemaking (2018) and give examples of how these techniques
worked in two ways: the writing of character and place.

The presenters describe the background to developing their documentary Refuge in the Heartland , a film about the education of newcomer students to American schools and what it means to be a resettled person. The book Journey to Refuge brings together world leaders in child refugee policy, UNHCR officers, trauma experts, linguistic experts, educators, refugee camp volunteers, scholars, artists, and musicians to improve the local and global community for those who have been forcibly displaced from their home. They make the case for assisting 70 million displaced people in the world to make a meaningful difference in our own communities, and therefore the global community

Despite the repeated call-to-action to identify more inclusive and equitable approaches within school music ensembles, choral teaching and learning in the United States still favors practices that perpetuate injustices while limiting democracy and student autonomy (Bradley, 2007; de Quadros, 2015; Howard, 2020; O’Toole, 2005; Philpott & Kubilius, 2015; Shaw, 2012, 2016, 2019). In many ways, music teacher socialization surrounding best choral practices for teaching and learning has remained stable since the 19th century. Most choral teachers in the United States continue to center sequential patterns of teaching and learning with a singular trained leader, Western Art Music (WAM), and polished products of music (Conkling, 2019). These practices are best defined as Formal Learning (FL), or learning that includes a structured curriculum and instructional plan, sequential learning process, teacher in charge, and clear assessment plan (Mok, 2011c).

Though FL endures as the “default option” in large ensemble classroom settings such as bands, choirs, and orchestras (Conkling, 2019), Informal Learning (IL) in music education—learning that is “not sequenced beforehand” and contains components that are “self-chosen and voluntary” (Folkestad, 2006, p. 141)—has steadily gained popularity in the United Kingdom and the United States since its introduction in Nordic countries in the 1960s (Hallam et al., 2018). In the early 21st century, Green (2002) conducted a seminal study about how popular musicians learn using Informal Learning Practices and Processes (ILPP). Since then, researchers and teachers worldwide have explored IL in elementary music classrooms (Davis, 2013; Moore, 2019), secondary music contexts (Bersh, 2011; Costes-Onishi, 2016; Evans et al., 2015; Gower, 2012; Green, 2008; Hallam et al., 2018; Jones, 2015; Moore, 2019; Vasil, 2015; Wallerstedt & Pramling, 2016; Wright, 2016), and collegiate settings (Finney & Philpott, 2010; Isbell, 2016; Karlsen, 2010; Mok, 2017).

Feichas (2010) called IL a “pedagogy of diversity and inclusion” (p. 57), because of the inherent choice involved, the minimization of Eurocentric musics, and the opportunity for all to access this way of learning. Jones (2009) claimed students’ engagement with music in IL settings as one of the most promising indicators of musicking throughout one’s life because of the student choice, informal skills, and self-regulated learning involved. Despite these benefits, research related to IL within high school choral contexts remains scarce. The purpose of this multiple case study was to investigate Informal Learning Practices and Processes (ILPP) within the context of three public high school choral programs. A qualitative multiple case study design guided me toward purposive sampling (Patton, 2015; Stake, 2006). In total, I selected and studied the experiences of three teachers and 59 total student participants, ages 14-18. Data sources and types at each site included choir teacher and student interviews/transcripts, observations/field notes, recordings from concerts and rehearsals, course materials, and other artifacts. In total, I conducted six individual interviews with the teachers and 89 individual/focus group interviews with the students. Additionally, I conducted approximately 104 total hours of observations, split among all three sites.

Upon completion of data collection, I engaged in a within-case analysis by first constantly comparing the data with the emerging conceptual framework, The IL-FL Continua, and next open-coding the data and grouping the codes into themes. I subsequently completed the cross-case analysis, first by forming types/families of learning practices and processes (Miles et al., 2020), and subsequently by constructing nine explanations (Yin, 2018) that captured the essence of the quintain: student and teacher perspectives of ILPP in choral programs (Stake, 2006). To ensure trustworthiness, I employed triangulation, peer coding, and member checking (Lincoln & Guba, 1985).

The within-case data analysis revealed a wide variety of benefits related to ILPP in choir including musical validation and growth, musical self-efficacy, bolstered community, creative freedom, feelings of ownership, enhanced life skills (e.g., communication, teamwork, independence, social-emotional skills), and a more relaxed environment. Challenges of ILPP in choir that emerged included musical setbacks, navigating open-ended and independent tasks, social dynamics in group work, unequal contribution, and limited time. The three teachers each held different values that prompted them to center ILPP in choir. For instance, one teacher centered ILPP because he valued student voice and democracy, while another teacher centered ILPP to foster lifelong music-making.

The Informal-Formal Activities Continuum which emerged from the cross-case data analysis (see Figure 3), features four types of learning practices and processes in high school choirs: (a) teacher or student led rehearsals, (b) large group creative activities, (c) small group creative activities, and (d) non-compulsory performance opportunities. Further analysis revealed two models of integrating IL and FL in choral contexts: mutually-supportive and additive. A mutually-supportive model of IL-FL refers to a pedagogy of practice whereby students experience learning on all parts of the IL-FL Continua which contributes toward shared outcomes and goals. An additive model refers to a pedagogy of practice whereby some students may experience shared outcomes and goals. While additive and mutually-supportive models resulted in similar benefits such as student enjoyment and motivation, strengthened community, life skills, and recruitment/program advocacy, the mutually-supportive model promoted greater musical and communal outcomes.

This study holds implications for developing and centering a new choral philosophy for inservice and preservice choral teacher education. At the core of this philosophy lies a mutually-supportive IL-FL model, facilitated by decentralized power and a democratic classroom environment. By engaging students in varying learning styles, decentering power in the classroom, and encouraging students to make choices to support their own learning, teachers may foster student lifelong and lifewide music-making.

Academic rigour, journalistic flair Improving one's plot in life: why Matthew Reilly's books sell February 3, 2014 4.15pm AEDT I don't know whether Australian author Matthew Reilly ever studied Aristotle, but he certainly studied action novels. As the subject of tonight's Australian Story on ABC, Reilly's affinity with the Greek philosopher is unlikely to be mentioned-but maybe it should be. Aristotle said it first: if you want to write a good story (or, in his terms, a good tragedy), you must have

The Remaindering is an artist book that uses combinations of image, text and sculptural values to talk about constructions attached to political regimes that have been neglected or considered architectural failures. The exhibition-within-a-book deals with stubborn man-made constructions that no longer function along the lines that their makers originally intended. From never-finished bridges and unmade architectural plans to partially dilapidated public monuments, these remainders still have a use within their own ecosystems. Remainders fail to continue to uphold their intended meanings for humans partly because of the passing of the political power that had them built. The passing of time and changing patterns of the non-human and human lives around these remainders affect their material make-up and way of interacting with their surroundings. The Remaindering revisits material remnants in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Belgium to reflect on what is left of colonial relations that helped to shape city space today.