I chose to research the topic of Arts-Based Education and the Curriculum for my third ECS 203 blog post. For this blog post, I chose to focus on the scholarly journal article, “A Paradigm Analysis of Arts-Based Research and Implications for Education” by James Haywood Rolling Jr.

James Haywood Rolling Jr. described Arts Based Research as “characteristically emergent, imagined, and derivative from an artist/researcher’s practice or arts praxis inquiry models; [it is] capable of yielding outcomes taking researchers in directions the sciences cannot go” (James Haywood Rolling Jr. 110). I thought this was an interesting description, as it shows that the more ‘well known’ methods of learning, such as schools focusing on maths and sciences out of a textbook, are missing a key quality of learning, which is the arts.

Another quote in the article that I found interesting was, “the potential of arts-based learning engagements is wasted conveying facts, dates, and figures about dead artists, historical movements, and aesthetic styles” (James Haywood Rolling Jr. 111). This quote implies that although arts education is incorporated in schools, it still results in regurgitating information similar to a math or science class in which one sits down and memorizes information from a textbook, and this method doesn’t put the potential for arts education where it could be. Arts education should be more visual, and based upon learning in that sense.

Some next steps I could take for my first assignment would be researching more journal articles. I am quite intrigued by the idea of arts education, and I could gather some more information on the subject, as well as focus on other areas of the arts.

Works Cited

James Haywood Rolling Jr. (2010) A Paradigm Analysis of Arts-Based Research and Implications for Education, Studies in Art Education, 51:2, 102-114, DOI: 10.1080/00393541.2010.11518795