Fifth International School On Mind, Brain And Education
2010, August 1-6
Learning, Arts,
and the Brain
Directors: Antonio M. Battro and Kurt W. Fischer
Program officer: María Lourdes Majdalani
George Mason University - College of Education and Human Development. USA
Learning in the Arts: the studio thinking framework
I will discuss an ethnographic study from Harvard Project Zero of visual arts classroom which identifies 8 “Studio Habits of Mind” visual arts classes intend to teach, the structures and strategies by which studio classes develop these habits of mind, and ways of assessing student learning in these habits of mind (Hetland, Winner, Veenema, & Sheridan, 2007). While the framework was developed based on study of visual arts classes in arts-oriented United States high schools, I will also discuss how it has since been applied and studied in a wide range of contexts, such as elementary school arts integration programs, early childhood classes, computer game design afterschool and summer program, and with other art forms such as theater, music and creative writing. I will also discuss more recent work in its use as a tool for designing quasi-experimental studies of arts learning and transfer.
