Arts and Learning: A Review of the Impact of Arts and Aesthetics on Learning and Opportunities for Further Research

Abstract

Traditionally, learning scientists have paid little attention to the discipline of the arts as the more prominent focus has been on science and mathematics. Despite this, the learning sciences could benefit from further understanding how the arts offer alternative methods of inquiry, representation, and understanding. At the same time, leaders in the field of arts education are calling for more research in areas that intersect with the learning sciences, pointing to the mutually synergistic ways that the two fields could inform one another. Guided by feminist communitarian methodology, this paper brings together a review of a wide body of research in the field of arts education, spanning affective, cognitive, social, and transformative effects of the arts. Insights are shared for how the arts as a discipline can inform the study of learning and, conversely, point to ways in which learning scientists can contribute to the field of arts education research.