An ecological model of artist–school partnerships for policy makers and practitioners

Abstract

Artist–school partnerships have been widely implemented to increase access to high-quality arts education in Canada and around the world. Understanding the scope of influence of these partnerships on stakeholders and environments is critical to articulating their value to policy makers within different contexts. To date, research has focused mainly on the benefits for students as well as partnership processes between teachers and artists, undervaluing the implications associated with other key stakeholders (e.g., parents, administrators, community members) and the broader contexts in which these partnerships occur (e.g., social, political, environmental, cultural). Thus, the purpose of this article is to explore the potential of an ecological model of artist–school partnerships that recognizes the co-learning and mutual exchange between artists, teachers, and students in the classroom, as well as the multidirectional influence of those exchanges with local and broad contexts. A current artist–school partnership initiative will be discussed from an ecological perspective to demonstrate potential uses for the model, followed by suggestions for future policy and practice from the perspective of different stakeholder groups.

Keywords:

• Artists in schools
• arts education
• co-learning
• ecological model
• partnerships