Wellbeing and the arts in Irish primary teacher education: aligned or apart? A policy and self-study perspective

ABSTRACT

Teacher educators act as a conduit to student teachers of policy and this has an impact on practice. Changes in policy affect how subjects are viewed in terms of their importance. This research seeks to explore the apparent increase in emphasis on wellbeing development in policy which influences the work of arts teacher educators, alongside a declining focus on the arts, and a separation of wellbeing from the arts in policy lexicon. Adopting a self-study approach, this article explores if wellbeing features in our practice as arts teacher educators and how our arts education practice aligns with national policy and curriculum development in the Republic of Ireland. The results of the study outline ways in which arts teacher educators are shaped by policy. Recommendations are made for a broader view of wellbeing in policy, and an experience of wellbeing and arts which is embedded into learning processes in teacher education.

KEYWORDS:

• Wellbeing
• arts education
• self-study
• teacher education
• curriculum
• policy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical approval

Full ethical approval was received from Dublin City University research ethics committee, with the reference number DCUREC/2021/062.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Una McCabe

Una McCabe is an Assistant Professor in Drama Education at the School of Arts Education and Movement in the Institute of Education, Dublin City University, Ireland. Her research interests and current research projects include drama, play, creativity and the arts.

Michael Flannery

Michael Flannery works as Assistant Professor in Visual Art Education at the School of Arts Education and Movement in the Institute of Education, Dublin City University, Ireland. Micheal welcomes research opportunities and partnerships concerning curriculum imagination, innovation and interdisciplinarity.