Re(Searching) Meaning: An Aesthetic Approach to Teaching and Learning Outside of the Box

Abstract

Abstract This paper describes the collective aesthetic practices of an early childhood art educator and teachers in a public school context, inspired by the principles of the Reggio Emilia approach. A related purpose here is to reflect on and re-examine the educators’ professional growth while developing these practices. This study begins with the author’s personal experiences as an early childhood art educator. The other educators in the study also reflect on their aesthetic approaches toward teaching and learning prior to the adoption of a district-wide, prescribed “boxed” early childhood curriculum. The purpose of this article is to make visible what was lost with the shift to a boxed curriculum, including the aesthetic practices and negotiated learning experiences co-constructed with the children. In contrast to the boxed, prescribed curriculum, an aesthetic approach toward teaching and learning brought a heightened awareness of everyday school experiences through an engagement of the senses, imagination, and feelings. What was lost in the shift was the value of aesthetics as an integral part of educational experiences for both the children and the educators, including the freedom to wonder, to sustain curiosity, and to imagine alternate ways of being and learning together.