Abstract
AbstractThe aim for this article is to generate theory on activity that many teachers perform; the practice of improvisation. Improvisation is a professional method in teaching practice that very often is so taken-for-granted that it to some extent is under-theorized in the area of educational research. In education, an important purpose of the robustness of research involves educational practice. And so, the article is based on arts-based co-teaching project experiences. A primary school teacher and I set the project in a basic education public school in Vaasa, Finland in school year 2015-2016. Improvisation is here approached from a position formed by participatory research practice. Co-mentoring theory (Cf. Mullen, 2012) serves as a backdrop for understanding how the article creates a relation between co-teaching experiences and theory-based reasoning on the phenomena. The research method is informed by a/r/tography. The research question is: what are the elements that can be recognised as improvisation in the teaching experiences from the project? In the project the following questions related to improvisation and development of teachers’ professional work were articulated: What are the elements of meanings and interests in teaching improvisation practice? How can we better understand the didactic character of improvisation in teaching practice? What are the outcomes for the profession? How do the connections between art and pedagogy practice show when approaching the practice in order to promote curriculum and instruction development in improvisation as teaching practice?(Published: 16 January, 2017)Citation: Hannah Kaihovirta. ‘‘Teacher Improvisation as Processes of Mosaic, Kaleidoscope and Rhizome an arts-based,co-teaching approach.’’ Journal for Research in Arts and Sports Education, Vol. 1, 2017, pp. 1-15.http://dx.doi.org/10.23865/jased.v1.508 1
Highlights
The aim for this article is, based on theory, and through practice, to generate awareness on an activity that many teachers perform; the practice of improvisation
The research question guiding the article is: What are the elements that can be recognised as teacher improvisation in the project experiences and what implications do they have on the approach to teacher practice? In the studied project the following questions related to improvisation and the development of teachers’ professional work were articulated: What are the elements of meaning and interest in teacher improvisation practice? How can we better understand the character of improvisation in teaching practice? How do the connections between art and pedagogy practice show when approaching teacher improvisation? These research questions guide the inquiry process presented in this article
Understanding a phenomenon that has been unarticulated in experienced teaching practice is, something that is recognised as a process of professional reflection, development and learning
Summary
The recognition of improvisation as offering potential for teaching and learning in school is one of the new areas I have been eager to explore and articulate. Sawyer points out that in education the profession largely involves working within given structures, being creative within them, and creating a favorable learning environment where all pupils have the opportunity to optimize their learning and get to acquire knowledge and skills He claims that the teacher’s ability to improvise is an important facet of knowledge needed for the operational culture in school. I was enlightened by the mirroring effect in Stacy Dezutter’s article Professional Improvisation and Teacher Education (2011) where she recognizes that improvisation rarely has been an explicit part in the discourse of teaching She notices that improvisation not articulated in teacher education limits the portability as a profession to advance knowledge and capacity for the improvising practice well. This networking is in the title of the book transformed to conversations, which I find an inspiring meta-level to be aware of when approaching the ‘‘conversations’’ in the arts-based project explored in this article generated
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