Visual art education and social-emotional learning of students in rural Kenya

Abstract

Students’ social-emotional capacities are crucial to their civic development, and art is known as a meaningful pedagogy of social-emotional learning. However, the previous studies were mostly conducted in western societies and have rarely done in emerging democratic societies like Kenya. Given Kenya’s educational reform agendas for the sustainable development of society and its citizens, it is necessary to explore pedagogies that contribute to the fulfilment of social demands. This paper examines, by a quasi-experiment case study using a mixed-method, the effects of art education in social-emotional learning of primary school students in a rural village of Kenya. Based on a collaboration between insiders and outsiders of the village, it also reveals appropriate approaches to art education given the social context.