‘I – from dreams to reality’: A Case Study of Developing Youngsters’ Self‐Efficacy and Social Skills through an Arts Educational Project in Schools

Abstract

This is a case study of a one‐year arts educational project ‘I – from dreams to reality’ in which artists worked at school with teachers and learning at the school was planned through arts‐based, co‐operative teamwork during one extra school year of 10th grade students in Finnish basic education. The theme of the year was ‘I’, and so the project was designed to highlight everyone's own way of thinking and expressing art. The research task was to determine whether long‐term holistic arts pedagogy and artist co‐operation at school have any significant connection to students’ self‐efficacy and social skills. Data has been collected through students’ self‐evaluations before and after the school year. Altogether 40 students from 10th grade participated in this case study. Half of the pupils participated in an arts educational project called ‘I – from dreams to reality’ and half formed the control group. Artists worked with the test group weekly during a period of one school year (altogether nine months). Students’ self‐evaluations concerning their self‐efficacy and social behaviour were collected by e‐questionnaire. The measures used were Likert‐based evaluation scores of pupils’ self‐assessment of their self‐efficacy and social behaviour in everyday situations at school. According to the results, artist–teacher co‐operation and learning through the arts can be worthwhile experiences to develop students’ self‐efficacy and social skills.

Collaborative Musical Creativity between Students and Adults: The Sonorous Paella

“…These findings have profound educational implications and contribute to a better understanding of group improvisation and musical creativity as a dialogic practice (Bautista et al, 2018). Such implications resonate with Ruokonen (2018), who showed that artistic projects involving artists, teachers, and students working together have the potential to enhance development of creative thinking and well-being.…”

“…The participants worked in a large classroom where they could flexibly rearrange the display of the materials and resources available, brainstorm and try out ideas, hold debates, and make group decisions (Vecchi, 2010). In sum, drawing on a solid body of prior music creativity research (Beghetto & Kaufman, 2014;Muhonen, 2014;Nouri & Farsi, 2018;Reybrouck et al, 2009;Ruokonen, 2018;Vecchi, 2010;Veloso, 2017), we argue that the combination of the above-mentioned characteristics had the potential to facilitate collective musical creativity.…”

“…A second characteristic was the inclusion of both students and adults (Lage & Cremades, 2019), who were invited to collaboratively decode the score's symbols and come up with an original sound creation and performance. More specifically, our approach resonates with Ruokonen (2018), who stressed the importance of involving teachers and practicing artists in projects intended to foster students' creative thinking.…”

“…Research on musical creativity has shown that projects involving collaboration yield better student learning outcomes (Muhonen, 2014;Sawyer, 2004), that projects may become even more creativity-fostering when other agents (e.g., artists, musicians, teachers) actively collaborate with students (Lage & Cremades, 2019;Ruokonen, 2018), and that it is urgent to enhance the teaching and learn-ing of music in formal education settings (Cremin & Chappell, 2019). However, due to numerous reasons, music teachers around the world continue to find it challenging to design and implement curriculum units that foster collaborative musical creativity (Bautista et al, 2018;Tan et al, 2019;Veloso, 2017).…”

Personality Change Through Arts Education: A Review and Call for Further Research

“…b Effect size d z was not available and it could not be calculated from the results reported in the study. c Ruokonen (2018) did not compute a sum score. Instead, the analysis was conducted for each self-efficacy item separately.…”