Reciprocity and transformative learning : arts-based professional learning with students and teachers

Educators and policy makers have called for more consistent and rigorous arts-based professional learning opportunities for classroom teachers to support student learning outcomes. However, the voices of students, the recipients of arts-based teaching methods, are frequently missing from arts-based professional learning spaces. This MFA thesis document examines the experience of students and teachers in the Student Learning Community (SLC), a student-teacher, arts-based professional learning community based in the Murraylands, South Australia. This mixed-methods study assesses how including students in arts-based professional learning supported students’ and teachers’ self-perceptions as learners and leaders. This study advocates for professional learning opportunities that intentionally leverage the arts and the expertise of students and teachers to promote school change.