“Overflowing the University” as a state of being and the means to rethink education in embodied and performative practices — Arts-based educational research as teacher innovation

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. This article describes the experience of an interuniversity teaching innovation project carried out by four teachers from the universities of Barcelona, Girona, Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya, and UManresa. The project explored teaching innovation in bachelor’s degrees in fine arts, childhood and primary education, social education and the performing arts. The writers reflect on how to break down the more rigid structures of higher education. METHOD. The academic practices described sought to contribute to the field of arts-based educational research and encourage students to engage in embodied and inquiry-based learning. RESULTS. The project, which was informed by feminist methodologies and performative pedagogies, received the support of the curatorial team at the Fabre i Coats Centre of Contemporary Art of Barcelona, who invited the writers to exhibit the different stages of the project at the Centre. The project highlighted and added value to the contributions students make in the higher education classroom. DISCUSSION. The main contribution of this initiative was to rethink the purpose of art education, which can be a scenario not only for knowledge transfer but for cultural production. The initiative also used art to promote critical thinking about how learning takes place and what it means to be in a university, and it helped students become empowered as producers of knowledge, creators of artistic and collaborative processes, and generators of contextualized and transformative educational, artistic and professional practices.