Over the last three years, Jeff M. Poulin has collected data on the use of critical reflection and educational futures in the context of teaching arts education courses in graduate programs at three universities.
This work will be shared for the first time at the Association of Arts Administration Educators (AAAE) conference on May 5, 2021 in a session titled, “Looking Backward and Forward: Using Critical Reflection and Futures in Arts Management Teaching and Learning.”
“In 2018, I was asked to design a course for arts managers covering a variety of topics in education and learning as they related to the arts and cultural management field. Recognizing that all arts management students likely had a vibrant arts education themselves as primary source data, my course design incorporated critically reflective practice (from Schön 1983 and Brookfield 1998) and educational futures (Dator 2002 and Inyatullah 2002) to encourage students to interrogate their own arts education experiences and envision the futures for arts education driven by their own practice as arts managers. Throughout, I observed Brookfield’s strategies, particularly the use of pre- and post- evaluations and Critical Incident Questionnaires to evaluate the effectiveness of the process. In three cohorts, I have collected data and concluded findings about students’ responses to the effectiveness of these tactics in their arts management education. This paper articulates my findings, draws conclusions, and proposes future considerations for other education practitioners operating in the arts and cultural management field.”