Arts education: exploring dialogical artistic practice in the city of Johannesburg
Date
2017
Authors
Plessie, Bonolo Puleng
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Abstract
This research explores the dialogical in arts pedagogy. This form of pedagogy is understood to allow for both the learner and educator to participate by exchanging experiences without the one being more superior to the other (Freire 1968, p. 169). In this thesis I use the Zulu term Inkulumo-Mpendulwano, which, rudimentarily, means dialogue. Broken down, Inkulumo means to talk or to have a conversation and Mpendulwano means to respond. However, I also use the term Ukufundisa, which means “to teach” but also “to instruct” and “to school” which is an authoritarian way of teaching. What is emphasised in this research is not only the potentiality of InkulumoMpendulwano interactions which can be adapted in the classroom as well as curated spaces, but by introducing different terminologies I attempt to reimagine the language and practices associated with arts education. This further engages with the possibility of changes in terminology and vocabularies, how the written and spoken is understood differently and how visual and spatial modes become central to changing the learner/teacher dynamic. This dissertation exemplifies two cases of the dialogical arts pedagogy. The first is a case study of Keleketla! Library and the second is a participatory action research approach where I work as an artist-educator for the practical component of this research entitled Artucation Programme. The outcome of this research is a written dissertation and a creative project that investigates InkulumoMpendulwano interactions in arts education.
Description
A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Fine Arts, 2015
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Citation
Plessie, Bonolo Puleng (2017) Arts education: exploring dialogical artistic practice in the city of Johannesburg, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <https://hdl.handle.net/10539/24590>