A Qualitative Inquiry in to the Impact of an Arts-Based, Self-Portrait Assignment on Third Year Child and Youth Care Students

Abstract

A growing body of research shows that arts-based teaching and learning has the power to energize and promote student engagement by increasing opportunities for students to articulate their learning in many different ways. It is particularly effective for students who tend to struggle with the fast-paced and highly structured nature of mainstream education, which favours primarily cognitive and verbal forms of teaching and assessment. This study contributes to the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) by reporting on the learning experiences of third-year child and youth care (CYC) students involved in an arts-based self-portrait assignment.