Artistry in Teaching

<p dir="ltr">Artistry in teaching refers to the personalised and creative approach teachers bring to their practice. Each teacher possesses distinctive signatures, contributing to an interconnected and impactful blend of teaching processes, styles, and outcomes, and this is their artistry. This doctoral study illuminates the artistry in teaching, which, although present in all classrooms, is frequently undervalued and hard to recognise within the normalised instrumentalist view of education. In contrast, concepts surrounding artistry align with liberal notions of education that appreciate the holistic self. This idea is naturally embraced in other fields, such as the musical stage or the restaurant kitchen, where practitioners navigate uncertain events, emotions, creative processes, and technical skills, much like teachers. Artistry is a comprehensive term that includes artistic skills, design, and aesthetic experiences. While we may never fully grasp the complete essence of artistry in teaching, this study enhances our understanding and advocates for its significance in education.</p><p dir="ltr">Conceptualising teaching as an art form contrasts with the long-standing priorities of education systems, which aim to enhance teaching and learning in specific, measurable ways. Significant policy changes in Australia have altered the nature of a teacher’s role by increasing accountability, accreditation processes, professional development initiatives, and teaching standards. These policies have normalised the belief that students’ performance in national standardised tests is the sole measure of success. As a result, the artistic dimensions of teaching are often sidelined and certainly less explored, in tension with a neo-liberal reductionist paradigm to which artistry does not conform. The primary aim of this research study was to explore the artistry in teaching, how it shapes the primary classroom, and what influences that artistry.</p><p dir="ltr">The theoretical framework underpinning this research draws on the work of American educationalist Elliot Eisner, who articulated the concept of artistry in teaching, emphasising its necessity in practice. Expanding on Eisner’s ideas, the Theory of Practice Architectures provides a structured approach to unpacking the inherent complexities of teaching practices, facilitating cross-case analysis. In addition, a systematic literature review spanning 50 years helped conceptualise artistry in teaching. Themes identified in the literature indicate that artistry is defined in various ways, hindered by measurements, essential for effective teaching, fosters strong social connections, promotes independent thinking in students and teachers, induces rich aesthetic experiences, and is philosophically holistic and disruptive. The published review highlighted a need for more empirical research on artistry and laid the groundwork for a qualitative multiple-site case study methodology.</p><p dir="ltr">The multiple-site case study thoroughly examined how artistry influences teaching practices in primary classrooms. This involved investigating six Stage 2 primary classrooms from 2023 to 2024 across three Australian states, including public, private, small, and large schools. The participating teachers displayed varying levels of experience and styles. The schools were in diverse regions throughout Australia: one remote, two regional, and three near capital cities. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, informal conversations, and lesson observations over two to three days. The data underwent qualitative analysis through an iterative process of ‘Zooming in’ and ‘Zooming out’ in a cross-case analysis using TPA.</p><p dir="ltr">The findings illustrate how artistry uniquely shapes teaching practices, an intricate blend of skills, qualities, and essential intentions. Interactions and processes among individuals, schools, and systems shape, enable, and constrain such artistry: artistry is needed to balance freedom and control. The significant contribution of this study is the conceptualisation of artistry. Artistry manifests itself in students’ socialisation, a crucial aspect of good teaching, and in the aesthetic experiences provided. Consequently, a nuanced understanding of a teacher’s work emerges, emphasising the significance of emotions and aesthetic arrangements in shaping practice. The study enhances our knowledge of teaching by focusing on the role of artistry within it. It carries implications for how teaching is perceived, valued, and assessed and for policy reform in Australian primary schools.</p>