Artful Learning in the Gallery - Being, Doing And Knowing

The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) learning programs involve up to 40,000 students and 7,500 teachers each year. Despite developing significant practice-based knowledge in inquiry-based pedagogies the experience of NGV Educators, who are all trained teachers, has not been researched. The NGV and Melbourne Graduate School of Education (MGSE) have had a long-standing informal partnership based on student placements and a shared mission to promote art education.

In 2016 the NGV instigated discussions with the University of Melbourne and the MGSE to consolidate and formalize this partnership. Stemming from this, a MGSE funded Seed Research Grant was awarded in 2016, which investigated NGV educators interacting with primary school students, video-recorded in the MGSE Science of Learning Interaction Classroom (SLRC). In 2017, with support from UoM GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) funding, the research was extended to focus further on the multiple dimensions of in-situ gallery practice (being-doing-knowing) and the impact of NGV education on students and teachers. The outcomes of this work aim to build the capacity of gallery educators to engage young people and teachers with art.

Funding

• McCoy Seed Fund

Researchers

• Dr Robert Brown
• Dr Marnee Watkins
• Associate Professor John Quay
• Dr Jennifer Andersen

Research partner

• National Gallery of Victoria  (NGV)
  Contact: Michele Stockley (Head of NGV Learning)