The MidWest Girls' Choir, composed of girls aged 14-21, have developed their social and bodily experienced knowledge during their years as part of a girls' choir so that they implicitly form the physical and social singing body. Choir singing is a process supported by the teaching and by the choir's practice of rehearsals and performances. This…

Creativity is often seen as something that occurs primarily during the ideation phase of design processes. However, this article argues that there is significant potential in enhancing creativity in the early stages and that this can contribute to youth learning and tackling complex challenges. Using a Danish educational setting as a starting…

This article presents a study on the development of art environments for young talented artists across 4 municipalities in the western part of Jutland, Denmark. Within this context and based on systems thinking, neosystems thinking and a holistic ecological approach to talent development, the researchers identify and describe three transcontextual…

Research on creative dance education has indicated that students can take risks and improvise when the teacher relinquishes control through an open and explorative approach. I add to the discussion by exploring the unexpected and spontaneous episodes when teaching dance improvisation in settings outside dance education. Based on empirical material…

This paper delves deeply into the creative pedagogies which support cutting edge digital STEAM practice across primary and secondary school settings. It contextualises the research within current STEAM agendas including transdisciplinarity, and STEAM and technology and goes on to offer insight from the novel context of ocean learning to develop…

This article argues for a reconceptualisation of early childhood education, where learning and development are not only valued by outcome, and aims to investigate how aesthetic processes are organised in ways for the children to be inspired, to compare, explore, and play. Inspired by a Vygotsky perspective and his theories of play, imagination,…

Background: In participatory research approaches, co-researchers and university researchers aim to co-produce and disseminate knowledge across difference in order to contribute to social and practice change as well as research. The approaches often employ arts-based research methods to elicit experiential, embodied, affective, aesthetic ways of…

This article discusses historical competence as reading and understanding use-of-history as it is expressed in different texts. Students need to develop competence in the use-of-history in order to approach the diversity and complexity of uses of history in our time. The use-of-history is also an aim in the curricula of Nordic countries. This…

The presence of digital technologies in classroom settings is relentlessly getting stronger and has shown to have powerful playful qualities. In recent years, digital game-based learning (DGBL) has been introduced in schools. In this paper we explore game-based design activities to unfold playful and creative actions and interactions among…

This paper contributes to the expanding body of research on Playful Learning (PL) within Higher Education (HE), offering an in-depth examination of narratives concerning student participation and engagement in PL emerging as educators reflect on their experiences with PL in Danish teacher education and social education. In attempt to nuance and…

This article presents a study regarding a school for young talented artists. Within this context and based on systems thinking and a holistic ecological approach to talent development, the researchers seek to identify emergent contextual properties that enhance talent development. The research question of the study was "Which emergent…

In this article, I look at the teaching artist practice that emerges in the partnerships between professional artists and school institutions. The cultural context is Danish compulsory education. In this case, the Culture Laboratory hosted partnerships among diverse professionals and practitioners. I was curious about the role of professional…

Refugee children and young people are living a life in transition: they have been forced to leave their countries due to war, poverty or political persecution in order to seek protection and new life options in Denmark. This article argues that museums have opportunities to help the process of integration that has been mostly overlooked. In the…

This paper sets out to discuss pedagogical aspects of a collaborative project between Denmark and South Africa, two partner countries with a long history of educational partnerships. The project named Red Apples-Green Apples (RAGA) involved a joint group of facilitators from both countries exploring the topic of climate change and the nature…

Members of the Danish MidWest Girls' Choir and their conductor have the aim of creating unique expressive forms. As a consequence, the girls' work has worked to develop new forms of singing and performance. The choir seeks to find an identity that distinguishes them from traditional church choirs and thereby recreate 'choir girls' as something…