How arts education makes a difference: research examining successful classroom practice and pedagogy, edited by Josephine Fleming, Robyn Gibson and Michael Anderson

Abstract

Book Review How Arts Education Makes a Difference: Research examining successful classroom practice and pedagogy, Edited by Josephine Fleming, Robyn Gibson and Michael Anderson. London and New York: Routledge, xvii+ 301pp., £95.00 (hardcover), ISBN 9781138845794. For the most part this book is a report on an ambitious Australian project drawing on the findings of a two-year longitudinal qualitative study led by an educational psychologist, who was the principal investigator, and was supported by a team of researchers. The book results from an Australian Research Council Linkage Project grant in partnership with the Australian Council for the Arts, 2009–2011. The project attempted to study the impact of arts involvement in the academic outcomes of 643 students from 15 schools on the East Coast of Australia in an attempt to investigate what might constitute best practice in learning and teaching in the arts within primary and secondary schools in Australia. The project was entitled “The Role of Arts Education in Academic Motivation, Engagement and Achievement” (AEMEA).