Abstract:

The growing and challenging needs in education underscore the importance of continuous professional development for teachers. It is a proactive approach to ensuring that educators are well-prepared to meet the evolving demands of their profession and provide high-quality education to their learners. This paper presents a case study of a professional development training program in the field of arts education, which was offered by distance in the context of a European-funded project titled ‘Critical ARts Education for Sustainable Societies’ (CARE/SS).

In the conception of the training program, it was considered important to open access to quality arts education to generalist teachers by distance learning without losing the experiential aspect of the learning, which is central to the disciplines of visual arts, drama and music education. Other key principles of the training included the development of a professional online learning community, innovative pedagogies for increased trainees’ participation and pedagogies for bridging theory into practice.

The training was offered to a group of 24 primary school teachers in Cyprus and was documented through qualitative and quantitative research methods. The findings highlight teachers’ perceptions regarding their increased digital professional competences, increased confidence in planning and implementing arts units that integrate sustainability issues (social and environmental) as well as how they could facilitate their learners’ digital competences. Implications of the study include how lessons learned during the emergency remote teaching because of the COVID-19 pandemic can inform continuous professional development in the disciplines of arts and bring change in the role that arts can have in the school setting, especially in relation to interdisciplinary teaching and connecting art with real-life issues.

Keywords:

Arts education, in-service teacher training, distance learning, digital professional competences, innovative pedagogies, case study.