Aesthetic Practices and Adult Education

In the past, and over the last decade in particular, the arts and arts spaces have become integral to the research, theory and practice of adult education. This edited volume showcases the possibilities and challenges of work by adult educators in community settings, university classrooms and arts and cultural institutions in Canada, the United States and Europe. The authors share the ways in which they use aesthetic practices to promote human and cultural development, address complex issues such as racism, respect aboriginal knowledge, or simply aim to provide spaces and opportunities to creatively and critically re-imagine the world as a better, fairer and more healthy and sustainable place. This book will benefit educators in universities, communities and art galleries who wish to expand their knowledge and understanding of the arts as tools for change.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the International Journal of Lifelong Education.

Darlene E. Clover is a Professor of Leadership Studies at the University of Victoria, Canada. Her research and teaching areas include community leadership and feminist arts-based adult education and research. Darlene’s current study focuses on the educational philosophies and practices of librarians and art gallery and museum educators in Canada, Scotland and England. Her recent edited book (with K. Sanford) is entitled: Lifelong learning and aesthetic cultural practice in the contemporary university: International Perspectives.

Kathy Sanford is a Professor in the Faculty of Education, University of Victoria, Canada. Her literacy research and teaching interests include issues of gender, literacy, assessment, and popular culture/new media. She has been actively involved in issues related to digital and multimodal literacies, teacher education and the development of professional electronic portfolios. Recent research interests include exploring alternative sites such as libraries, museums, art galleries, and archives.

Shauna Butterwick is an Assistant Professor of Adult Education at the University of British Columbia, Canada. She brings a feminist orientation to her teaching and community-based research practice. Shauna uses various creative expressive arts, to explore the structural dimensions and lived experience of oppression, resistance and liberation. She is currently partnering with the Philippine Women’s Centre in British Columbia to explore their use of visual and performative arts in activism. She has written extensively on women and coalition building through popular theatre.