Audrey Hilligoss

7.3 Gifts and Burdens: Navigating the Legacy of Inherited Materials and Pedagogies in Art Education (Paper)

Audrey Hilligoss – Bowling Green State University, OH, USA

Tara Carpenter Estrada – Brigham Young University, Provo, USA

Abstract:

As art educators, we inherit materials from those who came before us – physical supplies, lesson plans, and ideological frameworks shaped by our experiences as students and pedagogies learned in higher education. These resources reflect wisdom, dedication, and ingenuity but also raise questions about their relevance in today’s classrooms. Treating history and tradition as rediscovered territories allows us to explore the pedagogical values of these materials. This paper explores the challenges and opportunities of navigating inherited materials and pedagogical frameworks while maintaining a forward-thinking and relevant approach to art education. How can we honour art education’s legacies without being weighed down by them? How do we suspend our own preferences and biases to thoughtfully revisit past ideas? As we develop our own resources, how can we ensure they enrich rather than burden future generations? How can we design resources that remain meaningful for future art educators navigating their own paths? 

In this exploration, we consider the pedagogical tension between providing answers to students and fostering their discovery. When students encounter problems we can solve, how do we hold back and allow their trial and error to unfold, honouring their unique journeys? Drawing on a/r/t/ographic principles (Irwin & de Cosson, 2004; Irwin & Springgay, 2008), educational history (Winner, 2022), and contemporary art education research (Graham and Goldsberry, 2024), we reflect through our artist/researcher/teacher identities how inherited materials can be repurposed to create generative teaching and artmaking practices. Our paper argues for balancing the legacies we inherit with the innovations we create. A sustainable, dynamic approach to art education can be achieved by engaging in reflective practices that value both the wisdom of the past and the promise of the future.