EDF5824 Creative childhoods and learning

This unit explores creative childhoods through the lens of arts based learning. It focuses on practices, learning theories, and pedagogical innovations with a special focus on the creative, aesthetic and imaginative ways that children engage with visual art, dance, drama, music, media arts and design. Throughout this unit you will explore arts practices, processes, media and content knowledge. In turn, you create a portfolio of arts experiences that are analysed through theoretical and pedagogical insights of relevance to early childhood contexts. You also take on the role of creative educators who plan multi-modal arts learning for young children. In the process, you explore how children make meaning through learning in, about and through the creative arts. In addition, you explore the possibilities of creative curriculum through analysing, planning and evaluating arts learning in early childhood. You explore how the arts in early childhood connect to home, community, regional and inter/cultural awareness and how the arts enable children to communicate in multiple ways that link to environment, sustainability, culture (including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Asia and Pacific perspectives) and information and communication technologies (ICTs).