Year: 2024
Author: Bronwen Wade-Leeuwen, Kath McLachlan, Iqbal Barkat
Type of paper: Individual Paper
Abstract:
A media-maker needs to understand the complex media environment, to make their own media or to pursue a career in the media industry (Cohen, Salazar, & Barkat, 2009).
Learning in and outside the classroom provides significant benefits for students, teachers and Institutions. A creativity and reflective practice pedagogy supports multi-disciplinary and multi-modal lenses of inquiry, facilitating transformative learning environments through fun, curiosity, risk taking, boundary breaking, and reflection.
This paper focuses on the design, implementation and delivery of key messages regarding the importance of developing creativity, critical thinking and reflection as 21st century skills for enhancing self-efficacy, systematic thinking and lifelong learning in students. Drawing on the interconnectivity between Macquarie University’s Media-making students with 2nd year Study-Abroad students from North America, who were undertaking an elective module in global environmental challenges, while enrolled at another Sydney University.
Our methodology emphasizes not only the experiential nature of learning, but also the cultivation of critical thinking skills and the ability to approach challenges with a creative mindset. The purpose of this research project is to create an educational documentary film to highlight the Arts-based theoretical framework and pedagogical approaches used by the researchers when facilitating creativity and reflective practice programs in Higher Education and community-based settings.
Media students were briefed to produce a short documentary film showing the facilitation and participation in an Arts-based pedagogy designed to include a variety of creative arts practices, nature walking and wellbeing activities, media portfolio constructions, personal reflective diaries and classroom collaborative engagements with guest speakers during critical thinking discussions. While their primary degrees differed, students from both universities shared a range of knowledge and perspectives, which offered an additional dimension of social learning through collaboration.
The facilitators seek to challenge traditional academic views of teaching and learning in higher education by exploring how innovative approaches in integrated educational environments may promote transformation, through the facilitation of creative, critical and reflective practice workshops. Creating safe, contemplative spaces for nurturing twenty-first-century skills and dispositional attributes, such as risk taking, curiosity, and boundary breaking, necessary for today’s professionals. Central to this is the importance of interacting, connecting, provoking and inspiring. This experiential learning model may provide new and effective approaches to establishing creative, reflective and transformative learning environments.
Learning in and outside the classroom provides significant benefits for students, teachers and Institutions. A creativity and reflective practice pedagogy supports multi-disciplinary and multi-modal lenses of inquiry, facilitating transformative learning environments through fun, curiosity, risk taking, boundary breaking, and reflection.
This paper focuses on the design, implementation and delivery of key messages regarding the importance of developing creativity, critical thinking and reflection as 21st century skills for enhancing self-efficacy, systematic thinking and lifelong learning in students. Drawing on the interconnectivity between Macquarie University’s Media-making students with 2nd year Study-Abroad students from North America, who were undertaking an elective module in global environmental challenges, while enrolled at another Sydney University.
Our methodology emphasizes not only the experiential nature of learning, but also the cultivation of critical thinking skills and the ability to approach challenges with a creative mindset. The purpose of this research project is to create an educational documentary film to highlight the Arts-based theoretical framework and pedagogical approaches used by the researchers when facilitating creativity and reflective practice programs in Higher Education and community-based settings.
Media students were briefed to produce a short documentary film showing the facilitation and participation in an Arts-based pedagogy designed to include a variety of creative arts practices, nature walking and wellbeing activities, media portfolio constructions, personal reflective diaries and classroom collaborative engagements with guest speakers during critical thinking discussions. While their primary degrees differed, students from both universities shared a range of knowledge and perspectives, which offered an additional dimension of social learning through collaboration.
The facilitators seek to challenge traditional academic views of teaching and learning in higher education by exploring how innovative approaches in integrated educational environments may promote transformation, through the facilitation of creative, critical and reflective practice workshops. Creating safe, contemplative spaces for nurturing twenty-first-century skills and dispositional attributes, such as risk taking, curiosity, and boundary breaking, necessary for today’s professionals. Central to this is the importance of interacting, connecting, provoking and inspiring. This experiential learning model may provide new and effective approaches to establishing creative, reflective and transformative learning environments.