Ecologies of Care in Art and Design Education: A Life Studio for Learning and Thriving

Whitaker, P. (Speaker)

Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk

Description

An ecology of care in art and design education is an environment which bestows a
comfort zone, or public homeplace, as both a site specific installation and relational
practice. It is also linked to ecologies of care in learners' home studios, which are
nurturing environments composed of possessions as collections, which curate a
narrative landscape and pride of place. In this presentation ecologies of care will be
promoted as an art and design method of teaching, both at university and at home.
An ecology of care is a restorative space for social communication, focus and
psychological composure. Adaptable learning environments, facilitating multi-
sensory learning, offer the potential for flourishing. An ecology of care is a gathering
point for rejuvenation, focus, and psychological composure. Neuroscience informed
higher education research supports the significance of co-designed (collaboratively
curated) learning environments to promote learner relaxation, relatedness and
conviviality. These are attributes of not only active learning, but cognitive processing
recognising the significance of each learner’s identity and style of learning. The
ecology of care ethos encourages belonging and mattering, two key attributes
forthriving in higher education within public and domestic learning environments
which support both student experience and artistry.

Period	8 Nov 2025
Event title	National Society for Art and Design, Journal. of Art and Design Education Conference : Ecologies
Event type	Conference
Location	Bristol, United KingdomShow on map
Degree of Recognition	National

Keywords

Ecologies of Care
Creative Health
Art and Design Education

Documents & Links

Ecologists seek to explain the relationship between humans and their environment. The ecologies of an art and design classroom encompass constellations of behaviours, personalities, curriculum, pedagogies, and assessment practices, while interconnected challenges to funding, resources and subject expertise threaten ecological collapse in some sectors of arts education. In the theoretical field, ecological thinking can open up the relations between art and education, schooling and the creative economy, or the dynamics that define art, craft, and design disciplines. Exploration of the interplay between students’ lived experience, contemporary art practices, or the political intent of policymakers could help to define new, more inclusive models for artistic education. Understanding of disciplinary conventions in drawing or the plastic arts, and their interaction with new posthuman technologies, may point to probable or preferable futures for art education. Paradigmatically, as the fragile ecologies that govern our natural world are threatened by human activity, and post-truth diplomacy tests the social contract, what role does the art classroom play in climate justice, and civic equity?

Ecologies of Care in Art and Design Education: A Life Studio for Learning and Thriving

Description

Keywords

Documents & Links

Related content

Activities

Ecologies of Care: A Life Studio in the Making

Feast: An Ecology of Care

Designing a Life Studio for Enrichment

Research output

Ecologies of Care: The Art of Belonging in a Studio Classroom

Making Arrangements: The Curation of Grief in the Home Studio (Faire les arrangements : la conservation du deuil dans le studio à domicile)

The Material Culture of Art Therapy: Less is More

Make Yourself at Home: Home Studios as Pedagogical Practice