Abstract
1- Introduction
2- Background: ‘Learning and Teaching in Public Spaces’ – the interstate context
3- Theoretical considerations
4- Methodology and methods
5- Analytical approach
6- Studying “The Global Teacher”: the curriculum context
7- Findings #1: ‘crossing the boundaries of the imagination’ in the student exhibition of six group installations
8- Findings #2: implementing the exhibition: boundary crossing in organisation, pedagogy and learning
9- Establishing the pedagogy of exhibiting as a systematic professional practice
10- Conclusion
References
Abstract
In this paper, we utilise the theoretical concept of ‘boundary crossing’ to explore how, as Australian university teacher educators, we worked with library curators and a class of student teachers to mount a public exhibition of their group work. We consider how the students crossed ‘boundaries of imagination’ in symbolic representation and critical analysis by creating artistic installations to express global education themes. We reflect on what we, the university educators, learned about crossing institutional and pedagogical boundaries to mutually facilitate new learning. We argue for the importance of shared public pedagogy as offering new avenues for teacher education and of connecting with local communities.
Introduction
In this paper, we explore how the pedagogical innovation of working with student teachers to mount a library exhibition can be analysed and understood by concepts of “boundary crossing” (Akkerman & Bakker, 2011) and by the approach of creating space for students to draw on creative imagination as a central feature of learning (Bland, 2016). As teacher educators working with library colleagues in Australia to organise the exhibition, we discuss how the project enhanced our understanding of our pedagogy and the learning of our students in two institutional sites e university and public library. From one site, the two authors, teacher educators at an Australian university (Queensland University of Technology - QUT)), initiated collaboration with staff at the second site (the State Library of Queensland). Our goal was to create new learning opportunities for undergraduate student teachers enrolled in an elective subject, The Global Teacher, dedicated to global perspectives in education.