The arts and staying cool

Abstract

Art can be messy. Teaching art can be messy. Teaching can be a messy process. The art of making a space for the playfulness and messiness of teaching requires courage and letting go. This article develops the verandah metaphor for re-thinking the place of the arts in education, in order to make space for some of the institutionalised ambivalence in arts education. Four sites of practice are examined, where contingencies come into play, and where current practices act to both enable and constrain our ways of working with young children. The article concludes with some new (messy) possibilities for seeing and thinking about arts education.