What We Learn About Learning From Out-of-School Time Arts Education

Abstract

This review focuses on a subset of literature on the arts and arts education that explores how learning is conceptualized and enacted in the context of out-of-school time (OST) arts education environments that primarily engage Black, Indigenous, and young People of Color in the United States. The review is grounded in principles of critical qualitative inquiry and sets forth four propositions, which represent key practices from OST arts education with a focus on equity and diversity in education: creating representations, exploring identity and narrative, practicing creativity, and collaborating as an outcome. The discussion offers an alternative from deficit perspectives on youth and toward asset-focused, culturally sustaining perspectives that value the artistic strengths young people bring to a learning environment.