Storied Assessment of the Aesthetic Experiences of Young Learners: The Timbres of a Rainbow

Abstract

We examine integrated visual arts and music instruction through creative composition practices in soundscapes to develop an understanding of what a child learns through arts learning experiences. To present a viable means of interpreting aesthetic learning experiences, we investigate the learning story (Carr, M., Assessment in Early Childhood Research: Learning Stories, Sage Publications Inc., Thousand Oaks, 2001; Carr, M., & Lee, W., Learning Stories: Constructing Learner Identities in Early Education, SAGE Publications Ltd, Thousand Oaks, 2012; Gouzouasis, P., & Yanko, M., Learning Stories and Reggio Emilia-inspired: Formative Methods of Assessment for the Elementary School Music Classroom, Routledge, Milton, 2018a) as a means of assessment and expand upon this approach by using visual and aural metaphors to examine how they can provide teachers with the necessary tools and practices to compose richly detailed, meaningful storied assessments. We discovered that children are capable and able to engage with descriptive, interpretive, and evaluative aesthetic criticisms (Beardsley, M., Aesthetics: Problems in the Philosophy of Criticism, Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., New York, 1958) and that the sharing of learning stories promotes discussions, understandings, and a celebration of young learners’ meaning making with integrated arts. We postulate the learning story is a viable assessment practice for the aesthetic and artistic merits that emerge as children engage with music and the arts.