Forschungsergebnisse zu Arts-based Learning
Kunstbasiertes Lernen (Arts-based Learning) zielt auf einen Kompetenzerwerb in nicht-künstlerischen Themenfeldern ab. Im Projekt AL-Pro setzten sich Lernende mit künstlerischer Praxis auseinander, um berufsrelevante Soft Skills wie Kommunikationsfähigkeit, Führungskompetenz und Unsicherheitstoleranz zu trainieren.
Das Forschungsprojekt AL-Pro hatte drei Ziele
- Entwicklung und Evaluation von Kompetenzprofilen für das Projektmanagement von Veranstaltungen unter besonderer Berücksichtigung personaler und sozialer Kompetenzen (Ermittlung des Kompetenzbedarfs);
- Design von kunstbasierten Trainingsmodulen zur Vermittlung von personalen und sozialen Kompetenzen mit besonderer Relevanz für Projekt- und Veranstaltungsmanagement (Entwicklung anwendungsorientierter Lösungen zur Deckung des Kompetenzbedarfs) und
- Nachweis der Wirkung kunstbasierter Trainingsmodule auf den individuellen Kompetenzerwerb (Evaluation der Kompetenzentwicklung)
Die Forschungsergebnisse wurden in den folgenden Fachartikeln veröffentlicht:
Spielerisch aus der Krise
Sandberg, B. (2021). Spielerisch aus der Krise: Projektmanagement mit künstlerischem Mindset. Projektmanagement Aktuell, 32(1), 4-9. DOI: 10.24053/PM-2021-0041
Der Beitrag beleuchtet das Potenzial des künstlerischen Sensemaking im Projektmanagement. Ausgehend vom Cynefin-Framework, der auf geeignete Handlungsmuster bei verschiedenen Graden von Unsicherheit verweist, stellt er Parallelen im künstlerischen Denken und Handeln vor und ordnet sie als Strategien zu Bewältigung von Unsicherheit ein. Künstler arbeiten prozess- und ergebnisoffen und sind in der Lage, chaotische und komplexe Situationen mit sensibler Wahrnehmung und im Dialog mit ihrem Material kreativ zu nutzen. Das macht künstlerische Arbeit zu einer zukunftsorientierten und verkörperten Form des Sensemaking, dessen Elemente Bifokalität, Multivalenz, Ambidextrie, Improvisation und Embodiment planungsorientiertes Projekt- und Krisenmanagement bereichern können.
Skills Development through Virtual Art-Based Learning
Sandberg, B., Stasewitsch, E., & Prümper, J. (2022). Skills Development through Virtual Art-Based Learning: Learning Outcomes of an Advanced Training Program for Project Managers. Education Sciences, 12(7), 455. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12070455
With regard to emerging requirements of the professional field, uncertainty competence is a skill to be cultivated and integrated into project management education and training. Art-based learning seems to be a promising approach because the artistic mindset is a suitable model for coping with uncertainty. However, it is widely unclear to what extent art-based learning’s experiential nature will result in soft skills development under the restrictions of distance education. The present quantitative study explores whether—in a virtual learning environment—art-based executive training has a measurable effect on uncertainty competence. Data collection and analysis applied a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design. Participants in the experimental group completed a month-long virtual training program based on visual arts. Contrary to its objective, the program did not cause meaningful changes in uncertainty competence or perceived stress but had a significant effect on participants’ attentiveness and presence. Participants achieved a higher level of mindfulness in dealing with complexity. The results imply that—even in virtual settings—art-based approaches enhance perceptive capacity and social presence but need to be long-term, related to participants’ individual work-context, and disturb participants’ routines to have an effect on uncertainty competence.
Mind the Gap: Workshop Satisfaction and Skills Development in Art-Based Learning
Sandberg, B., Stasewitsch, E., & Prümper, J. (2022). Mind the Gap: Workshop Satisfaction and Skills Development in Art-Based Learning. European Journal of Teaching and Education, 4(2), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.33422/ejte.v4i2.717
Research on art-based leadership development suggests that this form of multimodal experiential learning enhances soft skills. Against this backdrop, two quantitative sub-studies from a research program on leadership development explored training effects of improvisational theater and visual arts. In both sub-studies, we applied a longitudinal pretest-posttest design and compared skills development with learner satisfaction and perceived usefulness of educational content. Our findings suggest that participants overestimate training success because very high satisfaction and favorable opinions on the programs’ practical relevance are not reflected in desired skills development. We interpret this discrepancy as a halo effect, in which the fun factor of art-based learning and other facets of aesthetic experience outshines actual learning results. Despite limitations such as small sample sizes, our findings contribute to research by putting overly positive assumptions on art-based learning’s effectiveness into perspective.
Leadership as Dance: A Mixed Methods Study on Art-based Leadership Development
Sandberg, B., Stasewitsch, E., & Prümper, J. (2023). Leadership as Dance: A Mixed Methods Study on Art-based Leadership Development. Organizational Aesthetics, 12(1), 24–63.
As empirical evidence on the extent and of prerequisites of skill development through art-based learning is limited, a two-day leadership training based on dance practice was designed, executed, and evaluated. Learning objectives and workshop design followed an understanding of leadership as an embodied leader-follower relationship. A quantitative study examined alterations in participant’s leadership skills and skill persistence in everyday working life using a pretest-posttest design. A subsequent qualitative interview study explored factors that influenced learning outcomes. Results of this mixed methods research indicate that participants achieved a significant and prolonged improvement in physical presence. In addition, the body work sensitized them for nonverbal communication shaping mutual interaction. The joint aesthetic experience alone had a learning effect that was enhanced through aesthetic reflection and repetition of exercises. The study’s explanatory power is limited to movement-based practice and affected by a sample size of only 24. However, it contributes to research by measuring positive effects of art-based learning that consisted only of qualitative data before. In addition, the findings have practical implications for training embodied leadership skills: Learning environments ought to be designed as safe spaces embedded in long-term programs with recurring aesthetic impulses.