It’s about time : re-imagining present and future times in art, education and sustainable development

Abstract

This chapter argues for a model of art education informed by the sustainable development goals and education for sustainable development. It explores connections between the discourses of contemporary art, particularly socially engaged forms of art, and sustainable development through the temporal lens of present and future, arguing that any transformative outlook on our understanding of development, education and art must first engage with the social and political realities of present times, as demonstrated in the work of many artists. Transformative and reconstructionist conceptions of teaching and learning are considered, while the fourth pillar of sustainability, culture, is seen as a bridge that could reposition and broaden debates on art education within the political goals of education for sustainable development and its competencies. In particular, the activist and collaborative dimensions of contemporary art, its sense of wonder and uncertainties are seen as overlapping concerns in art education and education for sustainable development. This leads towards inquiry-based pedagogies that open the door to a sense of agency that is relevant both to art and to all those who believe in the possibility of change.