Learning and knowing from the arts : an interdisciplinary model of aesthetic knowing

Abstract

In this article the author analyzes the types of knowledge and learning involved when educationalists study works of art to further their professional development. A theoretical background of experiential learning is presented. An Interdisciplinary Model of Aesthetic Knowing (IMAK) is developed and presented, utilizing the Model of Aesthetic Understanding as Informed Experience of Richard Lachapelle, Deborah Murray and Sandy Neim. Additional kinds of knowledge and learning processes included in the IMAK are discussed. Attending a concert in South Africa by Neil Diamond, the popular singer/songwriter stimulated the author to reflect upon his own metacognitive thinking and learning, both during and after the concert, and on the application of what he learned to the IMAK and in his lecturing room.