Arts Educational Intervention (AEI) – Building Rhizomes Between Teacher Education, Schools and Artistic Practice

Spring 2026 marked an important milestone in the collaboration between the Swedish-speaking Teacher Education Program at the University of Helsinki and the University of the Arts Helsinki. Through an arts intervention implemented in partner schools, student teachers, pupils, artists and researchers came together to explore how arts-based practices can function as a catalyst for learning, participation and pedagogical innovation.

The intervention was carried out during the teaching practicum of class teacher students and formed part of the Art Intervention in Learning Environments work package within the MångSam project (Kaihovirta, 2023-2026). The initiative sought to strengthen connections between artistic practice, educational research and school development. At its core was the understanding of learning as embodied, relational, creative and rhizomatic. Through arts-based pedagogical approaches, pupils and student teachers engaged in processes that invited participation, dialogue, exploration and collaborative meaning-making.

The collaboration emerged through the intersection of two research and development initiatives during the academic year 2025-2026. Within the MångSam (Diversity and Collaboration) research project at the University of Helsinki, I served as principal investigator of the work package Art Intervention in Learning Environments (2023-2026). The broader MångSam project seeks to explore questions of diversity, multilingualism and social justice within teacher education and partner schools.

Drawing on a boundary-spanning approach, I identified strong synergies between the aims of MångSam and those of the Scenkonst med i lärande (SMIL) project at the University of the Arts Helsinki, led by researcher Nina Dahl-Tallgren. The SMIL project explores how performing arts, including theatre, drama, dance, circus and literary arts, can be integrated into educational settings and contribute to learning, wellbeing and pedagogical development. The project’s interest in performative processes, where knowledge is created through bodily, social and emotional experiences, resonated strongly with MångSam’s ambition to explore new possibilities for learning, participation and educational inclusion.

A Pilot for Future Research and Professional Collaboration

Beyond the immediate classroom experiences, the Spring 2026 intervention functioned as an exploratory pilot for developing future collaboration between teacher education at the University of Helsinki and the SMIL project at the University of the Arts Helsinki. The pilot sought to investigate how practice-oriented educational research within teacher education can contribute to the ongoing development of teaching practices in partner schools and create sustainable practices for collaboration between schools, universities and the arts.

A central aim was also to explore how research within teacher education can be conducted in close dialogue with educational practice. The collaboration therefore served as a pilot for future practice-based and practice-near research, seeking ways to strengthen reciprocal relationships between teacher education, research and school development.

An important dimension of the pilot was the active involvement of student teachers in research and development work. Class student teacher Minette Bäckblom participated as a research assistant throughout the intervention while simultaneously completing the final stages of her master’s thesis and teacher qualification. During her studies, she contributed to the Art Intervention in Learning Environments work package and gained first-hand experience of how educational research, artistic practice and school development can intersect in meaningful ways.

The pilot also served as an example of capacity building within teacher education. By involving student teachers directly in collaborative research and development processes, universities can strengthen future teachers’ understanding of aesthetic learning, arts-based pedagogies and interdisciplinary collaboration. Such experiences contribute to the development of professional competencies that are increasingly important in contemporary schools, particularly in relation to arts education and inquiry-based learning.

Equally important was the opportunity to deepen multiprofessional collaboration between researchers, artists, teacher educators, student teachers and school communities. Bringing together expertise from different professional fields generated new perspectives on how pedagogy and the arts can support one another. Rather than viewing art as an occasional supplement to schooling, the collaboration explored how artistic practices can be grounded in curricula and become meaningful elements of educational environments and everyday school.

Ultimately, the pilot points toward a broader educational vision: a school culture in which high-quality artistic and aesthetic experiences are accessible to all children. In this sense, the collaboration aligns closely with ongoing discussions concerning equal access to arts education and the importance of ensuring that all children and young people have opportunities to encounter diverse artistic forms regardless of context or circumstance. Through strengthened partnerships between schools, teacher education and the arts sector, new pathways can be created that make artistic learning experiences an integral part of children’s everyday educational lives.

As a member of the SMIL steering group, I have worked to strengthen long-term dialogue between educational research, teacher education and arts education. The Spring 2026 intervention provided an opportunity to bring these perspectives together in practice. To bring in student teachers in this form of practice encountered arts-based pedagogies not merely as teaching methods but as ways of reimagining the classroom as an artistic and exploratory learning environment.

The collaboration also forms part of a broader research agenda. Nina Dahl-Tallgren and I are currently co-authoring a chapter for the forthcoming Nordic anthology With Performing Arts Towards Performative Pedagogies (2027). The chapter examines artistic interventions, creativity and learning in early childhood education and compulsory schooling, bringing together international perspectives on the role of performing arts in educational contexts.

In addition, ongoing research focuses on teachers’ experiences of arts-based and inquiry-oriented learning practices in comprehensive schools. By examining how educators encounter and implement artistic approaches in everyday teaching, the research seeks to contribute new knowledge about the opportunities and challenges associated with arts-integrated pedagogies in school.

The Spring 2026 intervention demonstrates the value of long-term collaboration between schools, teacher education and the arts. It highlights how artistic interventions can create spaces for experimentation, reflection and participation while supporting future teachers in developing pedagogical approaches that respond to the complexity of contemporary education. In a rapidly changing world, such collaborations offer important opportunities to rethink what learning can be and how schools can become places where creativity, embodiment and democratic participation are genuinely valued.

Through initiatives such as MångSam and SMIL, the dialogue between arts and education continues to generate new perspectives on learning, knowledge and participation. Such collaborations create spaces where artistic practice, educational inquiry and social engagement come together to expand our understanding of what schools can become, both now and in the future.

As both MångSam and SMIL are funded by the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, this pilot also demonstrates the value of strategic investments that connect education, research and the arts in creating meaningful learning opportunities for all children.

Writer

Hannah Kaihovirta, Professor 
Åbo Akademi University