Our ACE researchers are continually pushing boundaries in arts education research and practice. See details of the following ACE members recent research contributions:
Photobook
Copy contributions: Aunty Karan Kent, Kylie Colemane, Nikki Browne, Pitcha Makin Fellas, Geraldine Burke, Melissa Bedford, Priscilla Pettengell, Daniel Riley, Keery Gibson, Sara Djakovic, Monash pre-service teachers. Copywriting: Priscilla Pettengell, Geraldine Burke (2025). Learning with the Land with Respect, Monash Faculty of Education. Bridges site, MUMA Research site
Synopsis
Learning with the Land: Learning with Respect documents a two‑year journey of relational, arts‑based learning led by First Nations artists and cultural knowledge holders. Developed by the Monash Faculty of Education with MUMA, the project brings participants into workshops, shared artmaking, and deep engagement with Country, revealing emerging respectful, place‑responsive approaches to art education. Part of Professor Rita Irwin’s international Learning with the Land program, the photobook links this Australian work to a global network of art educators. Through a/r/tography, it highlights layered collaboration, living inquiry, and intercultural learning grounded in Indigenous understandings.
Article
Liao, X., Burke, G., Morimoto, K. (March 2026) Un/folding an A/r/tographic Journey: Moving with/through/between art, dialogue and poetry, Bulletin of the Teacher Training Research Center, Yamagata University, V21, 11, pp. 77-87. file:///C:/Users/geburke/Downloads/ttrc-21-00770087%20(5).pdf (Japanese, English).
Synopsis
This study, inspired by Monash University’s Art–Community–Environment program, examines how a similar approach could be developed in Japan. Beginning with the oshidori, Yamagata Prefecture’s bird, we conducted a series of investigations and artworks, drawing on A/r/tography and arts‑based poetic inquiry. Our findings show that bringing our artworks into meaningful local places with others opened new possibilities for shared meaning‑making. Through sustained artistic engagement, we internalised the subject deeply; the “oshidori” shifted from living bird to artwork, to a companion in our research, and finally to a generative presence that sparked new insights and learning.
Book chapter
Quiñones, G. & Burke, G., (Aug 2026). Visual Pedagogy for Yong Children: Collective Experimentation through Play-Exploration-Art. Visual Pedagogies for the Early Years: Presence, Potential, and Possibility. Whyte, E. J., Westbrook, F., Quinones, G. & Sollied Madsen, S. (eds.). 1st ed. pp. 115-137.
Synopsis
This chapter explores visual pedagogy for young children (0–3 years) through a collective process of creative experimentation. A collaboration between a local early childhood centre, third-year pre-service teachers, and university lecturers led to the co-creation of rich, place-based learning experiences grounded in creativity, art, and play. The methodological approach emerged organically, giving rise to the PEA: Play-Exploration-Art—teaching-research framework, situated within an Australian context.
Book
de Bruin, L. R., Crawford, R., McPhail, G., & Southcott, J. (Eds.) (2026). Music Education, Social Justice, and the Global South. (1st ed.) Bloomsbury Academic.
Synopsis
Music Education, Social Justice, and the Global South provocatively explores the complex, multidimensional nature of social justice and the challenges adapted in educational music contexts around the world. The tensions created by critical engagement with its concepts and practices provide unique opportunities for music educators to develop learners who can respond to the challenges of an increasingly globalised landscape. Applying critical engagement with its concepts and practices and looking beyond lines on the map across diverse countries and communities, particularly those that have negotiated colonialization and that value Indigenous ways of knowing and being into the spheres of education philosophy, policy, and practice, this book stimulates thinking about ways to create more equitable, inclusive, accessible, and emancipatory practices in music education.
Article
Crawford, R., & Southcott, J. (2026). Curriculum devolution under neoliberal pressures: the case of senior secondary music in Victoria, Australia and its international resonances. Education Sciences, 16(1), Article 79. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci16010079
Synopsis
Neoliberal reforms in Australia have diminished the Victorian senior Music curriculum by prioritising accountability, employability, and standardised outcomes over musically specific knowledge and skills. This shift has reduced discipline-specific content while increasing emphasis on non-musical transferable skills and informal learning processes within formal education. Comparative analysis with the UK and US reveals a global trend toward hybrid models integrating formal and informal learning that can inform debates on curriculum design, pedagogical practice, and policy development; highlighting the need for balanced approaches that preserve musical depth while accommodating broader educational goals.
Book
Lyons, D., Singh, K., & Southcott, J. (Eds.) (2026). Shaping Doctoral Experiences: Nurturing the Relational. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN9781666974188
A curated collection of chapters that explores innovative and alternative ways of completing (or not) doctorates in diverse topics including the arts (visual art, applied arts, etc.)
Articles
Southcott, J. (2026). Relegation, Diminution, and Reclamation: The Misnaming of Sarah Anna Glover (1786–1867). Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/15366006261419054
Synopsis
The contribution of Sarah Anna Glover (1786–1867), the only woman solely responsible for a complete and successful class music pedagogy, is today widely appreciated. Such recognition has not always been the case. Situated within the appropriation and gradual diminution of her contribution, this article explores the misnaming of Glover in authoritative texts. Over time and in many cultures, the personal or first name of a woman is often lost, with a concomitant loss of identity and recognition.
Crawford, R., & Southcott, J. (2026). Curriculum devolution under neoliberal pressures: The case of Victorian Senior Secondary Music and its international resonances. Education Sciences. Special Issue: Music Education: Current Changes, Future Trajectories, 16(1), 79. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci16010079
Synopsis
Under the pressures of neoliberalism, in Australia, the Victorian senior Music curriculum has been diminished. Neoliberal reforms have prioritised accountability, employability, and standardised outcomes, leading to a re-prioritisation of musical content and knowledge. This has led to reductions in musically specific content and increased focus on non-musical transferable skills. Concomitant has been an emphasis on informal processes within formal curricula.