In the twenty-first century, awareness of an increased emphasis on social transformation in international art education and beyond has been needed to address several urgent issues, such as the effects of colonialism on and through the field. To explore this and other issues, social perspectives of art education are developing on the idea that the arts influence all societies and cultures and that an education in the visual arts contributes to people’s understanding and mediation of sociocultural contexts, relations and challenges. These perspectives influence visual arts forms and practices, reaching into art education both inside and outside of cultural institutions (Freedman & Hernández-Hernández, 2024).

The question posed by this paper is how these aims for arts education in the 21st century are embodied in the epistemic conceptions of educators and in the practices they carry out in schools. Specifically, this paper proposes to investigate the ‘epistemic communities’  (ECs) and ‘epistemic tensions’ (ETs) in arts education, education through arts education, and uses of art in education that coexist in two schools participating in the European Project  Exploring and Educating Cultural Literacy through Art (EXPECT_Art). 

An epistemological community (EC) is a network or a group of academic or practitioners whose shared set of normative and cognitive beliefs form the basis of knowledge validation and purpose (Haas, 1992). The theory of ECs was initially developed by Foucault (1969 [1972]) to explain how an ‘episteme’ is suitable for giving identity and purpose and enabling cohesion in a group. Research in Arts Education offers different conceptual frameworks to name these epistemic communities. Thus, Efland (1990), from a historical perspective and what he calls ‘intellectual trends’, refers to romantic idealism, social Darwinism, expressionism, reconstructionism, progressive education, excellence and critical theory. Errázuriz (1997), for his side, speaks of ‘forms of rationality’: industrial, historical, foreign, moral, expressive, cognitive, perceptual, creative, communicative, interdisciplinary and cultural. Aguirre (2005) discusses logocentric, expressive, disciplinary and cultural tendencies.These conceptual frameworks can be identified as guides for arts education practices in schools, museums or other arts education proposals. Often, practices do not link to them explicitly but do so when they create affinities and relationships. However, by not making them explicit, different - and sometimes contradictory - conceptual frameworks coexist in an epistemic community. This situation is the case in the two schools in our study. The coexistence of different ECs may (or may not) generate epistemic tensions.

Epistemological tensions are linked to contact between heterogeneous disciplinary approaches in a field of studies or the school curriculum. According to De Silva et al. (2024) an ‘epistemic tension’ refers to the tension that arises when different knowledge systems within an organized entity contradict or make competing demands involving the beliefs, views, and preferred methods of generating knowledge between different units, groups, teams, or communities. In other words, this tension occurs when members of different epistemic communities (ECs) collaborate and dispute over what constitutes credible expertise, fact, proof, or warrants for claims when knowledge systems collide in decisions or actions. (p.1).

According to this frame, four are the aims of this paper: a) locate, observe and name the practices of arts education, education through the arts and the use of the arts in education in two schools participating in EXPECT_Art; b) identify the epistemic communities to which those art educational practices are linked; c) account for the epistemic tensions that inhabit arts education practices and how teachers deal with them; and d) situate how critical cultural literacy can be framed on these epistemic communities and tensions.

To identify the practices of arts education, education through arts and uses of art in education, fieldwork was carried out in two schools from October 1st to December 19th by 4 researchers in each school. The two schools (D. and M.) are located in two districts of the city of Barcelona inhabited, above all, by populations in ‘particularly disadvantaged socio-economic situations that require additional resources to guarantee the well-being of the pupils and their optimal development in the educational system’ (Generalitat de Catalunya (n/d).) School D. caters for pupils from 3 to 12 years of age (infant and primary), and school M. caters for pupils from 3 to 16 (infant, primary and lower secondary). School D. has been developing an educational project for 7 years, in which the arts play a structuring pedagogical role. School M. has been developing a project for the last three years that has prolonged what was previously only primary school to create continuity towards secondary education. In the context of School M., the arts serve as a cultural reference or framework that influences how core subjects are taught. Most of the time, the arts are not separate from the curriculum but are integrated into or aligned with subjects like math, science, history, or language. Art is a language capable of connecting different areas of knowledge to promote a holistic learning experience. Based on the field diaries, we made a list of all the artistic practices ordered according to the three criteria set out at the beginning of this entry. Next to each of them, we situate their relationship with the epistemological frameworks that can configure epistemic communities. To do so, we take Aguirre (2005) as a reference point and complement it with Errazuriz (1997): drawing, craft, expression, language, discipline, visual culture and social justice. This strategy has been valuable because it has allowed us to highlight the epistemic frameworks that organise art education practices in the two schools. Furthermore, it has made it possible to point out, through a process of critical reflexivity (Ng, et al.2019), different epistemic tensions that, by revealing them and sharing them with the schools, can contribute not only to aligning them with the purpose of EXPECT_Art but also with the educational projects of the two schools.

The presence of the arts in the pedagogical practices of both schools reflects a diversity of epistemic frames linked to schools’ educational projects. School D. promotes workshops where pupils carry out art practices articulated in conceptual frameworks ranging from craft, expressive practices, and reproductive actions to proposals linked to visual culture. Given that the school focuses its pedagogical framework on collective practices linked to contemporary arts and social justice we observe some epistemic tensions: a) difficulties in understanding the meaning of contemporary artistic practices on the part of the teaching staff, b) the constraints of expanding other artistic ways of knowing, and c) the tensions to align these practices with EXPECT_Art's proposal to promote a critical cultural education. At school M., work is promoted to foster collaboration and shared leadership in the pedagogical practices developed at the school. The perceived epistemic tensions arise from the contrasts between the purpose of art practices and how they are applied in school’s contexts. This situation poses a double challenge, as these experiences must be adapted each year to the school reality, taking into account the subjectivities of the pupils and, at the same time, their integration with the pedagogical practice of arts educators. In the case of secondary education, the experiences designed from or through the arts are based on materials developed yearly as the school grows in secondary education grades. Once developed, the pedagogical resources from previous years are replicated with new classes, allowing for sustainability in terms of teaching efforts but at the same time limiting the arts education processes. In conclusion, identifying the ECs and the tensions that these carry, allow us to reflect on how diverse epistemic approaches in the same educational context can affect and frame the possibility of a critical cultural literacy education.

Aguirre, I. (2005).Teorías y prácticas en educación artística. Octaedro. Altbach, P., Arnove, R., & Kelly, G. (1982). Comparative education. Macmillan. De Silva DM, Agostini L, Nosella A, Verwaal E. (2024). Epistemic tensions in R&D alliances and the role of inter-organizational management controls. Journal of Management & Organization. Published online 2024:1-20. doi:10.1017/jmo.2024.1 England, A. (1990). A History of Art Education. Teachers College Press. Errazuriz, L. (1998). Rationales for Art Education in Chilean Schools. Curriculum, Culture, and Art Education. Comparative Perspectives. 1st. ed. (p. 165-179) Sunny Press. Foucault, M. (1969 [1972]). The archeology of knowledge, trans. by A. M. Sheridan Smith. Tavistock. Freedman, K. & Hernández-Hernández, F. (ed.).(2024). Curriculum, Culture, and Art Education. Comparative Perspectives. 2º ed. Sunny Press. Generalitat de Catalunya (n/d).Educació intercultural. https://xtec.gencat.cat/ca/projectes/intercultural/. Haas, P. M. (1992). Introduction: Epistemic communities and international policy coordination. International Organization, 46(1), 1–35. Ng, S. L., Wright, S. R., & Kuper, A. (2019). The divergence and convergence of critical reflection and critical reflexivity: Implications for health professions education. Academic Medicine, 94(8), 1122–1128. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000002724