This paper conceptualises the role of the teacher educator through the lens of Gert Biesta’s "educational gesture," proposing that module design can be considered pedagogical curation. Drawing on the premise that teaching is an act of pointing to the world, we explore how a module can be designed as a curated collection of encounters with things of value. In this framework, the educator acts as a curator who selects specific educational "objects," inviting the student teacher to enter into dialogue with them. 

This study examines a drama and an art leadership module designed as a curated encounter with a shared focus on four distinct "objects" that exemplify professional possibility:

1. Care: Both arts modules are designed through a relational lens and point to a particular primary school that embodies relational pedagogy, offering a lived example where the arts are the essential vehicle for a whole-school curriculum of care.     

2. Arts Education: Both modules point to arts education as vital and humanising disciplines that offer an ever more necessary mode of engaging with the complex ethical and social challenges of our world;

3. Inclusion: Both modules point to Universal Design for Learning (UDL). UDL is presented as a creative design challenge and opportunity that anticipates diversity rather than reacting to it. 

4. Partnership: Through a partnership with The Ark (a unique, purpose-built cultural centre for children) and Branar Téatar (one of Ireland’s leading theatre companies), the drama module points to high ambition. These encounters frame the child as a cultural citizen (UNCRC Art. 12) and asserts that children's art merits the same attention as adult art. Similarly, partnering with DCU’s art collection, the art module explored a more reciprocal ekphrastic encounter with campus artworks culminating in a more impactful curation of community art and poetry alongside the professional.            

This paper reports on the impact of art and drama leadership modules on student professional identity. We analyse how cohorts engage with disciplinary tools to shape their roles as emerging leaders. The study utilises a multi-method qualitative approach, incorporating reflective narrative protocols, a/r/tographic work comprising personal artwork, related written research and reflections, and artefact-based interviews. Contextual validation is provided by expert witnesses from the school environment to ground the findings in current professional practice

Analysis is ongoing. Preliminary findings suggest that the sustained engagement with these specific curated objects played a decisive role in shaping the students' emerging professional identities. Participants reported that the specific qualities of the objects interrupted their initial desire for technical mastery. These qualities include the relational emphasis throughout the modules; the focus on presence; the unique attributes of a piece of theatre or art work, the intentionality of UDL and the nurturing atmosphere of the school.

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