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The Heart of the Educator: Aesthetic Experience Shaping Knowledge, Identity, and Passion

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Exploring Emotions, Aesthetics and Wellbeing in Science Education Research

Part of the book series: Cultural Studies of Science Education ((CSSE,volume 13))

Abstract

This chapter explores Dewey’s construct of aesthetic experience and the role that the aesthetic plays in knowing: knowing as a coherence of things to be known, developing one’s sense of identity in relation to that knowing, and the passions that emerge in an “aesthetic experience” that lays the foundation for future knowing, identity, and passions. Drawing on Dewey’s ideas, Girod, Rau, and Schepige developed the construct “aesthetic understanding” to provide a theoretical lens for describing students’ experience of coming to know science content. This chapter develops the aesthetic understanding construct further into a methodological framework, called a knowledge-identity-passion (KIP) analysis, that can be applied to research exploring aesthetic experience in two “research moments”: the immediate effects of an aesthetic experience on knowledge, identity, and passion and the life trajectory that follows an aesthetic experience. A KIP analysis can be applied to research examining the effects and meanings attached to experiences through close analysis of knowledge, identity, and passion, both individually and in relation to each other. To illustrate the power of a KIP analysis, narratives of four science educators are provided. The practical applications and methodological possibilities and limitations of a KIP Analysis are then discussed.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Professional development funded by the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. Research funded by the Centre for Research in Educational Futures and Innovation, Deakin University.

  2. 2.

    Research funded by the Australian Office for Learning and Teaching. Project reference ID12-4212.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Arts and Education, Deakin University, 75 Pigdons Road, Waurn Ponds, Geelong, VIC, Australia

    Linda Hobbs & Leissa Kelly

Authors
  1. Linda Hobbs
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  2. Leissa Kelly
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Correspondence to Linda Hobbs .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Alberto Bellocchi

  2. Department of Teaching and Learning College of Education, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA

    Cassie Quigley

  3. Department of Learning and Philosophy, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

    Kathrin Otrel-Cass

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Hobbs, L., Kelly, L. (2017). The Heart of the Educator: Aesthetic Experience Shaping Knowledge, Identity, and Passion. In: Bellocchi, A., Quigley, C., Otrel-Cass, K. (eds) Exploring Emotions, Aesthetics and Wellbeing in Science Education Research. Cultural Studies of Science Education, vol 13. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43353-0_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43353-0_4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-43351-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-43353-0

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