“THE SHOEMAKER’S CHILDREN GO BAREFOOT”: A STUDY ON TEACHER TRAINING IN HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE SOCIAL USES OF VISUAL ARTS

Abstract

Who hasn’t encountered works featuring images, posters, or colorful postcards with a succession of strokes—whether rough or bold—that often repeat clichés, revealing a lack of originality that is challenging to deconstruct? These are stereotyped, standardized, and generalized images shaped by common sense, where the lack of aesthetic sensitivity exposes how they were collected and used. They are, generally speaking, ready-to-use images. However, as an integral part of communication, the image has its own vocabulary, a syntax, with principles that dictate the meaning of the visual narrative. The way students construct their visual narratives during their training period is not neutral and has repercussions on the artistic and cultural education of the children or young people with whom they will work in their future professional lives. In this text, we describe playful and expressive experiences with higher education students, framed within a project-based approach. These experiences serve as learning opportunities that enable the creation of spaces, activities, and other opportunities for creative exploration, where fantasy, creativity, and imagination are celebrated.