THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2026/2027

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Edinburgh Futures Institute : Edinburgh Futures Institute

Postgraduate Course: Relationality, Creative Practice and Education (fusion online) (EFIE11065)

Course Outline
SchoolEdinburgh Futures Institute CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate)
Course typeOnline Distance Learning AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
SummaryAre we at risk of losing educational relationships in a data-driven, digital society? This course examines the nature and importance of relationality in education. Students will engage with creative arts-based practices to support their understandings of how to foster inclusive 'relational' education futures.
Course description This course is designed for students interested in understanding the nature and importance of 'relationality' within present, and possible future, data-driven educational systems.

Relational ideas of education and pedagogy - which highlight the human relationship between teachers and learners as the foundation of education - have increasingly been drawn upon to decentre the cultures of measurement and datafication driving 21st century education. In particular, theories and practices of listening will be explored as essential to relational understandings of education. Using the lens of relationality, the course offers students opportunities to examine potential exclusionary and dehumanising effects of data-driven decision making in education. Students will experiment with creative arts-based approaches to develop their understandings of how relational approaches can foster inclusive rehumanised educational futures.

Students will be offered a unique perspective on relationality through reading, discussing and experimenting with key ideas from the traditions of educational philosophy, art history, and art practice. They will be encouraged to apply these ideas to their chosen contexts. (A background in the arts is not a prerequisite for enrolment).

Field Trip Activity:

Please note that the intensive study period there will include a field trip activity.

Alternative plans have been provided by the Course Organiser if you are an online student who cannot take part:

There is a field trip to the art gallery l. The exhibition is filmed and phitographed in advance and put on LEARN if online student wants to view it asynchronously.

Preparation/materials required by online student:
We will have a visiting artist. For this activity online students may need basic household office supplies, such as scissors, glue, paper. Some other inexpensive materials will be optional, like lollipop sticks or felt squares. Specific materials will be detailed in advance.

Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) - Online Fusion Course Delivery Information:

The Edinburgh Futures Institute will teach this course in a way that enables online and on-campus students to study together. This approach (our 'fusion' teaching model) offers students flexible and inclusive ways to study, and the ability to choose whether to be on-campus or online at the level of the individual course. It also opens up ways for diverse groups of students to study together regardless of geographical location. To enable this, the course will use technologies to record and live-stream student and staff participation during their teaching and learning activities. Students should note that their interactions may be recorded and live-streamed. There will, however, be options to control whether or not your video and audio are enabled.

As part of your course, you will need access to a personal computing device. Unless otherwise stated activities will be web browser based and as a minimum we recommend a device with a physical keyboard and screen that can access the internet.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate an understanding of the nature and significance of relationality in education.
  2. Demonstrate an understanding of key theories and practices of listening in education.
  3. Critically examine the role of data-driven decision making in teaching, learning and education from the perspective of relationality.
  4. Demonstrate a critical understanding of how creative practice can enhance relationality in an educational context.
  5. Critically reflect on a personal experience of applying creative approaches to an educational context.
Reading List
Indicative Reading List:

Biesta, G. J. J. (2015). Good Education in an Age of Measurement: Ethics, Politics, Democracy. Routledge.

Bourriaud, N. (2002). Relational Aesthetics. Les Presses du réel.

Dewey, John. (1938/2008). 'Experience and Education'. In Boydston (Ed.), The Later Works of John Dewey, Volume 13, 1925-1953: 1938-1939, Experience and Education, Freedom and Culture, Theory of Valuation, and Essays (Vol. 13). Southern Illinois University Press.

Farinati, Lucia and Claudia Firth (2017): The Force of Listening. Berlin: Errant Bodies Press.

Freire, P. (2005). Teachers as Cultural Workers. Letters to Those Who Dare Teach. Westview Press.

Hooks, bell. (1994). Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. New York: Routledge.

Kester, Grant, Kocur, Z., and Leung, S. (2005). 'Conversation Pieces: The Role of Dialogue in Socially-Engaged Art'. In Theory in Contemporary Art Since 1985, 76-88. Malden, Mass.; Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

Kwon, Miwon. One Place after Another: Site-Specific Art and Locational Identity. Cambridge, Mass.; London: MIT Press, 2002.

Murdoch, D., English, A. R., Hintz, A., & Tyson, K. (2020). Feeling heard: Inclusive education, transformative learning, and productive struggle. Educational Theory, 70(5), 653-679.

Stoltz, Steven and Webster, R. Scott (2019). Measuring Up in Education: Philosophical Explorations for Justice and Democracy Within and Beyond Cultures of Measurement in Educational Systems. (n.d.). Routledge & CRC Press. Retrieved 15 June 2021, from https://www.routledge.com/Measuring-Up-in-Education-Philosophical-Explorations-for-Justice-and-Democracy/Stolz-Webster/p/book/9780367360320

Ultra-red. 'Organizing the Silence'. In On Horizons: A Critical Reader in Contemporary Art. Ed. Maria Hlavajova, Simon Sheikh, and Jill Winder, edited by Maria Hlavajova, Simon Sheikh, and Jill Winder, 193-209. Rotterdam: Post Editions, 2011.

Waks, L. J. (2015). Listening to Teach: Beyond Didactic Pedagogy. SUNY Press.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills - Curiosity for learning that makes a positive difference;
- Passion to engage globally and locally;
- Critical and reflective thinkers;
- Creative problem solvers and researchers;
- Effective and influential contributors.
KeywordsEducation,Relationality,Educational Relationships,Listening,Creative Practice,Datafication,Teaching
Contacts
Course organiserDr Andrea English
Tel: (0131 6)51 6172
Email: Andrea.English@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Zoe Hogg
Tel:
Email: Zoe.Hogg@ed.ac.uk
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