Integrating aesthetic experience and inquiry-based learning: Teacher knowledge, beliefs, and practice in Singapore primary classrooms

This study examined the relationships between teacher knowledge, beliefs, and practices of 40 Singapore primary school teachers who were teaching either music, visual arts, or social studies to investigate their enactment of inquiry-based curriculum in their subjects. The paper provides an Aesthetically Infused Inquiry-based Learning (AIIBL) framework that fuses aesthetic inquiry with inquiry-based learning to enhance students’ learning experience. Drawing on this theoretical framework, the study analyzed the teacher interviews across the three subjects (music, visual arts and social studies) as the primary data source, triangulated by data analysis of 12 classroom observations, 7 post-lesson teacher interviews, and focus group discussions with 60 students. The study found that while teachers drew on practical knowledge about aesthetics and inquiry-based learning in the form of strategies to be used in their classrooms, teacher reflections during interviews, classroom observations, and student focus group discussions suggested that these did not necessarily provide the kinds of rich educative inquiry-based learning experiences desired. The study forwards the AIIBL framework to emphasize the essential interdependence between aesthetic experience and inquiry-based learning to support inquiry-based teaching and more powerful forms of learning experience. • Aesthetic experience is integral to meaningful inquiry-based learning. • Teachers' knowledge, beliefs, and practices shape inquiry enactment. • Inquiry practices often remain teacher-directed despite inquiry beliefs. • Aesthetic engagement in lessons often remains limited or superficial. • AIIBL frames aesthetic experience as a driver of inquiry processes.