| Summary: | This research is about the learning journeys of artists at the Icelandic University of the Arts studying to become arts educators. This entails looking at their background and former experience and how that affects and shapes the educational practices and learning culture within the Department of Arts Education (DAEd). The purpose of this research is to shed light on the challenges artists face when entering a new field, specifically the field of teacher education. In entering a new field and academic studies, the artists, who have been working for several years in their respective field of art, are faced with new working methods and values. The research aims are to contribute to the knowledge of how artists learn through biography and to determine how we can bridge the gaps there might be between the arts and the academic worlds. The purpose is to use such knowledge in teacher education for artists in Iceland and hopefully in other areas of higher education for artists. The theoretical underpinnings of this study are cultural theories. Bourdieu’s theory of practice (Bourdieu, 1977, 1984) is used in the analysis of the structures and values of the fields relevant to this research, using his ‘thinking tools’ of field habitus and capital. This also sheds light on the evolving identities of arts educators based on their lifewide experience and education. The cultural theory of learning and learning cultures are used to determine the primary practices within the DAEd and the interaction between a learning culture and the participants within it. The study takes the form of practice-led biographical research. The research method is grounded theory. Data triangulation or the ‘triangulation of different methods’ allowed for different perspectives on the research subject. Data were collected from three different sources in two different ways. The sources included reflective journals from 22 students within their first semester in the programme and biographical interviews with 12 graduates from the DAEd and three ...
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