Learning in the arts is distinct from most other subjects for three reasons. First, the arts are centrally a representational domain and learning in the arts involves becoming aware of how representational choices communicate meaning to different audiences. Second, form and meaning are integrated; artistic representations are saturated with meaning, and subtle variations are consequential to that meaning. Third, work in the arts involves examining identify and culture, because artistic cognition is intertwined with both. This chapter argues that these three distinct features of arts learning have implications for our understanding of learning more generally. The chapter reviews four types of research: (1) how the arts have been studied in educational settings; (2) how learning occurs in different arts including music and visual arts; (3) the key features of arts learning: the role of the audience, critique, authentic assessment, and role taking; (4) how an arts-based perspective can contribute to our understanding of learning in all subjects.

The learning sciences distinguish itself as a field within education research by their attention to how insights about the cognitive and sociocultural nature of thinking and learning can be applied to the design of learning environments. As a learning scientist, an artist, and a digital media scholar, I am drawn to questions of how to design spaces for young people so that they can participate successfully in media arts–based production activities. I call these participatory media spaces, an extension of Jenkins, Purushotma, Clinton, Weigel, and Robison’s (2007) framing of digital spaces for artistic production and civic engagement as participatory cultures. The rhetorical shift from participatory cultures to participatory media spaces means changing our focus from documenting what happens in these spaces and how people participate to insights about how to design learning environments with specific learning goals in mind. While prior work has focused on what people learn from their engagement in participatory cultures (Gee, 2007; Ito et al., 2010; Jenkins et al., 2007), I consider design from the perspective of intentional learning. There is no doubt that learning happens as a result of engagement in participatory cultures. Learning happens no matter what we do (Wenger, 1998). However, learning something is an entirely different matter. In this chapter I shift the focus from an understanding of learning in participatory media spaces to how to design participatory media spaces so that young people can engage successfully in artistic production processes.