The Meaning of Transfer in the Practices of Arts Education

Redressing the marginalization of the arts is often linked with attempts to redefine and broaden their cognitive structure. Recent evidence of transferability between knowledge in the arts and other curriculum domains is currently advanced as one useful approach. Taking a social realist approach to education in the arts this article argues that the meaning of cognitive transfer, including evidence of a cognitive structure shared with other domains, varies according to its representation within different values of arts educational practice. This article examines the impact of three frameworks of value on the evidence of cognitive transfer in the arts.