Art-Based Teacher Education Practices: The Case of the Teacher Academies City and Culture Academy

This study examines the contributions of art-based teacher education practices implemented within the City and Culture Academy of the Mersin Teacher Academies to teachers’ professional and personal development. Using a qualitative case study design, the research explored teachers’ experiences in caricature and ceramics workshops conducted during the 2025–2026 academic year. The study group consisted of 42 volunteer teachers selected through criterion sampling, including 22 participants in the caricature workshop and 20 in the ceramics workshop. Data were collected through a semi-structured interview form and analyzed using content analysis. Coding reliability was established through independent coding by two researchers, yielding an inter-coder agreement of 91%. The findings indicate that both workshops made substantial contributions to teachers’ cognitive, affective, creative, and professional development. Participants emphasized enhanced creativity, critical thinking, aesthetic awareness, self-confidence, patience, motivation, and professional reflection. Hands-on, production-oriented learning activities emerged as the most valuable aspect of the workshops, whereas limited instructional time was identified as the primary challenge. Although teachers reported significant personal transformation, the transfer of acquired artistic competencies into classroom practice remained relatively limited due to curricular and infrastructural constraints. Overall, the findings demonstrate that art-based professional development provides a holistic and transformative learning experience that supports teachers’ lifelong learning, well-being, and professional growth. The study recommends extending the duration of such programs and incorporating explicit pedagogical transfer modules to strengthen the integration of artistic learning into classroom teaching.

art-based learning, teacher professional development, teacher academies, caricature workshop, ceramics workshop, qualitative research.

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