Abstract
Arts and cultural education make a significant contribution to the development of inclusive and sustainable societies (Malytska, 2022). They foster creative thinking, empathy, and social responsibility in a world shaped by uncertainty and change (UNESCO, 2025). This dissertation explores whether, and in what ways, social and emotional competencies (Social and Emotional Learning, SEL) can be stimulated in art education. Theoretically, the study is situated at the intersection of philosophy of education, anthropology, and art pedagogy, drawing on concepts of aesthetic experience (Dewey, 2005; Eisner, 2002), holistic education (Meyer-Drawe, 2008), social and emotional learning (Durlak et al., 2011), and transformative learning processes (Mezirow, 1978; Koller, 2016). The qualitative case study SEA – Social and Emotional Learning through the Arts followed a lower secondary school class in Merano (Italy) over the course of one school year. The students collaboratively developed models for redesigning their school garden and subsequently created a joint installation. The research design was guided by ethnographic field sensitivity; audio recordings of natural conversations were collected during work sessions as well as one year later. Data were analyzed using structuring qualitative content analysis (Kuckartz & Rädiker, 2019). The findings indicate that, in particular, interpersonal competencies such as empathy, teamwork, and communication skills were strengthened, whereas intrapersonal competencies – such as self-awareness and self-management – appeared less pronounced. For art educational practice, the study demonstrates that art education can be understood not only as a medium for conveying aesthetic experience but also as a space of experience in which aesthetic practice, social and emotional learning, and transformative learning processes interconnect—especially under conditions of open, process-oriented learning structures.