Marjolein van Hal
The Usefulness of the Useless – Marjolein van Hal
What happens when we no longer see art lessons as “time between tests,” but as rehearsal spaces for life? In my practice-based research, I explore how art education can offer students room to appear, to rehearse who they (want to) be, to make sense of their experiences, and to raise their voices in a world that often primarily values measurable performance.
As a teacher of art in vocational secondary education (VMBO), I see the consequences of this performance-driven system unfold year after year. Students arrive carrying a backpack full of insecurities often shaped by the pressures they have already experienced in primary school. More and more, I find myself asking: What is the true purpose of our education system?
From my own classroom practice, I began to zoom in: how can I give both myself and my students more space to appear, to slow down, to reflect? How can I create moments that go beyond outcomes, where students can experiment with who they are, and who they might become? And how can I offer something meaningful back to an educational culture where the pressure to perform often overshadows the process of becoming
My central research question is: how can we make the value of the art class as a rehearsal space visible within an education system strongly focused on testing and measurement?
This research is an invitation to fellow educators, school leaders, and all those who believe that within the “useless” moments of art lies something deeply necessary: the space to rehearse, to reflect, to appear.
Let’s practice. Together.
Thesis: