"כמו פרפר שיוצא מהגולם": סטודנטים לאמנות מלמדים בבית המעצר

As a part of its "Art in the Community" program, the Art Institute at an academic college of education initiated a unique course in a detention center, where students taught art to the detainees. Based on the assumption that teaching art to a population of this type is highly challenging, the purpose of the current study was to explore the professional development of the students as a consequence of their participation in the project. Employing the qualitative-phenomenological paradigm in conjunction with the appreciative inquiry approach, we studied the students' perceptions, reactions, and attitudes prior to and during the repeated encounters with the detainees in the unfamiliar prison surroundings. We found that the students experienced a sense of success and expanded the signification of the concept of art education, thereby strengthening their professional identity. They also discovered the power of art teaching to promote the detainees' individual and group expression as well as to assist in their own acquisition of life skills and professional ability. They further attested that their ethical perceptions deepened significantly. The study demonstrates the importance of teaching art outside of the formal education system as a potential tool for the development of art students' skills while strengthening their professional identity and their ethical perceptions.