Grant: Comenius Teaching Fellowship
Project name: Is less perfect just perfect? Coping with perfectionist ideals in arts education
Researcher: Dr. Katharina Bauer / dr. Maren Wehrle
Project timeline: 2021-2022
Today many students experience an increasing performance pressure related to perfectionist ideals in high-achieving populations. This leads to mental health problems like burnout, depression, performance anxiety and to the use of smart drugs. Perfectionism is also deeply rooted in the DNA of performing arts education. Excessive training, exaggerated self-ideals, and a sacrifice of social relationships can generate serious risks for physical and mental health, wellbeing and personal flourishing. These risks are addressed by individual support and student wellbeing programs. Our project offers an innovative supplement to such programs using philosophical strategies to tackle the problems of perfectionism at their roots on an individual and structural level. We will stimulate a critical debate about perfectionism at the Rotterdam Arts and Sciences Lab (RASL) a collaboration between Erasmus University Rotterdam, Codarts University for Performing Arts and Willem de Kooning Academy Hogeschool Rotterdam.
RASL offers a Double Degree program in arts and sciences that confronts students with different and potentially conflicting ideals of perfectionism. Based on their experiences, we will generate innovative impulses for the involved study programs. With methods of Socratic discussions and philosophical empowerment we will 1. foster critical (self-)reflection about the ideal arts-/science-student, 2. stimulate the development of more holistic ideals, including ethical ideals of individual and social flourishing, 3. develop concrete suggestions for facing the problem of perfectionism in education. Based on generating a deeper understanding of risks of perfectionism this project will help to refine an educational environment that supports the resilience, resistance and well-being of our students.