Prof. deGraft-Yankson Appointed Councillor on InSEA Executive Board

An Associate Professor at the Department of Graphic Design, University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Prof. Patrique deGraft-Yankson, has been chosen as a World Councillor to serve on the Executive Board of the International Society for Education Through Art (InSEA).

Prof. de-Graft-Yankson is one of three selected members to serve as Africa and Middle East (AME) representatives on the InSEA World Council for two years. InSEA has six world “Regions,” namely Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Europe, Latin America, North America and South-East Asia and the Pacific. Each region is represented in the World Council by three elected representatives.

As a Councillor on the InSEA Executive Board, Prof. de-Graft-Yankson is expected to support the board in fulfilling its mandate within the confines of the organisation's rules and constitution, work with the other elected council members in the AME Region to prepare reports for each World Council meeting, attend InSEA Congresses and World Council meetings, and participate in the proceedings.

He is also expected to represent his region and actively promote matters relating to art education in the region, bring relevant information from the region to the World Council, and represent InSEA in his region by attending meetings and advocating for and serving as a goodwill ambassador at regional events.

In an interview with UEW Media Relations, Prof. de-Graft-Yankson urged all art instructors and students, both within and outside Ghana, to join InSEA and take advantage of the wealth of benefits the organisation offers its members.

According to him, being a member would give one access to a global network of artist-educators, free or reduced admission to all InSEA professional development events, full access to all member-only areas of the InSEA website, access to the organisation's international journal (International Journal for Education through Art), opportunities for publication, and professional recognition and awards from InSEA.

Prof. deGraft-Yankson is a professionally trained teacher with a background in arts education. He has been active in the pedagogical enterprise that fundamentally involves identifying and nurturing students’ creative sensibilities at various levels of education in Ghana since 1986.

His interest in the integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at its emerging stages into education in Ghana laid the foundation for his postgraduate studies. It focused mainly on the influence of ICTs in the teaching and learning of art and design in Ghana.

The insights, lessons, and experiences he gained from his early research projects eventually led to the development of a research interest that essentially questions the role of art and design in all their disciplinary manifestations and seeks to contrast the justification for the preference of colonial design principles in contemporary design education in Ghana.

The underlying reasoning for his current interest in traditional symbolism and iconography is therefore backed by a profound deconstructive position that aims at redefining design for visual cultural relevance amid rapid technological advancements. This interest interrogates how design works within the local context and what it will take to redesign the indigenous material world with the well-being of society in mind.  

He has played a marked role in initiating the transformation of graphic design education in his mother institution. He continues to show a great deal of interest in the pedagogical implications of ICTs in the teaching and learning of visual arts and design in Ghana. He has played a significant role in the search for acceptable ICT integration processes into the teaching and learning of art and design at UEW.

InSEA is a non-governmental organisation and official partner of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). Its purpose is to promote and advance education through art, design and crafts in all countries, in addition to nurturing intercultural understanding.

The InSEA membership includes professional and organisational members in more than 80 countries from the following fields of interest: art education, arts, community-based art, environmental art, activist art, arts-based action research, education, inclusive education, cultural education, interdisciplinary, cultural diversity, advocacy for art education, teacher training, museum and gallery education, education for sustainable development, curriculum development, professional development, research in art education and informal education.