Review Reports - Educational Potential of Artistic Mediation with Children at Risk of Exclusion Through Teachers’ Narratives

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The contents of the article appear to be valuable, however, there are the following remarks. First of all, the purpose cannot be the analysis but exploring, deepening etc., especially when the narrative is considered. The formulation of such a purpose indicates the didactics aspect not the scientific research one. What is more, I suggest exlaining wider the aspects of unerstanding the "artistic meditation as a tool of transformation in teaching practice" refering to the literature indicatin also the aspect of the social intervention. The value of the research could increase if the argumentation would cover the specific of narrative and be reflected in the scientific narrative methodology that is almost invisible in the references. The narrative data emerging from surveys and semi - structured interviews could be more highlightened and quated. The quantative tools were mostly aplied, the narrative could be seen from even hermeneutic perspective, as well; what can be expected while drawing attention to the thematic issue.

All in all, the research area needs some elavation.

Author Response

Thank you very much for all your comments, which have made it possible to improve the article.

It has been added that it is an exploratory study.We are aware that the analysis, both quantitative and interpretive, could have been more extensive, but taking into account that this is an exploratory pilot study with a limited sample, we consider the analysis performed to be sufficient. we appreciate the suggestion for future larger studies.

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

a well-designed research needed in the contemporary classroom to support curricular flexibility and pedagogical adaptability for a changing student population.

Author Response

Thank you very much for all your comments, which have made it possible to improve the article.It has been added that it is an exploratory study.

The research was not designed to be developed in the classroom but as a tool for socio-educational intervention with minors at risk of social exclusion. in addition, the selected sample was voluntary and with informed consent, that is, the manuscript describes a study based on the narratives of 20 preschool and elementary school teachers, a convenience sample dedicated to investigating the potential of artistic mediation with children from vulnerable groups.

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript describes a study conducted based on the narratives of 20 pre-school and primary school teachers, a convenience sample dedicated to investigating the potential of artistic mediation with children from vulnerable groups. The author describes two data collection methods used with this population: a survey — which was subjected to quantitative analysis — and semi-structured interviews — from which a qualitative analysis was derived. The study is grounded in recent and representative literature and, by giving voice to experienced teachers in the field, offers valuable contributions to the implementation of artistic mediation a a tool for inclusion.

Overall, the article is well structured, with all theoretical choices clearly justified, and the literature review constructed as a complete overview of research on artistic mediation as a strategy for social intervention. Regarding the methodological choices, however, revisions are needed in the following aspects:

The manuscript should state and justify the study design (for example, exploratory, case study, or other), noting that if it is a case study—focusing on a specific geographical area and practice — concerns about generalisability will be limited.
In section 2. Materials and Methods – 2.2. Sampling and recruitment, the researcher should indicate the initial number of respondents and the number included in each analysis, as well as the number and reasons for attrition during follow-up (loss to follow-up, voluntary withdrawal, exclusion based on criteria). It should also be specified how attrition was handled in the analyses (intention-to-treat analysis, per-protocol analysis, data imputation, censoring in survival analyses). Reporting these elements enables the reader to assess potential selection and attrition biases and the robustness of the conclusions.
1. In the same section, 2.3. Data collection, the author must clarify what is meant by "item 33 on teaching and learning processes" as this is not found anywhere in the 2018 TALIS report.
2. Also in the same section, in item 2.4. Data analysis, the author should expand the text by providing information that allows the evaluation of the internal validity of the data analysis:
  1. Procedures used to handle missing data (if applicable);
  2. Treatment of the Likert scale: ordinal or interval;
  3. Statistical tests employed;
  4. Significance criteria;
  5. Expansion of qualitative coding procedures: what type of analysis was used? How were the categories of analysis defined? Indicate whether validation with external coders was conducted (how many, and whether discrepancies emerged);
  6. Software used;
  7. As this is a mixed-methods investigation, an explanation of the data triangulation procedures is expected. The manuscript indicates that the survey was used to address the first two research questions, while interviews with teachers were used to address the third;
  8. I also suggest the inclusion of a table aligning the quantitative and qualitative results. This would provide visual support for the presentation of the results in Section 3.
In section 3, regarding the text dedicated to the results of the third objective of the study (lines 267–319), it is positive that interview excerpts are presented; however, each of the 12 topics should be explained and developed further.
In section 4, the author states that there is a need to further investigate "artistic mediation as a tool that supports teachers' reflection on their own practice, particularly in areas such as critical thinking, emotional management and formative assessment. Exploring how art can act as a mediator in teacher training and self-assessment would open new avenues to understand its impact on the professional culture of teaching" (lines 402-406). However, studies of this nature already exist. I suggest rewriting this sentence to indicate that this topic requires further investigation within the specific context examined in the present study.
Review the bibliographic references:
1. Some references lack complete web addresses;
2. Some references are presented with titles translated into Spanish although the original works do not have an official Spanish translation. Only publications with officially available translations should be cited using translated titles.
3. Reference 19 is not cited in the text.

Author Response

Thank you very much for all your comments, which have made it possible to improve the article.It has been added that it is an exploratory study.

Regarding section 2. Materials and Methods – 2.2. Sampling and recruitment the initial number of participants matches the final sample, there was no dropout.
In data collection 2.3, we refer to the questionnaire for teachers and principals, specifically the primary school teacher questionnaire, which is available at the following link: (https://www.educacionfpydeportes.gob.es/inee/evaluaciones-internacionales/talis/talis-2018.html).
The statistical tests used for the quantitative analysis were conducted through the statistical program spss, version 28, from which the frequencies of the survey items were extracted. regarding the qualitative analysis, a content matrix was designed, organized into categories established after a prior general reading.
In the significance criteria, inferential statistics do not apply.
In response to the expansion of qualitative coding procedures, the categories are established through the triangulation of the involved researchers.
The software used was SPSS for quantitative analysis, and office software for recording and coding.
Regarding the explanation of data triangulation procedures, the information obtained through the two mixed methods is different.
With regard to the inclusion of a table that aligns results, it is difficult to incorporate the frequency analysis carried out using the content matrix, as the information analyzed is different.
In the bibliography section, the corrections that were indicated have been made.Quotations originally published in foreign languages have been left untranslated into Spanish.

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Although the manuscript has improved, it still requires several minor revisions:

In section 2. Materials and Methods – 2.3. Data collection, the sentence "item 33 on teaching and learning processes" is incomplete, since it is not found anywhere in the 2018 TALIS report. I suggest completing it: “and an open semi-structured interview, incorporating topics from item 33 on teaching and learning processes, from the OECD’s TALIS 2018 teacher questionnaire (OECD, 2018)”. That file is available in the following URL: https://webfs.oecd.org/talis/ESP_Spain_TALIS_2018_questionnaires.zip and should be added to the references list.
In section 4, the manuscript states that there is a need to further investigate "artistic mediation as a tool that supports teachers' reflection on their own practice, particularly in areas such as critical thinking, emotional management and formative assessment. Exploring how art can act as a mediator in teacher training and self-assessment would open new avenues to understand its impact on professional teaching culture " (lines 402-406). However, studies of this nature already exist. I suggest rewriting this sentence to indicate that this topic requires further investigation within the specific context examined in the present study.
Review the bibliographic references:
- Some references lack complete web addresses (e.g. references 4, 8, 28...);
- Reference 15’s title is translated into Spanish although the original website does not have an official Spanish translation. Also, delete the second occurrence of the duplicated reference.

Author Response

We would like to thank the reviewers for their careful reading of the manuscript and for their constructive comments. All suggestions have been addressed, and the corresponding revisions have been incorporated into the updated version of the manuscript. Our detailed responses are provided below.

1. Response to Comment 1

Thank you for this valuable observation. Regarding the first correction in Section 2. Materials and Methods – 2.3. Data Collection, the phrase “item 33 on teaching and learning processes” has been completed exactly as suggested by the reviewer. The revised text now reads as follows:

To gather information, an interview-based approach was used with the following instruments: a Likert-scale questionnaire adapted from the ABI (Art-based Intervention) Questionnaire [25], designed to measure participants’ opinions, attitudes, and satisfaction through statements rated from “Strongly disagree” to “Strongly agree”; and an open semi-structured interview that incorporated topics from item 33 on teaching and learning processes from the OECD’s TALIS 2018 Teacher Questionnaire (OECD, 2018). The questionnaire file is available at: https://webfs.oecd.org/talis/ESP_Spain_TALIS_2018_questionnaires.zip and has been added to the list of references.

2. Response to Comment 2

Thank you for this helpful suggestion. The sentence in Section 4 has been revised to clarify that the need for further research refers specifically to the context examined in this study. The updated version now reads as follows:

One potential line of future research concerns the role of artistic mediation in supporting teachers’ reflection on their own practice, particularly in areas such as critical thinking, emotional management and formative assessment. Although previous studies have examined how artistic mediation can foster reflective teaching, further investigation is needed within the specific context addressed in this study to deepen understanding of how art may function as a mediator in teacher training and self-evaluation, and to explore its potential influence on professional teaching culture.

3. Response to Comment 3

Thank you for your careful review of the reference list. All the issues you identified have now been addressed. Specifically:

The references that lacked complete web addresses (e.g., references 4, 8, 28) have been updated to include their full URLs.
Reference 15 has been corrected by restoring the original English title, as the source does not provide an official Spanish translation.
The duplicated entry of reference 15 has been removed.

These revisions have been incorporated into the updated version of the manuscript.