Reframing Pedagogical Practices Through the UTBO ‐ CLIL Framework in Art and Design Higher Education

Abstract This study investigates how university instructors enact CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) pedagogy within art and design courses, emphasising the interaction between creative practice and linguistic scaffolding. Drawing on the University Teaching Behaviour Observation for CLIL (UTBO‐CLIL) framework, data were collected from virtual classroom observations, semi‐structured interviews and 6 weeks of reflective journals from instructors and students. The analysis identified three dominant behaviour patterns: directive, facilitative and managerial, revealing tensions between fostering creativity and maintaining linguistic precision. While directive instruction predominated during complex design tasks, instructors demonstrated emerging awareness of multimodal and constructivist strategies to enhance learner autonomy. The findings extend the UTBO‐CLIL framework to creative disciplines and contribute to the theoretical understanding of multimodal pedagogy in bilingual higher education.