Arts-Based Pedagogy as a Pathway to Developing Students’ Digital Competences in Higher Education: Conceptual Foundations, Historical Roots, and Integrative Potential

Background. The rapid expansion of digital learning environments requires universities to develop students’ digital competences in a way that goes beyond technical skills and includes creativity, critical meaning-making, empathy, and ethical responsibility. Art pedagogy, an interdisciplinary field that uses artistic means to achieve educational, developmental, and corrective goals, is a promising but still under-theorised resource for this task. Purpose. This article examines the conceptual foundations of art pedagogy and substantiates its potential for developing the digital competences of university students. Methods. A conceptual-analytical design was applied, combining historical-comparative analysis, content analysis of scholarly sources, and theoretical synthesis. Findings. The analysis shows that (1) the roots of art pedagogy lie in the civic and educational functions of art in classical antiquity; (2) art pedagogy became an independent scientific-practical field as the therapeutic and pedagogical functions of art therapy diverged; (3) film art, as a multimodal medium, unites visual-emotional impact, narrative understanding, aesthetic competence, and technological expression, which correspond to the content-creation, communication, and meaning-making dimensions of digital competence; and (4) implementation depends on the educator’s own art-pedagogical competence, including emotional intelligence, improvisation, and the capacity for empathic dialogue. Implications. The study offers a conceptual basis for integrating art-pedagogical tools into digital-competence curricula and teacher-education programmes. Empirical validation of the proposed model is a priority for future research..