Reflections

As I reflect on my research work, reading and blog responses, I have received a few responses that helped me narrow down my research. Being concerned with the children that are not interested in “making-art,” I wanted to know how art educators can reach these students.  After an discussion post, Marie asked, “Do you think that changing teacher’s approach to art education and interaction with their student might help art appreciation later on?” Interaction with children in the formative years is a perfect time to begin the dialogue of visual language. How am I currently speaking to my preschool students? Are my comments encouraging or merely complimentary?  I needed to do action research in order to improve my practice.

I learned that my writing skills are weak and I have to focus my mind. The more I read, the more ideas I glean and in turn, the more possibilities I see.  I didn't mind reading and responding to articles, but I felt pressure to seek out citations in my responses in order to validate my understanding or knowledge.

 Further investigation in early childhood development is my next step. In order to acknowledge literacy development in children, I must understand what literacy means.  To validate my practice (art education in young children), I need to research studies in cognitive development through the arts.

What is the most important single piece of knowledge gained? In order for my work with children to have a lasting effect for future teachers or parents, I need to conduct action research and validation through study and observation.  It’s not enough to say “children are becoming successful life long learners because they were involved with an arts-based preschool curriculum.” I must prove it.  I must research “how” this is done so others can have the option of using methods of teaching that I found successful.

What will I remember in a year?  I will remember that properly citing my research is important to validate and give credit where credit is due.  Citations are also important when I am researching an article for further investigation on a topic or theory. Writing clearly and focused is a skill that I need to develop.  How is this topic been research or written about in the past?  Who would find it important? Why is it relative to the current trends in art education? Where can this “new information” be utilized appropriately? It’s not enough to ask questions. I have to ask the appropriate questions to fully answer my research question.  Can I translate these questions into areas of research that relates to collecting data? There are so many questions and so little time to research the ever changing world of education.

All the classes I have taken these past two years have added in my ability to solve problems, think, reason and research.  There are multiple paths to discovery. My intention and motivation and purpose of the “big idea” is key to research.

I can’t say that I have changed my beliefs or values through this class. Although, I now believe that performing research for interpretation and analysis in written form is not my strength or interest. I felt confused and irritated with the language that writers used to describe their research and methodologies.  If art education research is to “inform” practitioners and colleagues, shouldn’t it be in the language of the reader?

 This class helped me narrow my research topic. The pilot project was the most effective way, I found, to confirm or negate my hypothesis. It was practical way to try out my idea of talking with a child. I discovered many things. For one, the student became more animated in her language, more creative and prolific in her painting.  Giving Abby my attention and “ear” inspired her to experiment with paints, think about her drawing and feel confident with her words.  Other children also became curious and wanted my ear. The next day Abby continued to show and talk about her finished artwork to other adults.  I now understand that a small idea contains many factors; I must break down the question, investigate the previous knowledge and practices, analyze and interpret the data, be fluid, be ethical and validate my facts.

I feel excited to talk about my project.  Others are curious with what I am consumed with and want to know more, which in turn helps me fine tune my approach. I am feeling more confident with the idea, but not in my writing.

The methodology I will use for the capstone project will be action research as art and art as research.  The Jeffers (1993) article confirms this.  During my independent study I will gather the data, and create an exhibit of voices and artwork.  This exhibit is the art with voices that I am researching (Jeffers, 1993).  The development of conversations with children and their art and its relationship to literacy serve as research. "To perform research is to carry out a critical intent as presented to an audience of peers and/or the public who share an interest in the research problem" (Rolling, 2010, p. 107).

The final exhibition of this research will function as an audio-visual that “might promote dialogue among teachers” and parents (p. 12), be informative and inspiring.

 I don’t feel I devoted enough time to participation on the discussion boards. It was a stretch of my time and mind to read and respond to the readings as well as the blogs.  As a class, we are all off conducting our own research. I didn’t feel I grew in the research process through the class discussions.  It may have helped me understand a few articles.  After digesting and responding to the readings I felt inadequate to actively participate in the discussions. I felt pressured to reply.  I gained more insight and inspiration through my colleagues at work.

I didn’t think about empirical research and hermeneutics prior to this class. I have always investigated and learned by reading, participating (doing), and discussing ideas. I now see that philosophy guides research. How do we proceed to research? What methods and methodology do I use?  What is truthful or meaningful, interpretation of data? There are many specific factors to consider in gathering and analyzing data for a particular “audience.”  At times I didn’t know were to begin.  What information is relevant to the research? Sometimes we don’t know until we begin.

Jeffers, C.(1993). Research as art and art as research: A living relationship. Art Education, 46(5), 12-17.

Moen, T. (2006). Reflections on the narrative research approach. International Journal of Qualitative

     Methodology, 5(4), 1-11.

Rolling, J.H.(2010). A Paradigm analysis of arts-based research and implications for education. Studies in Art Education, 

     53(2), 102-114.

Transcribing data

My research will be action orientated within my preschool classroom. With the findings and data I intend to gather, I would make changes to my practice and inform other teachers and child care givers of the importance in regard to art and fostering literacy in young children. As an adult listens, makes thoughtful inquiries and talks with children about their artwork the child is learning to verbally communicate through their artistic expressions. The technique I will use to collect data will be observation and transcribing dialogue of children as they respond to art with teacher lead cues. 

Non verbal communication will also be noticed and documented along with my own responses. Bakhtin’s concept of human nature is based on dialogue. We are the conversations that we have externally and internally. We understand human thought by exposing the conversations and psychology of the mind. “Our conversations do not occur in a vacuum “(Moen, 2006, p.58). After doing the pilot study, I can see that the conversations with children are multilayer-ed.  It is wise to digitally record the conversations in order to capture all the sounds and nuances of the dialogue. Through the pilot study I became aware of the time it takes to listen and trasnscribe a five miniute conversation. Making choices on what to include and what to leave out according to what I want to prove is difficult. 

“Looking through one lens cannot be isolated from the act of looking through another” (McCormack, 2001, p.314).  The McCormack article From Interview Transcript to Interpretive Story: Part 2- Developing an Interpretive Story, gives a view of approaches toward a research narrative that can be interpreted with multiple lenses.

Writing a narrative from a transcript should include the multiple lens of the narrative process which includes his/her use of the spoken language, the context of the participant, and the moments or situations that reflects an emotion or attitude. By analyzing specific codes of the conversation, we can build a clear, rich and more accurate voice of the participant.  There are meanings that can be conveyed in a conversation in respect to the context that brought the participant to the study, the manner or hesitancy in the voice or the silence in response to questioning. As a researcher I am interested in the phenomenon of children fostering their literacy through art and the structure in which it takes place. I also have to be cognizant of the individual child’s manner and developmental stages.  Most preschool children are open and are naturally inquisitive and will respond in inquiry.  Yet there are children that are very shy, and one wrong question from the teacher can send them away without a word. Trial and error is also valuable information.Are the children merely responding to me because I am their teacher?  I realize that when I encourage the activity of paint a picture, the children may use my idea to begin, but, soon thereafter a child my switches gears and begin to create from their own imaginings. This shows how the child constructs knowledge. 

Action research is the methodology I will use for further investigation. The research is fluid, transdisiplinary and heuristic as I focus my attention to children's literacy.

 

Moen, T. (2006). Reflections on the narrative research approach. International Journal of Qualitative

     Methodology, 5(4), 1-11.

May, W. (1993). “Teachers-as-researchers" or action research: What is it, and what good is it for art

     education? Studies in Art Education, 34(2), 114-126.

McCormack, C. (2001). From interview transcript to interpretive story: Part 2— Developing an

      interpretive story. Field Methods, 12(4), 298-315.

Smith Koroscik, J., & Kowalchuk, E. (1997). Reading and interpreting research journal

       articles. In S. D. L. Pierre & E. Zimmerman (Eds.), Research methods and

       methodologies for art education (pp. 75-102). Reston, VA: National Art Education

       Association.

Map of study

I'm not sure that the mind mapping helps me. A non-linear approach to a final cohesive study can through me off in tangents. I may revise it to be more funneled.

The "I's" of children: study of communication with art.

 Proposed (working title): The “I’s” of children and their art: communication dynamics of art in early childhood learning. Looking at art with children gives them an opportunity to interact, identify, investigate and imagine.

·        Does this foster social and verbal communication skills and language development in a classroom setting with peers and adults?

I intend to engage in the individual students’ learning experiences through practitioner research of qualitative case study and field testing. It will most likely be a narrative approach.

I will observe children and their communication about art. Will they develop self-confidence, acceptance of diverse viewpoints, observation skills and extended language?

I will guide children with non-judgmental questions and transcribe their dialogue as well as non-verbal communication.

 I will analyze how children interact with peers through dialogue about their art and the artwork of others.

I intend to have written permission from each parent on the disclosure of information, transcripts and findings as they come available.

Data on curriculum and instructional methods will be documented.

Eglinton, K. A. (2008). Using participatory visual ethnography to explore young people’s use of visual material culture in place and space. In R. Hickman, (Ed.). Research in art and design education (pp. 51-66). Chicago: Intellect Books.

 

Hickman,R. Kiss,L (2010). Cross-Curricular Gallery Learning: a phenomenological case study. International Journal of Art & Design Education, 29 (1), p.27-36.

Art Appreciation in young children

My research is narrowed down to inform educators of young children about the use of artwork in developing literacy, communication, investigation and appreciation.

Question: How do educators lead children to investigate art in an actively engaging manner?

How do children benefit from talking about art?

Do children have an opportunity to talk, reflect, and discuss their artwork and the works of others?

Can discussion about artwork foster verbal communication, art appreciation, diversity and respect?

By using non-judgmental comments to initiate a discussion about art, the teacher is modeling conversation and description languages. Teachers can initiate and lead children into artworks to begin dialogue (Tollifson, 2011). Children can begin to understand and respect the various points of views that can be read from a picture.

Encouraging children to ask questions about art provides opportunities for them to pursue answers. Visual investigation skills will be developed.  Through open-ended art projects children have an opportunity to talk about and describe their art to their peers and to adults. This builds confidence and value in their artwork and the respect for other artwork (Mulchey, 2009).

References:

Carpenter, F.(1918). Stories pictures tell, Book Two. New York: Rand McNally & Co. Available on Project Gutenberg at http://bit.ly/fChx3Q

Fowler, Judith N.(2002). Through the eyes of a novice Viewer: Learning about art in the museum. Art Education, 55(1), 33-39.

Kreiner, L.E. (1993). Toward a definition of art. Art Education, 46 (3) Critical reflecting. pp.7-11.

Mulchey, C. (2009). The story in the Pictures: Inquiry and artmaking with young children. New York, NY. Teachers College Press.

Stankiewicz, M.A. (1985) A picture age: Reproductions in picture study. Studies in Art Education, 26(2) 86-92.

Swan, A., The role of media and emerging representation in early childhood.

Art Education,Vol. 58, No. 4 (Jul., 2005), pp. 41-47.

Tollifson, J. (2011). Enhancing students’ responses to art through qualitative language.

Art Education, 64 (6), 11-19.

Art Appreciation

There is concern that sustainability of a once vibrant art league is at risk due to the fact that the study of visual arts are marginalized in the current culture. With the marginalization comes a loss of aesthetic learning and desire for critical observation, dialogue and commentary of the visual culture.

What can be done by arts agencies to foster collaboration of art practitioners, educators, advocates and patrons to influence and shape parental and public opinion about art education? I do not know the history of “art education” in a specific community and how the arts entered into the community at large.

 I would like to learn how to sustain a local social arts community in a contemporary society of mass media culture and high speed global communication.

How has collaboration between teachers, researchers and other art agencies promoted the “arts” agenda in the community? Has this collaboration affected arts education theory and practice?

My goal is to highlight the art education practices that marginalize the “non-art making” studies of art appreciation.  Is art education teaching students to “appreciate visual arts?” Is there a place for art appreciation in an alternate learning situation? If art educational practices do not influence individuals to  support, maintain, patronize, purchase and value the arts, will studies in the visual art  and art museums be marginalized?

Who are the largest segment of art patrons and how are our current art educational curriculum addressing their interests? 

Can the art class or an alternative “art influences” class be offered to students who are less inclined to “create or make” art?

Welcome to ARE 6746 Blog

Hello, ARE 6746 students.

We moved the blog outside of Sakai based on your feedback. Remember that the main information about your blog post assignments (you can read it here) still apply. The purpose of this post is to highlight some features about this new blog.

1. Make sure you are signed in to the blog using the email address that you gave to Leslie. She manually added each of you as authors to the blog. When you go to http://are6746.blogspot.com, click "Sign in" in the top right hand corner. If your email address appears in the top right hand corner, you are already signed in.
2. To create a new post, choose "New Post" in the top right hand corner. Give your blog the proper title according to the assignment paper that I linked to above.
3. Write your post.
4. Embed images and video when necessary: Click on the image icon in the toolbar above
   

which will generate a window that looks like this
If the image you would like to add is on your computer, choose "browse" and find the image on your computer. Then choose "Open." If the image you would like to add is on the web, copy and paste the web address into the box beside "URL." Then choose the orange box at the bottom of the screen that says "upload image."

Your image will appear in your blog post. Often the image will be inserted at the very top of the post. You can move the image wherever you want by clicking and dragging or by cutting the image and pasting it into a new location.

In order to upload a video from your computer to your post, you chose the video icon (just to the right of the image icon), which will generate the following window:


Click "browse" and find the video on your computer. Type in the video title and check the box to the left of "I agree to the Upload Terms and Conditions." When you click "Upload Video," your video will be inserted into your post.

If you'd like to embed a video that is online at a site such as youtube, you can follow the directions here. An embedded video will look like this:




5. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! When you are finished with the text and images in your post, you must add 2 labels to your post. One label must be your first name (see the labels listed at the bottom of this post to see the label I've created for your name). The other label should be the assignment (e.g., Research Reflection Week 2, Research Reflection Week 3, etc.). If you are posting but it is not in response to a specific assignment, just label it with your name. This will allow for easy sorting both by person and by assignment.

You can see where the labels go on the right side underneath the editor. When you have added your labels, click "Publish Post" (big orange button on left under editor).

I hope this helps us get off to a good start.