Lesson 2

I would like my research project to focus on the methods that the professional world incorporates the arts. More specifically, I would like to see the relationship between the amount of art involvement that a company or career uses and their attitude toward art education within the schools. It is my hypothesis that more positive attitudes and desired emphasis on the arts would be supported by those that have encountered community art resources within their career. In addition, it would be beneficial for art students to develop a better grasp on the wide variety of art opportunities within their community, especially those careers often not in the spotlight. The community is a major focus for the future of art education; a better understanding of the community’s view of art is needed for measuring improvements and identifying new focal points for the next strategic plan.

Lesson 3:

My research is about how test scores are improved with students that are enrolled in the arts. The research is varied and there are definitely two sides which are prevalent – those in favor of the arts curriculum and the positive effect on students academically and those who feel that the arts are “frivolous” and take away from the “real academics.” This step of the research is not easy in any case, because even though I want to prove my personal case that what I teach impacts students in more ways than just self-expression and being the “fun” class, the class has meaning and we have a significant impact on the student than what some might say (or wish to recognize). With researching all the parts of this idea I find myself placing things in categories like: no child left behind, right brain and left brain studies in the arts, motivation with students, achievement of students who are in an art curriculum, etc. With most of these that I have listed, they support the arts and show how it improves the students as a whole and that there is definitely a positive effect on test scores as well as in the motivating of the students. Once I break down the categories that provide the best support of my subject, it should be less complicated in arranging these studies into a cohesive and presentable statement and supporting material.

Rabkin, N. (2002). Connections between education in the arts and student achievement . Perspectives on Relevant Research , 13(3), 38-44. doi: Supporting a Creative America

Israel , D. (2009). Stay in school. Arts Education and New York City High School Graduation Rates , 01-26. Retrieved from www.caenyc.org/Staying-in-School/Arts-and-Graduation-Report

Dana. (2008). Learning, arts, and the brain. The Dana Consortium Report of Arts and Cognition, 01-129. Retrieved from www.dana.org

Beveridge, T., & , (2010). No child left behind and fine arts classes . Lower Columbia College, Longview, Washington, USA, 111, 4-7.

Lesson 4:

My research will focus on how the arts affect the students entire academic profile with respect to looking at grades, attendance, motivation and the classes they are taking in middle school. I will be surveying the students and parents, interviewing students and other elective teachers in the arts at my school and looking at this information to come up with my research. In reading different journals, viewing web sites about the arts and other research projects, I find that these authors are all doing about the same thing in the collection of their data. The two items I’m presenting in this are doing just that.

I think that doing my research in this manner will really get the student’s voice as well into the research and can help show administrators, parents, teachers, and maybe even district or state wide authorities that students are seeing an impact in other classes and it is not just the elective teachers that are supporting their subjects and showing student motivation in school. With having my research interviewing students, parents, and teachers and even though it’s a small study, isolating it to one school (the school I’m teaching at),which is a Middle School and only dealing with these students, it will at least show my administration and other teachers and parents that our classes are not just fun or “dumping ground classes.” It will show that we, those teachers within the art curriculum, have an impact on students and our subjects strengthen skills and help motivate the students to come to school, want to keep grades up, help with self-esteem, reading, writing, and so much more.

Sandra , R. (2006). Critical Evidence . How the ARTS Benefit Student Achievement, 01-20. Retrieved from www.aep-arts.org

Oldfather, P. (1992). When students do not feel motivated for literacy learning . How a Responsive Classroom Culture Helps, 1-18.

Waldrep Summary and Reflection: Previous Research

In the research I have completed so far, I came a across the book Art-based Research by Shaun McNiff (1998). This book has been a great introduction to the concepts of art-based research and the possibilities it holds. In the book, McNiff describes his goal as attempting to give arts-based research a level of prominence equal to that of scientific research methods. He defines art-based research as, “a method of inquiry which uses the elements of the creative arts... including the making of art by the researcher, as ways of understanding the significance of what we do within our practice” (p.13). By creating and accepting these new ways of learning, new knowledge will have equally been produced. McNiff details that the, “greatest challenge presented by art-based research is the boundless possibilities” (p.15). Where scientific research can be approached with a sequence of standard procedures, art-based research has no set design and can be approached in many ways. So while there is no step-by-step guide on how to work through art-based research, McNiff details several different examples that illustrate how this method has been utilized by actual researchers. This book will be instrumental in my understanding and application of this research method.

McNiff also authored an article in the text Handbook of the Arts in Qualitative Research: Perspectives, Methodologies, Examples, and Issues by J. G. Knowles and A. L. Cole (2008). McNiff provides this quote from Pablo Picasso in his text, “I never made a painting as a work of art, it’s all research” (p. 29). This quote perfectly illustrates the cognitive characteristics that are inherent in creative production. There is a unique type of learning that is formed by such activities which should be harnessed by the intellectual research community.

Knowles, J. G., & Cole, A. L. (2008). Handbook of the Arts in Qualitative Research: Perspectives, Methodologies, Examples, and Issues. Thousand Oaks, California. Sage Publications, Inc.

McNiff, S. (1998). Art-based Research. London: Jessica Kingsley Publisher.

Moving Along...

In talking with Leslie this week, I have had the opportunity to re-evaluate the actual phrasing of my research topic.

I've been struggling with the term "distraction" within the creative process, due to the varying directions it can lead, and have come up with this:

"How do artists describe their ideal work environment for making art?"

Additional questions that arise from that:

What hinders the process?

What helps the process?

How do things support productivity?

How do my students describe their ideal work environment?

I think this direction could really benefit the education/curriculum connection, as educators could essentially set up the ideal creating environment for their students.

"A mood, nevertheless, does take possession of the artist either by willful indulgence to bring one about, in which the artist is not always successful, or in finding himself subject to some stimulus or series of stimuli which will bring into play associative memories and impressions that have long lain dormant in the unconscious faculty."

Portnoy, J. (1950). A psychological theory of artistic creation. College Art Journal, 10(1), 23-29.

"Analysis of the art system must inevitably be carried on in terms of the studio as the unique space of production and the museum as the unique space of exposition."

Buren, D. & Repensek, T. (1979). The function of the studio. October, 10, 51-58.

"There have been several researchers in education who suggest that the skills for sensory intensification are identifiable and, given the proper environment, increased awareness in individuals is possible."

Frost, J. & Rowland, G.T. (1969). Curricula for the Seventies: Early Childhood Through Early Adolesence. Childhood Education, September-October, 11.

Litmus Test

After talking with Leslie, I understand now that I am in my gathering, collecting, packing mode for implementing my pilot study for the presentation. I am focusing on gathering the right tools; tools that are relevant to me. Right now I have possibly narrowed the broad theme for engaging students with relevant themes for making connections and inducing creative, entrepreneurial thinking for the 21^st century. I am going to visually diagram my four questions and use the Litmus test for surfacing my final research question. 

Gnezda, N. (2011).  Cognition and emotions in the creative process. Art Education, 64(1), 47-51.

Gude, O., (2004). Postmodern principles: in search of a 21^st century art education, Art Education, 57(1), pp. 6-14.

Douglas, K., and Jaquith, D. (2009). Engaging learners through artmaking. New York, NY: Teachers College Press

Pink, D., (2005). A whole new mind. New York, NY: Penguin Group

Tharp, T. (2003). The creative habit. New York, NY: Simon and Shuster

James, P. (1997). Learning artistic creativity: a case study. Studies in Art Education, 39(1), pp. 74-88

Summarize and Reflect on Previous Research

I discussed my research interests with Leslie tonight and feel a little better. I had broad topics of interest, but I was having difficulty narrowing things down and deciding on what I wanted to learn about my topics. Design and the education of design is a strong passion for me, so we focused more on that topic, particularly the use of the technology and tools as a crutch. However, I am not in a school setting now, so there could be some difficulty in applying my practical questions in a realistic setting. However, after thinking about it some more, I think I might be able to compose questions that include both school and extracurricular settings.

Some of my questions include:
Is graphic design specifically taught in the classroom?
How is graphic design addressed within the classroom? Is it a separate subject within art or is it incorporated into the curriculum?
Does teaching design include concepts and theories or does it only address the tools of the trade such as Adobe Photoshop?
How are people exposed to design concepts in settings outside of the classroom? How do the principles and theories of design affect daily life beyond the realm of the use of the associated tools?
When examining and critiquing design in or out of the classroom, is the tool/software used to create the design relevant? Or is the design the only thing that matters?

Art in Libraries

Well, my research is going to focus on art programs offered in library settings. There's not much written on the subject. So most of my references will be geared towards community-based art education as well as library service articles.

Here's a video I found about what the San Diego Library does as an after school program.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn0Rdg7nKG0

Also, I found one article about two artists who used to volunteer in an elementary school and teach art classes, but the school decided to spend that time getting ready for testing. They turned to the public library to fill the gap. http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/archives/3498

This last article is of the Museum of Florida Art who offer art classes in conjunction with their exhibit through libraries in Volusia County (near Daytona). http://daytonasun.com/Articles/Community/Local-Museum-Offers-Children-s-Art-Program-At-Libraries.html

These arethe kinds of things I want to see and discover and research about. Who are giving the classes? What are their art background? How is the participation?

Visual Culture and Identity

At this point I have narrowed down my research question to How does visual cultural influence student's perceptions of identity? I am interested in the role visual culture plays in the formation of how students perceive themselves. Ultimately I'd love to observe, or implement, a course where students deconstruct imagery and use critical thinking skills to uncover hidden messages, ideologies, agendas, etc. Currently my concern lies with the observational process. I am not a teacher, so therefore I have no classroom to observe. I'm hoping it's not terribly difficult to find someone teaching visual culture in my area.

Baker-Sperry, L. & Grauerholz, L. (2003). The pervasiveness and persistence to the feminine beauty ideal in children’s fairy tales. Gender & Society, 15(5), 711-726.

Chung, S.K. (2005). Media/visual literacy art education:Cigarette ad deconstruction. Art Education 58(3), 19-24.

Chung, S.K. (2007). Media/visual literacy art education: Sexism in hip-hop music videos. Art Education 60(3), 33-38.

Chung, S.K. and Kirby, M. S. (2009). Media literacy art education: Logos, culture jamming and activism. Art Education 62(1), 34-39.

Currie, D. (1997). Decoding femininity: Advertisements and their teenage readers. Gender & Society, 11, 453-77.

Duncum, P. (2010). Seven principles for visual culture education. Art Education, 63(1), 6-10.

Garber, E. (1992). Feminism, aesthetics and art education. Studies in Art Education, 33(4), 210-225.

Keifer-Boyd, K., Ambury, P. and Knight W. B. (2003). Three approaches to teaching visual culture in k-12 school contexts. Art Education 56(2), 44-51.

Klein, S. (1993). Breaking the mold with humor: Images of women in the visual media. Art Education, 46(5), 60-65.

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.

Research Map

As you can see I had to erase everything I had written on my research map. The only thing I'm certain of is that it will change again. I am taking baby steps to understanding this whole process.

My first steps on this map are focusing on how the development of an art council in a rural town could support a community revitalization by listing some sub-questions that will be also used as interview questions.

There isn't a lot of research in this area, so if you run across anything, let me know!

Research Reflection Week 3

During Fall A semester, I elected to take an independent study course in an area of interest stemming from an article I read during the History of Art Education course. The article talks about the different styles of art teachers (Hickman, 2001). In my experiences, I can usually tell what school/teacher a student’s piece of artwork comes from by the style of the piece. This has always interested me so I formed the question how does art teaching styles affect student artwork? I surveyed four art teachers, asked them a series of questions and analyzed their artwork. This process was a good exercise to learn the research process.
After speaking with our instructor and with a potential committee member, I have decided to explore the area of art teacher evaluation in Florida. I am working on posing questions. Some of which are: What tools can assist an administrator to evaluate the part of the art teacher evaluations that require classroom observation?


Hickman, Richard. "Art Rooms and Art Teaching." Art Education. 54.1 (2001): 6-11.

RE-Amping my research question

So, after talking to Leslie, her and I figured out that ART THERAPY is too loaded of a word and practice itself to be talking about when I have no experience in it. Instead, I am going to change where ART THERAPY is no longer used in my vocabulary in my research except for when drawing on studies or prior knowledge. I will instead use possibly " art as a way for students to deal with issues and use as a tool of reflection." This is just an idea. I plan on defining my research question more clearly this week. So if you read anything of mine, discount the word "ART THERAPY." It will soon be disappearing from my proposal and maps, etc.

Changing Directions

After consulting with Leslie my path has shifted from trying to research a question as broad as an expressway with massive interchanges that spin off into countless directions, to a nice little boulevard that that will merge into a lane that leads to the desired destination.

Because I changed directions, my research is limited at this time, yet growing as we speak. It’s amazing how a definite research question will set the stage to focused research. The main problem I face now is the lack of research available on my topic. I guess that is a good thing, and just means I have to dig a little harder for results.

Here is my revised research question and a list of possible sub-questions (for both interview and research) that would be included in my study.

What are some potential ways that a community arts council in Homer could support a town revitalization?

Because the arts council in Homer is in the process of being developed my research focuses on a local arts council that played an important role in revitalizing their town.

Sub-questions:

· What tools and resources are needed for a community arts council to support revitalization?

· Who should be involved (and how) in a community arts council?

· What are the goals and objectives of a community arts council if it is to be used to help revitalize a town?

· How does an arts council draw upon the community culture and talents?

The following articles deal with the history and development of successful community arts councils, explore the rationale behind an arts council as well as the tools and resources needed for community revitalization. I also explored studies that examined the role that arts have played in regenerating communities, which would be a basis for creating an arts council.

Kay, A. (2005). Art and community development: the role the arts have in regenerating communities. Community Development Journal, 35(4), 414-424.

Grodach, C. (2010). Art spaces, public space, and the link to community development. Community Development Journal, 45(4), 474-493.

Ewell, M. (2000). Community arts councils: Historical perspective. CultureWork: A Periodic Broadside for the Arts on Culture Workers, 5(1), 1-16.

Cohen, R. (2003). Arts and economic prosperity: The economic impact of nonprofit arts organizations and their audiences. Journal of Arts Management, Law and Society, 33(1), 17-31.

Janice: update week 3

I don' t think there is exact research on the commonalities of social learning theory, new conceptualizaitaons of creativity, and self-efficacy, but maybe there is something I will find my way to. Anyway, I am going to start here:


Bandura, A. (1985). Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

This is a book I have to order, and I hope it is not too hard to read; it might be. It is a psychology textbook that costs millions of dollars, but I'm sure it is at the heart of what I have in mind.

Freedman, K. (2010). Rethinking Creativity: A Definition of Contemporary Practice. Art Education, 63(2), 8-15.

We had this article assigned to us sometime in the "Issues" class, I believe, and it means a lot more to me now. I am more interested now in ideas of "creativity" being beyond self-expression and more like what we might call "innovation"; I found the idea of creativity as "an ability to view unseen possibilities and implement them step-by step" especially surprising. This seems identical to me to Bandura's idea of self-efficacy.

Pajares, F. (1997). Current Directions in Self-Efficacy Research. In M Maehr and P.R.Pintren (Eds.) Advances in Motivation and Achievement. Greenwich, CONN: JAI Press, pp.1-49.

This seems like a resource I have to have; a lot of self-efficacy research has been done with athletics and music education, but not art education. Music education makes sense to me, as it is so performance based, but I am interested in the internal voice, as Moen (2009) puts it--that internal voice that may help or prevent a student from taking their artwork into their own realm.

Pajares, F. (2002). Overview of Social Cognitive Theory and of Self-Efficacy. Retrieved 11/07/11 from https://www.emory.edu/EDUCATION?mpf/eff.html

A primer on social learning theory and self-efficacy--which is different from self-esteem. Self-esteem is how you feel about yourself; self-efficacy is the belief that you can accomplish a specific task. For me, it is this building up of accomplished tasks that leads to change (reciprocal determinism) and ultimately new possibilities for a student's future. I would like to explore how art-making is related to "planning the next few steps" as, at the same time, it also demands one remain flexible to what is actually happening in the work itself. (Is there any way to prove this relationship with "life" itself? Do I need to?)

Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Another million-dollar textbook. Will I even understand it? Vygotsky is the other "creator", if you will, of social learning theory. Social learning theory is the teaching method I want to espouse for the art studio; to inarguably lead the way for classes based on project-learning, collaboration, compassion, communication and critical thinking--all those twenty-first century learning buzzwords. (I happen to go along with them whole-heartedly, by the way.)

Zimmerman, E. (2009). Reconceptualizing the Role of Creativity in Art Education Theory and Practice. Studies in Art Education, 50(4), 382-399.

Zimmerman's work in particular seems to bring together the ideas of social learning theory, creativity, and the needs for twenty-first century learners. Reconceptualizing the role of creativity--and recognizing it as a skill our students will need (whether you define creativity as divergent learning, flexibility, or whatever, or all these things) makes the artroom an equal place in the schoolhouse. The only thing is, I believe, is the teacher must be very good at seeing and teaching these skills ("cognitive complexity, affective intensity, personal vision, engaging and persisting, problem finding/problem solving" through the medium of art. Some of my most personally felt aspects of creativity are self-reflective processes and motivation.


Work in progress: Cridland, Francesca, doctoral dissertation on influence of a visual arts program on self-efficacy and achievement. University of Tasmania, Australia.

Do I have the courage to write to this person and ask for clues? I have an e-mail address!

A map will still follow--I'll have time tomorrow to use my AI at school.

Am I supposed to be writing versions of my question as well? Okay, well, that is for the morning also. Tomorrow is an easier day for me.

Define Qualitative Research

Since English is not my first language, I often have to research extra for vocabulary that I don't use or hear often. When I saw the word "Qualitative" I thought of "quality", but as I was reading the texts, I figured out it was a littl more then just that simple meaning.
I came across this on wikipedia (I know, it's not a reliable source, but still helpful) and really helped me put understand, since it broke it down for me in an easy way.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualitative_research

I hope this can help someone else as well.

Allison: map and thoughts

What is the impact of the creative process on the dyslexic student?

Why this: I see new students come into our school with no confidence. When many of them embrace their creativity, they begin to have new attitudes about themselves and want to succeed.

What am I trying to solve : I want to know if the students see how art changes their lives through their own words.

How am I going to solve this question: 3 part process, including an art project that is connected with a homeroom assignment and interviews of the students participating about how they felt about each process and themselves.

What possible outcomes: Hopefully, through the creative process and the interviews, the student will recognize what art/ the creative process gives to them and their disability.

Important Sources

These are some imporant sources I have ran across so far that have supported my topic and are relevant to it. Some of these are studies that have already been done in the art education/ art therapy field with in schools.

McCulloch-Vislisel, S., Neece, S., Rosal, M.(1997). Keeping students in school: An Art Therapy Program to Benefit Ninth-Grade Students. Art Therapy, 14(1), 30-36.

Roje, J. (1995). LA 94 Earthquake in the eyes of children: Art therapy with elementary school children who were victims of disaster. Art Therapy, 12(4), 237-43.

Malchoiodi, C (2003) Handbook of Art Therapy (pp.281-293). Guilford Press: New York, New York.

St.John, P. A. (1986). Art Education, Therapeutic Art, and Art Therapy: Some Relationships. Art Education, 39(1),14-16.

Efland, A. (1976). The School Art Style: A functional analysis. Studies in Art Education, 17(2).

Kay, L. (2008). Art Education pedagogy and practice with adolescent students at-risk in alternative high schools.Northern Illinois University:Teaching and Learning, 216.

Mifsud, D. E. (2007). Implementing art therapy in a school setting: A case study of adolscents in an alternative program. Ursuline College, 155.

More to come... but these are some resources I have so far.

Revised Questions

Refining Questions
Blog Post by Carolyn
Hill


I spoke with Leslie this weekend and found that my
previous question: “How can art education remain relevant to high school
students in the 21st century?” was too broad. I cannot possibly hope
to answer this question, much less in the time allotted to do so. So Leslie advised me to focus more on my
classroom and narrow my question. I have come up with a new question after
doing some research.

Saturday I read a great article called “Beautiful Brains”
from this October’s issue of National Geographic magazine. In it the author
talked about how teenage brains are evolutionarily programmed to be the way they
are to help them “leave the nest” (Dobbs, 2011). In this article,
Dobbs also reminds us of teen interests in “excitement, novelty, risk and the
company of peers” (Dobbs, 2011). I decided to
incorporate these interests into my question after reading the article.

Question: How are
teenage inclinations toward excitement, novelty and peer influence incorporated
into teaching art to my high school students? (I decided to leave out risk.)

Question Revised:
How are teenage interests incorporated into art instruction at Wayne Country
Day School?

If you have any suggestions, please feel free to make
them. I will post more about this later.


Work Cited:
Dobbs, D. (2011, October). Beautiful brains. National
Geographic , pp. 37-59.

Reflection for Week Three

click on map for larger view


This week finds me narrowing my field of interest. I have chosen to research and investigate:

Transforming Society Through the Arts.

Research questions:

• How do the arts aid in the recovery of struggling communities?
• How do the arts affect the health and well being of a community?
• How do the arts help in bringing societies(communities?) back from the depths of poverty?
• How can peace, unity, and harmony be restored through arts-based community projects?
• How can arts-based community projects remain sustainable in rural and impoverished communities?
• How can the Arts rebuild community?

I appreciate your input on these questions that I am considering! Thanks!!

Resources :

Cleveland, W. (2008). Art and Upheaval. Oakland: New Village Press.

(2008). T. Eca & R. Mason (Eds.), International dialogues about visual culture, education and art (pp. 9-275). Bristol

(2006). L. Elizabeth & S. Young (Eds.),Works of Heart: building village through the arts (pp. 8-139). Oakland: New Village Press.

Kay, A. (2000). Art and Community Development: the role the arts have in regenerating community. Community Development Journal, 35(4), 414-424. doi: 10.1093/cdj/35.4.414

Newman, T., Curtis, K., & Stephens, J. (2003). Do community-based arts projects result in social gains? A review of literature. Community Development Journal, 38(4), 310-322. doi: 10.1093/cdj/bsg005

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