There are several specific, technical and process driven things I want to know as I start into the art-making portion of the research project next week. The main thing I want to know is how I can be proficient enough in my skills in screen-printing to be able to teach it to my students. This is evident in my quest for qualitative research that “questions the process by which events and activities and their outcomes occurred” (Maxwell, p.75). When I did my pre-service teaching over three years ago, I was amazed that my cooperating teacher, who had over 30 years experience in teaching art, admitted that she sometimes had to learn something first, so that she could teach it to her students. For some reason, I had it in my head that art educators had to know about every art form right from the get go. In some ways, art educators are jack-of-all-trades. But now I know this isn’t always the case. With new art forms emerging all the time, art educators can’t always stay on top of every art form and every new methodology for teaching. But we can however, choose the ones that will be relevant to our teaching and our students. I feel that based on my passion to learn screen-printing, along with the exciting history of the art and the relevancy to graphic arts today, this is a good fit for my self as well as my student population.
As the art based research is a relatively new aspect of research projects, it is exciting to be part of something that is new. I like how arts based research isn’t just a selfish, although necessary wish to create art, it also links to education. This link is imperative as it makes the research more valid to others including student population. “Those who promote this approach see the arts as compromising a set of practices that helps broaden the way we understand things and thus can be used to expand how information is gathered and represented” (Sullivan, p.xiii). Furthermore, it can affect big themes in education theory and practice. “In mapping an agenda for educational inquiry, most arts-based researchers in the United States locate new directions within the domains of education and social sciences” (p. xvii). As far as practice in screen-printing, it is an art form that has been around for centuries, but has been most recently been a household word and art form from exposure of artists such as Andy Warhol and Shepard Fairey. Again, relevancy to modern culture plays a part here, where students can grasp the immediacy of visual culture arts education.
To start with my arts based research, I will be looking for texts and articles to learn more about screen-printing. This includes history of the art along with procedural information and theoretical writings. I would also like to interview screen-printing artists, students and teachers. I feeling like this will give me a practical background with invaluable information. I often find that knowledgeable people are often one of the best sources of information as their experiences are valid, passionate and primary. Much of the study will include the process of the art making. I anticipate some mistakes and successes, all which I will record and learn from. This open-ended approach is unpredictable, yet unpredictability and surprise is part of any learning process. Memos along with photographs and possibly video footage will all be collected during the process. As I will be an involved participator, I will be “the research instrument in a qualitative study, and (my) eyes and ears are the tools (I) will use to make sense of what is going on” (Maxwell, p.79).
Objectivity is an important aspect of validity in research design. This conclusive factor of validity includes “how well you weave together your descriptions, reflections and critical analyses” (McNiff & Whitehead, p. 31). To stay objective through the interview process of the research, triangulation is important. This is to approach a subject that you are researching from all angles so that all sides of the story, so to speak are covered and examined. It can help “provide additional information that was missed in observation, and can be used to check the accuracy of the observations” (Maxwell, p. 94). Another piece of objectivity is to try to stay un-biased. This can be tricky, as I will bring into my research my own opinions, background and prior knowledge into the research. My experience with screen-printing at summer camp, as well as at the MTA conference will connect be a part of my prior knowledge, feelings and opinions about the study. Although this isn’t necessarily a detrimental aspect to the research, it does need to be looked at for objectivity. Maxwell explains further:
Qualitative research is not primarily concerned with eliminating variance between researchers in the values and expectations they bring to the study, but with the understanding how a particular researcher’s values and expectations influence thee conduct and conclusions of study (which may be either positive or negative) and avoiding the negative consequences (p. 108).
References
Maxwell, J. (2005). Qualitative research design: an interactive approach. (2nd ed., Vol.
41, pp. 1-116). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
McNiff, W. & Whitehead, J. (2009). Doing and writing action research. (1st ed., pp. 7-
126). Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
Sullivan, G. (2005). Art practice as research, inquiry in the visual arts. (pp. xi-xxii).
Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc.
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