Researcher
exploring, questioning, mining, learning, writing, gathering, sharing art
exploring, questioning, mining, learning, writing, gathering, sharing art
Finding Our Voices: Dialogic Inquiry in the Elementary Art Classroom
My Capstone project focuses on the use of dialogue: how looking at and talking about art with others fosters collaborative inquiry. We implemented various strategies and tools for gathering reflections, comments and questions, like sticky notes, exit and admit one tickets, and a Padlet. We asked a lot of questions--in fact, we questioned everything. Our theme was social justice. We viewed works from the Witness: Art and Civil Rights of the Sixties exhibit at the Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, and in class, via print and online sources, including Art21 (Season 1).
I developed three key questions to guide my research:
1. How do art students apply dialogic inquiry to investigate meaning in works of art?
2. How can I, as an art teacher, create and facilitate a classroom environment that promotes dialogical inquiry?
3. How do student dialogical explorations compare when facilitated through in-person and virtual access to works of art?
Here is the Padlet that we built together. We looked at and talked about artwork before the museum visit, then reflected on works in the exhibit and in the Blanton's collection after the visit. The Padlet was a valuable tool for making the learning visible, so that all students could build upon the knowledge about the art and the ideas presented through the artwork.
They moved from individually contributing superficial comments about the artwork, to working together in small groups and as a class, developing questions about meaning and artist's intent. A significant finding in my research was that when the students worked together, they moved to finding philosophical understandings about the art more effectively than individually. Collaboratively, they made meaning and found questions about the social issues shared through the art. Talking about art is a social process.
Research Brief: Ecological Action through Art Education
This work is a result of a life-long concern for the environment and for endangered species. The original work is a mixed-media collage in which a drawing I did in high school is included. This secondary piece was made using the Stamp Booth app for iPhone. The research brief is published on ISSUU.
Take a look at the video I made of my process!
As I look at my collection of Scoop.it posts, the power of the internet, and the role of social media in communicating global issues stand out. Our communication of ideas, concepts, and social concerns are facilitated by the ease of delivery through social media. Projects such as the Inside Out photography project, for example, has reached thousands of people through its shared global exhibitions. Its work demonstrates the universal idea of how we as people are really no different from one another, despite our geographic, political or religious position. We communicate concerns via social media, and empower others to voice their views and engage their communities in social change. We can use art and technology to communicate our ideas. We have the opportunity to use social media to make change happen globally.
Curriculum in Teaching Art, ARE6148 UF MAAE with Dr. Craig Roland, Final Independent Project: Systems: A Curriculum Unit for 5th Grade
Contemporary Issues in Art Education, ARE6641 UF MAAE, with Dr. Elizabeth Delacruz, Final Independent Project:
~Finding Our Voices: Environmental Interventions
Globalization, Art and Education ARE6933 UF MAAE, with Dr. Elizabeth Delacruz, Community Research: Executive Summary
~ACE: Executive Summary