Análisis del sector

Arts-based educational research offers an approach to social inquiry, and creating an art garden is one way to branch into environmental studies at the school level. Looking at the earth with a new lens allowed freedom of expression for both the participants and myself, while we addressed environmental issues through aesthetic and artistic means. “For an arts researcher inspired by a call to critical action, any inquiry is undertaken for personal and public ends” (Sullivan, 2006, p. 15).

Throughout this inquiry, I began to view A/r/tography as a pathway to engaged research, one which was teeming with a willing community of collaborators. The garden itself became a living artwork. On the grounds and within the garden is artwork created by the students, myself, and community members who collaborated with me.

Responding to the environmental issues we are faced with will promote a certain level of activism. Perhaps through modes of art making, the public will view, perceive, and understand what they may not have with a more conventional form of research. The work that is created for this project will be displayed both in the outdoor space and virtually. I envision the garden project to be student directed, multi-sensory, and engage the onlooker to become a participant. There will be environmental and social messages; therefore the work will be political. A

variety of alternative voices will be present within the research text including the artist/researcher/teacher; the participants; visiting artist/assistant; student intern and fellow researcher; students; parents; community members, as well as the perspectives of the audience that view the work. There is much potential for rhizomatic connections. (Personal Journal, January 10, 2013)

I was required to separate myself from the role of teacher so that I could directly observe participant interactions amongst students, their parents, and community members while working within an after-school learning environment. It was through questionnaires, interviews, some direct observation, social interactions with my participants, artmaking, and gardening that

permitted me the opportunity to unearth and gather data. Factored into the methodical choices of this study included my personal experiences, and the criteria involved in conducting research within the school in which one teaches.

Using meaningful sampling I had set out to recruit participants who would provide me with valuable insights. I believe the site selected me; it is nested in a cul-de-sac where there is little traffic. Using purposeful sampling, I selected the site for its beauty and potential. As well I was the teacher involved in the project.

Participatory research methods emerged in the 1970s to help forward discussion of community-based structures that resulted in the formation of knowledge. Paolo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970) aligns with activist participatory research, as his main premise focused on hearing the voice of the oppressed, marginalized, exploited, and poor through their own investigation and analysis. My inquiry does not involve subjects of this nature; rather, the participants were actively involved in the research process, and the inquiry

originated within the community. As well, I was a “committed participant and learner in the process of research” (Hall, 2005, p. 10).

Hall (2005) asks, “How is the rest of nature a participatory researcher?” (p. 20). Is it possible to include other species, both plant and animal, as part of this inquiry? The blight on our cucumber plants, for example, led us to investigate how plants communicate. The next time I was weeding along side of parents in the garden, I mentioned that an infected plant produces a chemical which alerts other plants to protect themselves from infection through the fabrication of an antibody. Another parent discovered that a spray application mixing milk with water was a possible solution to solve our cucumber blight problem. I agree with Hall (2005) that there is potential for participant awareness and resourcefulness as a result of participatory research.

Without the cucumber plants’ mode of visual communication, we would not have unearthed possible remedies and actively engaged in critical thinking and problem solving; participation isn’t limited to human specimens.

Today as I drove into the school parking lot, I noticed another neighbour and her dog standing by the garden, admiring our plot. I always approach the neighbours and their dogs in a friendly manner by asking them what they think of our project. Inevitably I receive a positive response. This particular neighbour and I engaged in a half-hour conversation about our plantings. She identified herself as an avid gardener and was willing to continue the garden project with us next year. She even offered to help pay for plants and water. I later realized that she was the one who was tying up the tomato plants that had so quickly flourished and had managed to bush out beyond my acceptable standards. Involvement has branched beyond my community of participants and has propagated interest amongst

members of the neighbourhood community. As I reflect upon this, I smile. I am truly grateful for the moments of pleasure afforded by this journey, and for the wonderful people who join me along the path. (Personal Journal, July 18, 2013) Why participatory research? From the onset, I involved research subjects in as many stages of the project as possible. I wanted to include the community and draw upon the

experience of those around me. This is what an a/r/tographer does. What I quickly discovered was that the students were eager to help me expand my network of helpers. A friend of the family became my gardening mentor, and a parent became my welder. The students in my eco- club, with the assistance of my gardening mentor, helped to select the plants for our fusion butterfly garden and vegetables for our vegetable garden. On several occasions, additional sunflowers, raspberry plants, and marigolds seemed to sprout up at the schools’ front door.

The students in my art club set out to investigate the area, and produced maps of how they envisioned the grounds. “Visual methods can actually aid participation because images are often more accessible to people than dense academic text, and they also have a novelty factor which is likely to keep people stimulated and engaged in the research process for longer” (N. Richards, 2011, p. 2). Throughout the project students placed most of their artwork in their altered books. Choosing their own media and structuring the subject matter of their artwork kept them engaged and motivated. Often we employed gallery walks15 which enabled students to explain and interpret their work. This form of sharing is highly collaborative and requires that the participants respect one another.

Arts-based curriculum offers students the potential to share their perceptions and

reflections. Rolling (2010) asserts that an inquiry of this sort is best geared to gather data based on projects that involve social agency which, if “sensibly evaluated for their effectiveness, must be assessed over the long run to document how the life practices, thinking habits, and

communities of the learner have been transformed” (p. 111). Although feeling pressed for time to complete my work, I attempt to address how the habits and practices of my participants and myself have altered over the course of this inquiry.

In this study, I was interested in the students’ ongoing experience of critical, place-based pedagogy, and in the experiences of the community members, as well as my own experiences within the role of artist/researcher and teacher. My journal and anecdotal comments woven throughout focus on interpreting the setting as it is. As Sullivan (2006) noted, “Arts-based educational inquiry describes and interprets phenomena through ‘seeing’ and ‘sensing,’ which is the basis for compiling thematic patterns of evidence from which meaning is made vivid” (p. 23).

I believe that artists are researchers by nature, as demonstrated through their collections of visual imagery, their sketchbooks, snippets of found text, photographs, art works hanging in their homes and studios, and from other sources found in various media files. My overflowing bookshelves are bulging with my personal book collections, demonstrating my quest for understanding and aesthetics. Historically, artists have recorded visual stories through their observations and interactions with the world.

Through this inquiry I hope to discover what makes us human, and what lies at the heart of our actions towards one another, the natural world, and ourselves. I look for understanding through the eyes of the ‘other’ through interviews, conversations, observations, and visual

imagery. Methodologically speaking, this is relevant as it may heighten the awareness of the writer and the reader.

The photo documentation taken of the art garden through its stages of growth portrays a metamorphosis. The same could be said for the process sketches and artwork completed by the students, student intern, and myself. Metamorphosis could be considered a metaphor for this inquiry; the changes and growth, which occurred as a result of working through this process, have altered my view of how I see my role as an artist/researcher and teacher. Rolling (2010) asserts that Arts-based research affords us insights not offered by the traditional scientific positivist inquiry models. He argues that, “Arts-based research methodologies are

characteristically emergent, imagined, and derivative from an artist/researcher’s practice or arts praxis inquiry models” (p. 112). In the case of this inquiry much of our art making came about through collaborative discussion and decision making.

I was just thinking of how we could make the bike sculptures into a living

structure. You read my mind! (Facebook message sent to my artist in residence, Sue, February 25, 2013)

Nourishing my artist self and wanting to research the artistic process for guerilla graffiti, I turned to my computer and fired off a note to the graffiti street artist Roadsworth. Within a few weeks I had a response.

Hi Beryl . . . Go ahead and use whatever answers I gave you for your thesis16. . . An oil based traffic paint will probably be the most durable paint you can use on asphalt but not necessarily on concrete. There are decent water based traffic paints as well . . . which are somewhat easier to work with and less toxic. When I

started I used an oil based traffic paint in spray can form but lately I’ve been using water based paint even [though] it may not last as long. Sometimes I’ll even use a regular indoor house paint which can last up to a month depending on the traffic you’re dealing with or an exterior house paint if you want it to last a little longer. As far as technique goes, it depends on the kind of piece you want to create. If it’s something that entails a lot of repetition of various elements,

stencils are a good way to go, but if you’re painting one large image . . . then it makes more sense to go freehand. You can start with chalk to sketch the drawing out before committing with paint . . . you can make your stencils out of dollar store cardboard (not corrugated) with the use of an exacto knife.” (Email from Roadsworth, March 4, 2013)

I agree with Rolling (2010) that, “arts-based research stems from a strong visual arts knowledge base. It focuses on the process and practice and requires that the inquirer unearth data throughout the “processes, products, proclivities, and contexts that support this activity for scholarship sake” (Sullivan, 2005, p. 84).

I look to the community of participants as I seek to uncover stories. Throughout participant journals, formal interviews, informal conversations with participants and unplanned happenings beside the garden, I muddle through journal notes and untangle a web of information relevant to this journey. (Personal Journal, July 10, 2013)

Maxine Greene (1995) clarifies the requirements for, and the effects of, aesthetic

experiences, and reminds us of the importance to be aware of where our journeys lead us, as she states, “We need to recognize that the events that make up aesthetic experiences are events that

occur within and by means of the transactions with our environment that situate us in time and space” (p. 130). Not only do we need to recognize these events, we also need to reflect upon them and see each as a learning experience. As Sullivan (2006) states,

When art practice is theorized as research, it is argued that human understanding arises from a process of inquiry that involves creative action and critical

reflection. . . . There is an inherently transformative quality to the way we engage in art practice, either as learners or teachers . . . the researcher and the researched are both changed by the process because creative and critical inquiry is a reflexive process. (p. 11)

Throughout my teaching career I have been drawn to the social constructivist approach to teaching. I feel that this approach best aligns with eco-art making and the participatory

component of this inquiry. I look for and seek relevant real-world projects that enable my

students to work collaboratively to solve problems in an interdisciplinary forum. As well, I often act as a facilitator (after scaffolding and guiding students through newly acquired skills) and consider the learner’s prior knowledge and worldview.

In my classroom, the creation of student-generated assessment tools allows for the co- development of goals and objectives. I draw upon the ideas of Dewey (1897) and Vygotsky (1930-1934/1978), as I feel that the ability to learn is linked to a person’s stage of intellectual development (rather than their age) and their cognitive abilities, which enable them to recall, evaluate, reflect, create, comprehend, and synthesize information.

As I structured the project component of this study, I was reminded of the relevance of providing my participants with experiences that would offer them opportunities to interact with their environment and connect to prior knowledge. Furthermore, the participants were freely

able to communicate and learn from each other as impromptu information sharing discussions were encouraged. From a constructivist viewpoint, art making precipitates understanding through the reinterpretation and restructuring of knowledge (Sullivan, 2005).

Exploring new art making techniques, such as concrete spray painting, moss graffiti, welding up-cycled bicycle parts, and forming concrete stepping stones, not only allowed me to branch out beyond my art making comfort zone, it encouraged my participants to also take risks. Admitting to my participants that I didn’t know how to create something but wanted to learn demonstrated to them that art making should be exploratory. This was a necessary part of this inquiry as an artist, researcher, and a teacher. As a life-long learner, I consistently encourage my students to share my passion for learning. This includes experimenting with new art making techniques, or what Gude (2007) would refer to as ‘playing’ and ‘not knowing.’

Encouraging participants to take ownership of their learning extended to the parent community. Many gardening tips and recipes were exchanged over the summer months as we weeded, watered, and tended to our little farm. Not only was I involved in the facilitation of student participants, I was engaged in activity, discourse, and reflection with their parents and guardians. If I was unable to answer a question about holistic weed control, I would look to my adult participants to help with a problem. All of us grew as we constructed new understanding and knowledge about best gardening practices. This sharing grew to include those hired by my school board to help with grounds policies and procedures. The two grounds committee members agreed to be participants to assist with this research.

I booked another meeting with our boards’ grounds committee. Their initial impressions are positive; they have always been very supportive. They provided me with a detailed design consultation report, complete with recommendations

including: funding ideas; resources; how to apply for grants; tips on fall planting; signage; organizations who offer programming and support school food gardens; tips on how to grow a native butterfly garden, and a native garden; eco-craft ideas; outdoor furniture ideas; and outdoor environmentally themed art ideas which included the life cycle of the butterfly. The most relevant information within the report for the art-making component of this inquiry dealt with the criteria for asphalt paint and the boards’ policies regarding dates when oil-based and water-based paint could be used. The two people I am meeting with are encouraged by my ideas. I must say, between my teaching and thesis

responsibilities and finding the time to implement all these recommendations, I am somewhat overwhelmed. A project of this sort taken on as an extra-curricular activity requires much time and energy. Much more than what I have within my regular workday. I sometimes wonder if I would be inclined to carry through with this work if it wasn’t an integral part of my thesis. (Personal Journal, November 13, 2012)