Art Practice as Research in the Classroom: A New Paradigm in Art Education

National Art Education Association. 1916 Association Drive, Reston, VA 20191. Tel: 703-860-8000; Fax: 703-860-2960; Web site: http://www.arteducators.org

Y

7

Art Activities; Qualitative Research; Research Methodology; High Schools; Art Education; Advanced Placement Programs; High School Students; Student Research

0004-3125

The artmaking process is increasingly accepted in experimental forms of qualitative ethnographic, narrative, and phenomenological research in the social sciences, psychology, and education. Some artists and art educators are taking idea of using art practice in research a step further and claiming that art practice is research. That is to say, while art production can play a role in research studies, it also stands on its own as research. Both concepts, art in research and art as research, are grounded in the notion that artmaking is a form of inquiry, a kind of open-ended, artist/researcher-driven learning process in which new knowledge is discovered or constructed. This re-framing of art practice as research represents a paradigmatic shift in the way one understands research, art, and artists. Art-based research provides models for art practice-as-research in art education. This article examines one way art-based research could look in the art classroom: an art class at Berkeley High School in Berkeley, California. This article explains the tenets and pedagogy of this approach, and follows the art-based research of one student in the class. (Contains 8 figures.)

ERIC

20

2012

EJ959437