Autoethnographic Art; Transformative Explorations of Self within a University Art Classroom

Abstract

Through this research study my aim was to critically examine the ways in which multimodal, autoethnographic art can enhance and expand educational experiences in general education art classrooms. The study investigates how participants’ perceptions of self and others within culture transform over a semester-long qualitative arts-based study. The study’s goal was to uncover teaching and learning strategies that help to disrupt traditional academic boundaries using autoethnography to create an engaged, cooperative university classroom environment. The participants for this study included 77 students in a general education art and culture course and myself as the co-teacher and researcher. Autoethnographic data were collected throughout the course in the forms of art research journals, pre-and post course questionnaires, researcher field notes, recorded class discussions, on-line discussion boards, notes from one-on-one student/researcher communications and field notes from participants’ final multimodal, autoethnographic art pieces and presentations. The methods used for the study were a modified version of arts-based and grounded theoretical research models. A heavy emphasis was placed on the participants art-making and sharing their work with others in the study. The findings from the study indicated most of, many of participants experienced advancement in their understanding of self within culture and developments of new insights into the experiences and perceptions of others in the study. Results from the study confirm a steady growth in participant engagement and development of cooperative class environment throughout the semester. This study contributes to existing scholarship on the generation of new knowledge from arts-based research models, multimodal autoethnograpy as method, teacher/student relationships in academia, and risk-taking in teacher professional development. The findings from the study might provide support and encouragement for meaningful discussions about the significance of exploring self through art making and art sharing in academic settings. By highlighting the achievements of the use of autoethnography as a method of inquiry, this study will add to the larger discussion of teacher and student identity in art education classrooms.