ArtsBased Research as Critical Pedagogy

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Arts-Based Research as Critical Pedagogy

• Dr. Robert White, St. Francis Xavier University,
  Canada
• Dr. Karyn Cooper, Ontario Institute for Studies
  in Education
• And
• Naomi R. Hughes, Ontario Institute for Studies in
  Education

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Acknowledgements

• Robert, Karyn and Naomi would like to
  acknowledge
• Social Sciences and Humanities
• Research Council of Canada
• And
• St. Francis Xavier
• University
• With their support this research has been made
  possible

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Abstract

• Ontologies and epistemologies colour perceptions
  of representations of truth and reality as well
  as influence belief systems, attitudes and
  values.
• A variety of representations exist within
  quantitative and qualitative research, with
  qualitative research being represented through
  interpretivist and critical research paradigms
  (Willis, 2007).
• Presented in this paper are five contexts that
  can be used as a model for qualitative research
  within an interpretivist or critical research
  paradigm. Such a model may be used to frame
  arts-based research.

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Presentation Objectives

• This session offers video-clips of interviews
  with internationally renowned scholars such as
  Professors Henry Giroux, William Pinar, Hélène
  Cixous, Elliot Eisner and Maxine Greene who
  provide key insights into the educative role of
  arts-based research within a critical paradigm,
  for the betterment of society and existing social
  conditions.

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Ontologies

• Ontology is concerned with the nature of reality
  (or being or existence), and various ontological
  positions reflect different prescriptions of what
  can be real and what cannot.
• (Willis, 2007, 9)

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Epistemologies

• Epistemology is a crucial foundation for
  research in both the natural and physical social
  sciences. The traditional scientific method, for
  example, is based on an empirical epistemology
  You can come to know about the world (which,
  ontologically, is a physical or material world)
  through properly done experiments.
• (Willis, 2007, 10)

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Paradigms of Research

• Adapted from Willis, (2007).

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One Dimensional Man

• Contrasted with the fantastic and insane
  aspects of its rationality, the realm of the
  irrational becomes the home of the really
  rational - of the ideas which may "promote the
  art of life."
• If the established society manages all normal
  communication, validating or invalidating it in
  accordance with social requirements, then the
  values alien to these requirements may perhaps
  have no other medium of communication than the
  abnormal one of fiction.
• The aesthetic dimension still retains a
  freedom of expression which enables the writer
  and artist to call men and things by their name -
  to name the otherwise unnameable.
• Marcuse (1964)

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Arts-Based Research

• Put simply, the arts have no monopoly on art.
  There is art in science just as surely as there
  is art in art. Perhaps we are, at last, entering
  a time in the educational research community when
  educational researchers will regard the arts not
  only as a fundamental part of schooling, but as a
  basic feature of excellent social science.
• (Eisner, 1995)

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Critical Theory

• Since the 1970s, critical theory has become an
  umbrella term for an array of theories. Critical
  social theory is a form of self-reflective
  knowledge involving both understanding and
  theoretical explanation to reduce entrapment in
  systems of dominance or dependence. There is an
  emancipatory interest in expanding autonomy and
  reducing domination.
• (Habermas, 1968)

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Critical Pedagogy

• Critical pedagogy is a teaching approach that
  questions and challenges the beliefs and
  practices that dominate individuals.
• Habits of thought, reading, writing, and
  speaking which go beneath surface meaning, first
  impressions, dominant myths, official
  pronouncements, traditional clichés, received
  wisdom, and mere opinions, to understand the deep
  meaning, root causes, social context, ideology,
  and personal consequences of any action, event,
  object, process, organization, experience, text,
  subject matter, policy, mass media, or
  discourse.
• (Shor, 1992, 129)

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Five ContextsResearch Methodology

• The following five contexts can be used as a
  model for qualitative research within an
  interpretivist or critical research paradigm.
• Autobiographical
• Historical
• Political
• Postmodern
• Philosophical
• (Cooper and White, 2009)

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Henry Giroux

• Interviewed 20 December 2007 in Hamilton,
  Ontario.

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William F. Pinar

• Interviewed 05 August 2005 in Vancouver, Canada

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Hélène Cixous

• Interviewed 26 June 2008 in Paris, France

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Elliot W. Eisner

• Interviewed 11 June 2007 in Palo Alto, U.S.A.

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Maxine Greene

• Interviewed 06 November 2005 in New York City,
  U.S.A.

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Excerpts of Interviews
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Key Insights

• What are some of your insights into the
  Educative Role of Arts-Based Research within a
  Critical Paradigm?

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Qualitative Research Website

• http//www.cooperwhite.com

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References

• Cooper, K. and White, R. E. (in press, 2009).
  Distinguished performances The educative role of
  disciplines in qualitative research in education.
  International Review of Qualitative Inquiry 2(1)
  pp.
• Eisner, E. (1995). What artistically crafted
  research can help us understand about schools.
  Educational Theory 45(1) 1-6.
• Habermas, J. (1968). Knowledge and Human
  Interests. London Heinemann.
• Marcuse, H. (1964). One Dimensional Man. Boston
  Beacon.
• Shor, I. (1992). Empowering Education Critical
  Teaching for Social Change. Chicago University
  of Chicago Press.
• Willis, J. W. (2007). Foundations of Qualitative
  Research Interpretive and Critical Approaches.
  Thousand Oaks, CA Sage.