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Applying Hermeneutic Phenomenology to

Conceptualize the Benefits of Reflective Practice in Art Schools

by

Cathy Rosamond

Professor: Dr. Graeme Sullivan

A&HA5005, Project 3

December 21, 2009


Introduction

If one of the main objectives of an artist is to produce art, or even “great art,” young artists-in-training must be working towards that goal in art schools. However, based on personal experience in art school, I found the emphasis was placed on developing technical skills in the studio. Aside from the one-sided critiques of artwork, there was not much guidance for students to reflect and critically engage in their own (and sometimes others’) artwork. I posit that any critically acclaimed or “great” artwork encapsulates, to a certain degree, deep and long reflective thoughts of the maker. Pamela Burnard (2006), a professor of education at University of Cambridge, is a strong proponent of advancing reflective practices in education, trusting that they contribute significantly to professional practice. According to Burnard, “Reviving our concern with reflection – whether as artists, art educators, arts organizations, learners … requires us to look back critically and constructively” (2006, p.4). Malcolm Ross (1978) also concurs, “Reflective thinking and reflective judgments are central to arts processes and practice” (Ross, as cited in Burnard & Hennessy, 2006). However, despite the importance of reflection and reflective thinking in literature, it is not clear from the published curriculum at various art schools whether or not the students conduct any form of reflective practice.

Despite the abundance of accredited art schools in the U.S. and the rest of the world, some artists and critics of art education claim that, “art cannot be taught.” For example, artist Romare Bearden (1969) asserted in his writing that painting and art cannot be taught because it is essentially a self-disciplined activity. The same sentiment is ironically shared by the legendary artist-teacher at CalArts (California Institute of the Arts), John Baldessari – “You can’t teach art, that’s my premise” (Madoff, 2009, p.42). Similarly, art historian James Elkins authored a book titled, Why Art Cannot be Taught (2001). Although I believe that art can be taught under the guidance of skillful art educators, there is a grain of truth in Bearden, Baldessari and Elkins’ words. Being an artist involves a continual and life-long cycle of inquiry, deliberation and contemplation, which are part of what I will collectively refer to as “reflective practices.” Sarah Hennessy (2006) finds a parallel between education and arts practices since they both contextually and regularly demand activities such as reviewing, reappraising, refining and redefining in which, “…critical reflection is implicit” (p.183). Similarly, on the topic of education and reflection, Burnard (2006) writes, “An educational imperative is to expand the borders of professionalism between teachers and artists, artists and artists, in consultation with learners and to connect the uniqueness and sameness of the artist elements in reflective discourse across arts communities” (p.7).

Problem Statement

Based on my personal experience in art schools and through conducting a short survey in October 2009 to art education students, I felt that art schools and their teachers were not pushing the limits of reflective practices with the students. Most art school students were not required to write a lot, which is an important tool for reflective practices (Burnard, P. & Hennessy, S. (Eds.), 2008).

Therefore, in this proposed research, the assumption is that art can be taught, and one of the keys to educating a well-informed artist is to push the limits of reflective practice in the art school curriculum. As mentioned, the importance of reflective thinking and reflective practice is supported by many authors in the art education, education and other disciplines, including Van Manen (1990, 1991), as well as John Dewey (1933) who coined the term, “reflective thinking.”

Research Question

How can art educators and art schools promote and push the limits of reflective practices in their curriculum so students are better prepared to pursue their chosen paths as artists?

Sub-questions

·  What are the different kinds of reflective practices, and does each one serve different purposes in educating art school students?

·  In what ways do different kinds of reflective practices enhance knowledge for students in art schools?

·  How do young artists’ aesthetic judgments get affected through practicing critical reflection of their own work?

·  How do students graduating from art schools use their experiences with reflective practices that they learned in school and apply them to work in related fields such as in art education or museums?

Conceptualization and Design of the Study

This will be a longitudinal, one-year study following an art school’s (the site of the study is not determined yet, but preferably one with a respectable MFA program in visual art) students, artist-teachers and administration (on curriculum and policy).

Significance/Rationale of the study

I believe that reflective practice for artists involve some of the following actions or different combinations of them: observing, listening, discussing, reading, contemplating, creating, discussing, sketching, analyzing, and writing. The key is for the reflective practitioner to be open-minded, receptive and flexible. As Dewey (1933) suggests, reflecting involves the precarious balance of keeping an open-mind, while also being intelligent and critical.

Therefore, I feel that the real debate is not about art being an “un-teachable” discipline, but rather, I posit that many art schools are currently not pushing the limits of reflective practices to prepare young artists. Since there are numerous ways to promote these reflective practices in the curriculum, I believe that art schools and other fine art programs should continuously reexamine, or essentially reflect on, the effectiveness of their curricular requirements. I believe that art schools, like any other educational institutions, should be responsible for teaching appropriate contextual information that meets the needs of today’s artists. This may factor in the growing number of hybrid, collaborative and cross-disciplinary practices that professional artists are involved in today. Considering the rapid changes in technology, contemporary art practices, and other factors, pedagogical frameworks that served art schools just ten years ago may be different from what is called for today. It is the responsibility of the institutions and art educators to continuously reexamine the relevance of what is being taught to students.




Determining the scope and type of data

Since I am interested in finding out the true experience of what is going on at the given art school(s) (the art school(s) that will be part of the research is not yet determined), I would like to use phenomenology as one of the ways to study the students, artist-teachers and the art schools. According to Van Manen (1997), is essentially the study of lived experience. In addition, since different kinds of data would be collected from the students, teachers and the art schools (administrative/leadership), it would be necessary to adopt a method of analysis that allows for the research to triangulate and “read into” information that may not be obvious. For example, an interviewee may say or write one thing, but mean the opposite depending on the tone or the context of the writing, thus, altering the interpretation of the data. Annells (1996) explained hermeneutics as a process of interpretation that looks to understanding the phenomena through various languages (i.e. written work, verbalized words, visual arts, music, etc.,).

Data collection and analysis methods

In order to get a comprehensive picture of how much reflective practice (or practices) is being promoted within the art school curriculum, it is necessary to research the curriculum, what the students are learning and how the instructors are teaching. Therefore this proposed longitudinal study (of up to two years) will involve data taken through different qualitative research methods from schools (surveys), students (interviews) and instructors (non-participant observation). The results, which would come in various forms (survey results, interview answers and observation notes), will be triangulated and analyzed using Van Manen’s (1990) model of hermeneutic phenomenological research that is commonly used in education. As explained by Hatch (2002), this method, “…combines both interpretive/hermeneutic methods and descriptive/phenomenological methods for the purpose of examining the…experiences or lifeworlds of people being studied” (p. 29). In other words, the study is analyzing the current art school and how reflective practice is being taught by adopting the complementarity of phenomenology and hermeneutics. Based on Van Manen’s (1990) own words, “Phenomenology describes how one orients to lived experience, hermeneutics describes how one interprets the ‘texts’ of life” (p.4). The phenomenological researcher first needs to understand the nature of the phenomenon and test the assumptions (i.e. art school students are feeling unprepared as artists after graduation; most fine art programs emphasize the “doing” than “thinking”; “successful” artists who teach at art schools may not necessarily be the best educators). Then the various methods (interviews, surveys, observations, etc.,) will help compile the data sets needed, gather experiential descriptions from the participants, and finally analyze, interpret and discuss the findings.

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Research models for data collection


Plans for Implementation

This study has not been implemented yet. Depending on the direction of my future research that comes from a larger dissertation project, this study may be implemented on a smaller-scale (i.e. only interview students) or a shorter time period.


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