Understanding pedagogy through the material world: lessons from a pre-service Saturday art school
This study explores ways in which Saturday art school teachers use the material world in teaching art. Specifically, this research investigates how pedagogy can be enacted through the presentation of the materiality of the classroom. Drawing on Bresler's (1994) three orientations within visual arts curricula: imitative, complementary, and expansive, this work illustrates the richness and complexity of how the material world is used in each orientation, and how these orientations interact and coexist. This research adds to the understanding of the unique contribution of visual arts curricula in relation to schooling and educational goals broadly conceived. A concurrent nested mixed methods design (QquanUAL) employed within a cast study framework enabled qualitative understanding of teachers' actions while quantitative components served to establish associations between physical variables while contributing to complex descriptions of the taskscapes under investigation. Analysis as dictated by the constant comparative method focused on the spatial and material practices and processes of teaching assistants and student teachers. A case study approach enabled engagement with a variety of evidence including fieldnotes and photographs from 39 participant observations, interview transcripts from six key participants, classroom artifacts, lesson plans, and program documents. The rationale for this study arose from the acknowledgement that although essential, the material world remains predominantly a part of the implicit rather than the explicit curriculum. Description and interpretation of the operational curricula of six key participants portray diverse uses of the material world. Even though the six individuals taught art education within the same institutional context, within the same Saturday art school program, in fact, within the same physical classroom, their uses of the material world were individually varied. Findings indicate that the imitative uses of the material world highlight classroom management and discipline. The complementary uses highlight affect, serving to motivate, activate, and engage, as well as teach specific artistic skills. The expansive uses employ artistic forms of presentation that meaningfully intermingle engagements on sensory, emotional, and cognitive levels. These material orientations are not mutually exclusive: each orientation offers important aspects of a balanced curriculum.
materiality and pedagogy, pre-service art education, visual arts curricula
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign