Place Based Methods For Researching Schools PDF Download

An epidemic of student disengagement in schools and rampant standardization nationally that "teaches to the test", is leaving the actual experiences and everyday lives of students out of their education (Umphrey, 2007). In this cultural context, it seems imperative that schools reawaken the learning spirit of students by bringing their own communities and 'places' of their everyday life into the classroom. I wanted to investigate how a critical place-based education in the arts, utilizing arts based methods of research, could activate and engage urban students in their personal explorations of community. Place-based education is believed to boost self-esteem, academic achievement, and student engagement. In an action research project focused on using arts based methods of research, I addressed the questions: What occurs when students use artistic strategies to research, collect data about and represent their communities? How does an urban critical place-based art education affect students' perceptions of their own community and research? What occurs when students become the researchers and teachers of their own communities in the classroom and art curriculum through the artistic strategies of photography, drawing, and map-making? I investigated my research questions through a critical place-based action research project. I worked with beginning photography students at an urban Chicago high school for 7 weeks to create a photographic series of their view of their community through a series of images taken using various set parameters for exploration. Students were regarded as researchers who mapped their personal perceptions of their community through instruction based explorations, documentary photography, the maintenance of a creative research journal, and the creation of a map artwork utilizing their contact sheet images. My study furthers the argument that we need to break children out of the four walls of the classroom as one way to address student disengagement in classrooms. A critical place-based approach can not only better the school and surrounding communities, but also aid students in the development of a personal community identity. I have shown that by putting students in the role of co-researchers, art educators can increase their ability to critically construct their own ideas of community. My research has shown that a critical place-based educational experience, utilizing arts-based research as a teaching tool, is a beneficial asset to children as they grapple with growing up, developing their own ideas about their communities, and asserting themselves within the world.