Abstract TEACHING MOURNING By Julie Ann Crowder, MAE A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Art Education at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2011 Major Director: Sara Wilson McKay, Ph.D. Interim Department Chair and Associate Professor, Art Education As a researcher I sought to understand the following research questions: 1) What were the official policies and protocols that went into effect at William Fox Elementary School after the murder of the Harvey family in January of 2006? 2) What were the experiences of the staff and parents at William Fox Elementary School after the murder of the Harvey family? 3) What critiques and or suggestions do the employees and parents have of the personal or official policies or protocols, which were carried out after the murder of the Harvey family? The purpose of this research was layered. This research was necessary in order to create an accurate picture of the difficult emotional reactions of teachers attempting to teach students how to mourn while mourning themselves. Additionally, this study identified how teachers were able to continue about the business of every day life and education when they were dealing with difficult emotional issues. Participants at William Fox Elementary experienced the tragic death of the Harvey family on New Year’s Day 2006. This research illuminated possible new ways of looking at mourning, the public/media, and ways of handling these difficulties. This research could lead to the creation of new policies or protocols that would better serve the mourning populations in schools, which lose members to violence. The members of this study were William Fox Elementary employees or parents who were on present during and after the Harvey murders. Special attention was given to the IRB process. Seven participants who had a great deal of contact with Stella were selected. The PTA-funded Art Explosions teacher, Stella Harvey’s classroom teacher, the principal, the guidance counselor, a parent, the music teacher, and the librarian were all participants. Significant findings include: the importance of the speed and selection of information given to adults at the time of a tragedy, and the child information networks that form when children are not completely informed. Additionally a variety of information and thoughts are given on the subject of mourning, both public and private. Implemented and suggested healing techniques were investigated. Lastly, several uncomfortable issues that arose, such as race and rage were explored.

In this body of work I explore the changing qualities of nature and I strive to represent these subtle qualities in my earthy patinas and brightly enameled pieces. My work examines how the elements affect our natural world and how changing seasons and the passing of time causes humankind to change shape, and grow. I also strive to honor our natural world and my jewelry pays homage to nature and it’s transformative elements.

Uppsatsen beskriver hur fyra olika utbildningar i Europa definierar och förmedlar konstnärlig kunskap. Uppsatsen tar sitt avstamp på Dômen Konstskola i Göteborg där författaren undervisar. Utifrån denna erfarenhet undersöker sedan hon utbildningar på en högskoleförberedande nivå på Chelsea School of Art (CSA) i London, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha  (UCLM)  i Cuenca, Kungliga Konsthögskolan (KABK) i Haag. Undersökningen utgår från intervjuer gjorda med lärare och elever på respektive skola, observationer gjorda på plats av författaren mellan 2007 och 2011 samt texter från hemsidor och kataloger som skolorna själva gett ut. I jämförelsen hittade författaren likheter beträffande feedback, självreflektion och utgångspunkter men även många olikheter. Olikheterna handlade om vilka delar av innehållet i utbildningen som prioriterades. Ingen av konstskolorna definierade den konstnärliga kunskap de sades förmedla. KABK och CSA hade den mest sammanhållna pedagogiken medan utbildningen på UCLM berodde på läraren och den på DK berodde både på lärare och år. Samtliga skolors konstsyn relaterades till N. Carolls definition av konstbegreppet. Här visade sig skolorna ligga relativt nära varandra.

This thesis establishes an understanding of how public school art teachers are incorporating service-learning into their art classroom curriculum. Through conversations with three public school art teachers and one administrator, observations of the teachers' instruction, and written reflections from several students, I have introduced how service-learning can impact students. Additionally, this thesis identifies resources that help create and sustain a successful service-learning curriculum. Using case study methodology, an investigation was made of service-learning philosophies and perspectives, methods of application and practice, and impacts on the students and the art classroom environment. Through this research I have gained an understanding of what I believe to be best practices of service-learning found in the art classroom, which are particularly helpful for real world application. / text

<p> An Exploratory Study of Problem Solving for Leaders Drawing on the researcher's experience as an artist, art therapist, and Art Therapy educator, this exploratory study used Art Based Research to closely observe how (if at all) engagement in the process of the creation of a painting enhances leaders' problem solving in complex situations.</p><p> This study found that the Art Based procedure did, in this case, facilitate problem solving in a complex situation by allowing the leader to get in touch with a wider range of conscious and tacit or unconscious knowledge, capture experiential information, and look at the wide picture in one glance, with the art work mirroring the thinking process, serving as documentation, and reflecting changes in perspective.</p><p> Furthermore, the use of an introspective, systematic, Art Based approach to closely observe the creative process revealed that while in theory verbal metaphors differ from visual metaphors, and rational, logical thinking differs from intuition and imagination, in practice they were interwoven and constantly evolved and reconstructed each other, often resulting in what the researcher came to think about as idiosyncratic metaphors.</p><p> Besides its contribution to the field of leadership, by offering a new method for leaders who need new tools for dealing with the growing complexity of this world, this study offers a systematic method to look into the process of problem solving while creating a painting. It demonstrates the value of Art Based Research for closely observing individual thinking processes, and contributes a model for a systematic Art Based Research method.</p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> leaders, problem solving, creative process, art, painting, nonverbal, Art Based Research, Art Therapy, tacit knowledge, idiosyncratic, metaphor.</p>

<p> Since the Devonian Period, 360 million years ago, trees have been foundational for the survival of aerobic life. Today, most humans relate to trees through the idea, material and commodity of wood. This understanding is primarily informed by its use as a building material: the formal attributes of its grain pattern read to assess structural integrity and aesthetic applications. I think of these marks as autonomous and unique natural drawings, documenting time in a scale different from our lifespan. Wood&rsquo;s composition of cellulose and lignin create patterns that record temporal fluctuations in precipitation and the unique soil compounds of each tree&rsquo;s growth site as a codex. As an MFA candidate, I used woodworking techniques to explore the relationship between temporality and materiality. Along the way, I became interested in the reductive carving techniques of woodturning as a metaphor for this investigation: cutting through layers of time. Small segments of wood were laminated together in mathematical patterns and turned to reveal parabolic grids on the interior and exterior surface of each object. This study led me to consider the limitations that traditional art display conventions impose on the viewer&rsquo;s perception of an artwork, and to the realization of the <i>Thoughtitarium; </i> an eight-foot diameter fiberglass hemisphere that hovered above the gallery floor in architectural scale.</p>

<p> As a community-based art educator, I advocate for an arts-based educational environment that embraces postmodern tenets and encourages individuals to reflect on self and society in relation to the places in which they dwell and learn. This thesis is a dialogue on emplaced community-based art education. Issues of urban education, social justice, and critical pedagogy are considered in relation to participants&rsquo; enactments of place within two distinct community-based educational settings. In order to investigate the connections between a culture of place, place-based education, and the community-based programs of each site, the role of art and artifacts was carefully considered in building a sense of place and placemaking within the comparison of each case study. Data was collected over the course of a year and later analyzed through the lens of narrative analysis-a focus on how people spoke to personal values and social beliefs associated with their enactment of place-based education. </p>

<p> This Q methodological study addresses the subjective opinions of arts educators concerning the values the arts bring to the school curriculum and to society. In order to effectively defend the inclusion of the arts in budget-constrained schools, to clarify confusing and contradictory rationale for arts education and potentially to guide teacher training decisions, it was considered necessary to identify what opinions arts educators hold in terms of value orientations. A review of relevant literature in education, aesthetics, psychology, sociology and related fields was conducted to identify the breadth of the field and to develop an initial interview protocol. Six arts educators representing visual arts, music and drama were subsequently interviewed. The results of the interviews and the literature review were used to construct a 47 statement Q set which was sorted by 25 arts educators. PQMethod software was used to analyze the results and a three factor solution resulted. In addition to the comparison of statement positions on each factor, narrative input provided by the participants and interview commentary provided by interviewees who defined the factors aided in the interpretation of the results. The three factors were interpreted to be Arts Orientation, Student Orientation and Equity Orientation. Themes in the Arts value orientation included passion for the arts and quality of life; whereas Student orientation values the connectedness of the arts to other subjects, academic benefits and the learning environment. Equity orientation values the arts for bringing cultural equity into the schools and values accessibility for all. Common perspectives amongst the factors were associated with creativity and problem solving, communication roles, and rejecting the value of an art for only its excellence in the art. Demographic data was solicited addressing age, gender, education and discipline taught. An orientation distinction between visual and performing arts educators is suggested.</p>

<p>The use of quantitative data-driven instruction and assessment in the visual arts curriculum could impact the outcome of student creativity if employed within the visual arts, a content area that uses primarily qualitative pedagogy and assessment. In this paper I examine the effect upon measured creativity resulting from the use of Quantitative Data-Driven Assessment compared to the use of Authentic Assessment in the Visual Arts curriculum. This initial experimental research exposed eighth grade Visual Arts students to Authentic Assessment in one group, and Quantitative Data-Driven Assessment in another. Two experiments were conducted from the results. In the first experiment, both groups of student post-test art works are compared for mean creativity scores as defined by an independent expert panel of Art Educators. The second experiment compares for gains in pre-test/post-test creativity as the teacher assessed. Gains in mean creativity scores are compared between groups. Difference in assessment motivations are discussed as possible influencing factors.

<p>Attempting to discover the utility of the Semantic Differential in determining learner needs and preferences at the outset of a 9-week beginner art-appreciation class, the researcher surveyed her students&rsquo; affective responses to 30 portraits. Over a one-year period, thirty-two at-risk young adults completed the survey using 16 bi-polar adjective pairs (good: bad | beautiful: ugly, etc.) to indicate how they felt about each portrait. The respondents had one minute to rate each portrait or thirty minutes total. Supported by research on the cross-cultural validity of the survey tool, the universal relevance of portraiture alongside curriculum, cognitive and visual culture theory, the student responses reveal that (1) the survey mechanism itself is useful to the art educator; and (2) there is a wealth of information on student preferences in terms of style, media, and subject. </p><p> Responses to the portraits reveal near total engagement with the process as well as interesting patterns and divergences: in one example, two portraits created 1,000 years apart were ranked &ldquo;positively&rdquo; by all respondents. Other examples reveal a complexity of responses across media and style as well as race, gender and age of subject. </p><p> While it has yet to be demonstrated whether the survey results can be generalizable across a population of similarly-situated individuals, the researcher believes the real value may lie in the survey&rsquo;s use in creating a dialogue based on immediate information about student preferences; where, within a community, students can mine the degree to which they have been influenced by their material culture. The dialogue will serve as a safe jumping off point to explore their identity and their role in society through discussion, art production and interpretation. </p>