This study presents the experiences and critical perspectives of a small, racially diverse group of veteran arts educators in urban schools in order to counter deficit-based fears and stereotypes about their students, schools, and communities. Participants' stories were explored, articulated, and communicated by them in researcher-facilitated discussions during five focus group meetings and their own independent creative inquiries through artmaking and reflective writing, which were discussed in the focus group sessions. This study is grounded in a participatory paradigm and informed by critical race theory as a framework for understanding the context and conditions of urban schooling, particularly in low-income communities of color. It employed a participatory, arts-based methodology (based largely on the framework of a/r/tography) to draw on the deep connectedness of committed, veteran arts educators in urban public schools. Participants' experiences and critical perspectives were framed as "counter-narratives" in order to challenge deficit-based characterizations of their students, schools, and surrounding communities. This study was conducted in a small city of approximately 182,000 residents in the Southeastern United States. Some readers may question the use of the term "urban" to describe such a small city. Based on a review of literature however, the term "urban schools" came closest to describing both the high concentrations of poverty and high proportions of students of color in the schools that are the focus of this study. While the image of the urban concrete jungle may not exactly capture the character of this relatively small city, this study's setting makes the important point that poverty and racial inequity affect a much wider variety of communities than may be immediately connoted by the term "urban." Because participants' stories, as represented by them, were so crucial to this study, it was important to locate participants with strong studio art backgrounds and/or current practices who were familiar and comfortable with artmaking as a mode of inquiry. In order to recruit enough participants in the small city where this study was conducted, the definition of "arts educators" was expanded to include educators who currently or in their professional histories use(d) substantial and meaningful visual arts-based pedagogical approaches in their classrooms. Five interrelated research questions guided this study: (1) In what ways do the experiences and critical perspectives of veteran arts educators in urban schools "counter" deficit-based characterizations of their students, schools, and communities? (2) How do participating arts educators communicate their experiences of multiple and intersecting identities in the context of their practices, and reveal them in their creative counter-narratives? (3) In what ways does their engagement in this process of inquiry alter participants' perceptions and understandings of their students, schools, communities, and selves? (4) What roles do the participating educators and I take on in relation to one another in the context of this participatory process of inquiry, and how do we negotiate these relationships? (5) How does artistic practice inform this study as a method of inquiry, and suggest possibilities for communicating participants' counter-stories? The most substantial counter-narratives that emerged in this study focused on the relationships between high-stakes school accountability measures, perceptions of school and teacher quality, and re-segregation of neighborhoods and public schools. Participants framed the supposed failure of urban public schools as a systemic problem that reflected pervasive social inequities rather than simply a failure of individual teachers and schools to meet accountability goals. Participants also described the ways high-stakes accountability became a self-fulfilling prophecy that restricted the breadth and richness of educational programming in urban schools. Finally, the participants' experiences and critical perspectives challenged deficit-based characterizations of urban teachers in public discourse about school quality, accountability and teacher effectiveness. Artistic practices, particularly creating artwork, collaboratively viewing and discussing artwork, and analyzing artwork in a variety of ways, contributed significantly to this study's participatory methodology. Specifically, the use of artistic practices facilitated the processes of establishing rapport among the researcher and participants, developing a shared language of mutual interest, facilitating difficult conversations, and connecting to community. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Art Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer 2013. / April 11, 2013. / A/r/tography, Arts-Based Research, Critical Race Theory, Participatory
Research, Urban Education, Veteran Teachers / Includes bibliographical references. / Anniina Suominen Guyas, Professor Directing Dissertation; Kathleen Yancey, University Representative; Tom Anderson, Committee Member; David Gussak, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_183904 |
| Contributors | Spillane, Sunny (authoraut), Guyas, Anniina Suominen (professor directing dissertation), Yancey, Kathleen (university representative), Anderson, Tom (committee member), Gussak, David (committee member), Department of Art Education (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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