Action Research

Action Research is learning through experience. My everyday is collecting data and improving the environment of the classroom. In most research data is numbers, however in my research data is the students. New students enter my classroom every year not knowing what to expect. In the first few days, each year, I set the tone for an advanced placement art history class. For this marking period I spend the class time lecturing on Pre-Historic art, the students tend to do well on the exams. By the end of marking period II I give the students more leeway in creating presentations to teach their peers. While the classroom atmosphere may be more lively with discussion the students do poorly on the final assessments. My idea for these projects was intended to increase the student’s knowledge in a particular piece of art. In actuality, this idea ended up hurting the students more than if I lectured on that piece of art. Action Research is an educational term; in the three readings I found that Sheri R. Klein’s arguments resonated with me the most. She explains “To put it simply, action research is a “a systematic, intentional inquiry by teachers” (Cochran—Smith & Lytle, 1993, p. 53; Stenhouse, 1985, as cited in Chochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993. P. 7) designed to “bring about practical improvement(s), innovation, change or development of social practice” (Zuber-Skertitt 1996, p. 83) and to “understand, improve and reform practice” (Cohen, Manion & Morrision, 2007 p. 297) To me, this means trying new ways of teaching even if they do not work as I intended.

“Action Research is a spiral process where there researcher observes a situation, identifies a problem, designs an intervention or new strategy, implements the new action, reflects on the intervention, and then observes again beginning the cycle anew.” (Buffington & McKay, How Do We Make Change In The World Through Our Practices. p. 243.) So, I pose the question, what is the balance between giving too much freedom to the students and having them learn in a differentiated setting? How do I engage students one on one in the atmosphere while allowing them to curate works of art, there by making them well versed and knowledgeable the piece of art? In regards to the citation above I have observed the situation during their presentations, I have identified the problem of the students not engaging one another and not giving a holistic view of the piece. To correct this problem, I would have students teach along side me instead of by themselves.

Visualization

Part I: The visualization starts as me (teacher) conducting the Action Research. The metaphoric image consists of the teacher lecturing along with a chosen student, allowing the engagement to be used together teaching a specific artwork, instead of only me lecturing or only the student. We will work together to achieve the highest of knowledge for each piece. In my experience as an art educator I have come across numerous situations where I had to change my lesson plans because something wasn’t working. For example, I was doing a Picasso assignment with my non-advanced students and my envision and examples were expected. This was the first time that I allowed my non-advanced students to participate in a lesson so not like I would have ever given to them. The outcome had mixed results, however I would never do it again unless the previous experience was there and only allow my advanced students to partake. The objective was to take a photograph and obstruct it with a collage type medium and allow it to be “Picasso-like.” This is an example of how I saw this with my own eyes during the process and now have learned from that situation. I wouldn’t call it a mistake, however because it is good as an educator to live and learn, as with anything. I believe that environment in a art classroom setting should allow for different artistic minds to think differently and construct differently, however this assignment allowed for students to not fully understand the objective even with explaining it numerous times. This proves to me that the knowledge level and experience was too high for that class.

Part II: The location of my Action Research is being constructed in my classroom. A large rectangle, there are no windows, however it is lite by lamps. There is no overhead lighting allowing for the abundance to be mellow and relaxing. The way an art classroom should feel, it is inviting. What always catching my eye about this room is the artwork that is located throughout the room. I have an enormous amount of student artwork displayed and everyday it puts a smile on my face to see the gift that these students have in art. I am also surrounded by a lot of art history posters and timelines. I note my favorite poster, a massive John Lennon poster situated in the rear of the room that I look out at. The time of the day is 11:30am and students are filling the room with full stomachs from lunch and ready and eager to learn. Students are talking amongst themselves, settling in and gathering materials needed for lecture. The mood is of happiness and laughter.

Part III: The image selected is of me (teacher) along with a student conducting the lecture of a certain piece of artwork for the rest of the class. We work together, side by side. This is pre-planned so therefore we both know what material we are going to lecture on. This allows for teacher/student interaction and draws the classroom/students be taught in different styles and methods. Not only will the students be lectured by teacher and student at the same time. The student and myself will call randomly on another student for guidance to make sure the information is being absorbed fully.

Part IV: Image attached for visualization.

References/Sources:

• Klein, S. (2012). Action research: Before you dive in, read this! In S. Klein (Ed.), Action research: Plain and simple (pp. 1-20). New York, NY: Palgrave.

• Keifer-Boyd, K. (2014). Critical action research activism: Social structure and human agency. In M. L. Buffington & S. Wilson McKay (Eds.), Practice theory: Seeing the power of teacher researchers (pp. 246-251). Reston, VA: The National Art Education Association.