Conference Proceedings 2010 [pdf] - Art & Design Symposium ...

Artmaking as a Process for Exploring the Relational Qualities of Service-learning Experiences
Lynn Sanders-Bustle, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Introduction
Helping students understand their disciplines in
relation to larger cultural communities and an everchanging
world requires a pedagogy which seeks
to help them acquire and develop socially just
attitudes and practices (Banks, 2006; Shor, 1993)
by encouraging them to “think critically about
subject matter, doctrines, the learning process
itself, and their society (Apple, 25, 2006). Inspired
by the works of Paulo Freire (1970), this
transformative view of pedagogy is particularly
important in the field of teacher education where
opportunities to develop socially just dispositions
Lynn Sanders- Bustle
and practices are essential to the preparations and
actions of future teachers.
Consequently, teacher education programs must “aim to prepare teachers with the knowledge, dispositions,
and practices necessary to provide students from diverse backgrounds with high quality opportunities to learn”
(Mc Donald, 2, 2007).
Designed with social justice in mind, service-learning experiences can offer prospective art educators with real
life opportunities to practice socially just pedagogy (Hutzel, 2007; Jeffers, 2005; Taylor, 2002; Taylor and
Ballengee, 2004).
While conceptualizations of service-learning vary, Taylor’s (2002) conception of service- learning as
“transformative and socially reconstructive practice” (124) seeks to develop reciprocity and mutual respect
among all participants. While much has been written regarding the value of service-learning experiences in the
preparation of art educators (Buffington, 2007; Taylor, 2002; Taylor and Ballengee, 2004), less work has been
done to better understand how particular activities may represent and inform service-learning experiences.
Over the past seven years I have coupled service-learning experiences for my art education students with
artmaking activities as part of coursework. I envision artmaking to be an authentic process for and
representation of students’ understandings of experiences. Sullivan (2005) explains,
Interpretations and representations that arise as a consequence of purposeful, creative pursuits
have the potential to produce new understandings because from a position of personal insight
and awareness the artist-theorist is well placed to critically examine related research, texts, and
theories (190).
In essence, artmaking or studio practice becomes a creative and critical process through which
students function as researchers and inquirers to make sense of often complex experiences such as
those associated with service-learning.
While I value and have employed artmaking as part of my coursework, I have never thoroughly
examined students’ particular processes or creative trajectories to discover how and if art making is
related to or informs the service learning experience.
Methodology
In this on-going qualitative study I examine the art works, interview transcripts, written reflections, and artist
statements of five art education students to better understand the role that artmaking or studio practice played
in their understanding of service learning experiences at a local outreach center. In particular, the works
created by the students were the result of activities, which took place in the Spring of 2009 as requirements for
an intermediate level art education course which I teach at a mid-sized university in the Deep South. Pairs of
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