Exploring Critical Events in an Inaugural Arts-Based Research Class through Ethnographic Mapping and Poetry-Enriched Narrative Sketches

Presenter Information

Janet RichardsFollow

Location

DeSantis Room 1053

Format Type

Plenary

Format Type

Paper

Start Date

17-1-2020 10:15 AM

End Date

17-1-2020 10:35 AM

Abstract

Arts-based research (ABR) employs the arts to explore the “experiences of researchers and the people they involve in their studies” (McNiff, 2008, p. 29). Acknowledgement of ABRs’ potential for enhancing social science inquiry has gained momentum along with the development of new ABR methods courses. However, there is a lack of published studies that investigate what goes on in ABR classes (Cahnmann-Taylor & Siegesmund, 2008: Leavy, 2015; Personal communication, The Qualitative Report 2018 Conference). In this inquiry we (Janet, course designer and instructor, and Steve, student and class assistant), employed ethnographic techniques to explore unexpected critical events that occurred in our inaugural ABR class. We wanted to discover why these problematic situations happened. We also hoped to learn how we might have anticipated and resolved these events before they became challenging. Similar to a bricolage process in which researchers cobble different modes of inquiry together, we interfaced ethnographic mapping with poetry-enriched narrative sketches to record and make sense of the data. We discovered some critical events resulted from circumstances outside of the classroom and other incidents were exacerbated because we did not attend to problems when they first developed. Analysis of these data.also provided us with new insights, appreciation, and understandings about the power and consequences of critical classroom events and how we (Janet and Steve) contributed to them by not listening to our students and instead followed our own egos.

Keywords

arts-based research class, critical events, ethnography, poetry, narrative sketches

Comments

Dr. Ron Chenaill invited me to submit this paper for the 2020 conference. The paper has been accepted for publication in TQR Aug 2019.

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Jan 17th, 10:15 AM Jan 17th, 10:35 AM

Exploring Critical Events in an Inaugural Arts-Based Research Class through Ethnographic Mapping and Poetry-Enriched Narrative Sketches

DeSantis Room 1053

Arts-based research (ABR) employs the arts to explore the “experiences of researchers and the people they involve in their studies” (McNiff, 2008, p. 29). Acknowledgement of ABRs’ potential for enhancing social science inquiry has gained momentum along with the development of new ABR methods courses. However, there is a lack of published studies that investigate what goes on in ABR classes (Cahnmann-Taylor & Siegesmund, 2008: Leavy, 2015; Personal communication, The Qualitative Report 2018 Conference). In this inquiry we (Janet, course designer and instructor, and Steve, student and class assistant), employed ethnographic techniques to explore unexpected critical events that occurred in our inaugural ABR class. We wanted to discover why these problematic situations happened. We also hoped to learn how we might have anticipated and resolved these events before they became challenging. Similar to a bricolage process in which researchers cobble different modes of inquiry together, we interfaced ethnographic mapping with poetry-enriched narrative sketches to record and make sense of the data. We discovered some critical events resulted from circumstances outside of the classroom and other incidents were exacerbated because we did not attend to problems when they first developed. Analysis of these data.also provided us with new insights, appreciation, and understandings about the power and consequences of critical classroom events and how we (Janet and Steve) contributed to them by not listening to our students and instead followed our own egos.