Exploring the transition from art student to art educator through visual diaries
Date
2022-04
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Abstract
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: My journey as an art student, volunteering facilitator and later as an arts educator has thus far been
riddled with the fear of failure, a common experience for anyone hoping to have a positive social impact
in a country as economically unequal as South Africa is.
The main research question was formulated as follows: What are the challenging aspects regarding the
transition from art student to art educator? In addition, I ask: a) How did my own art and art education
journey influence my educator identity? b) How did my experience of working in various communities
with different racial and cultural groups influence my educator identity? c) To what extent did the use
of visual diaries help me to reflect on my educator identity?
The aim of the study was to share my own experiences of becoming an art facilitator with the hope that
it would assist other young art educators in their teaching and learning journey to become art
facilitators. I explore these questions using four theoretical perspectives, namely empowerment, power
hierarchies, critical citizenship education and educator identity, which formed the framework for this
study. Empowerment can be described as a practice through which individuals define their own needs
and priorities and take action towards attaining them (Rowlands 2001:15). The concept of power
hierarchies in the learning environment is highlighted as a framework, and the importance of
understanding and navigating different spaces and shifting power positions is crucial for facilitators.
Citizenship education aims to prepare people for living in diverse societies and emphasises aspects of
human rights, democracy and social justice. Various researchers have engaged identity and have argued
that identity is something that we all engage in, instead of something we have, and we therefore
perform our identity. Benwell and Stokoe (2006:49) go even further by describing identity as
constructed and produced moment-by-moment in everyday conversation.
In this thesis I have used of autoethnography as a methodology and my visual diaries to assist me in
remembering and reflecting on my journey from an art student to an art educator. Autoethnography is
an approach to research and writing that aims to describe and systematically analyse personal
experience in order to understand cultural experiences (Ellis 2004; Jones 2005). In auto-biographical
work, the writer must read, explore and discover to create knowledge that is useful for themselves and
the reader. When this work is judged by the reader as honest and valuable, the research could be
considered credible. I have used my visual diaries as reference to construct my learning and teaching
experiences. In auto-biographical work, the writer must read, explore and discover to create knowledge that is useful for themselves and the reader. When this work is judged by the reader as honest and
valuable, the research could be considered credible.
The biggest challenges in my transition from art student to art educator have been developing
confidence, building relationships with all learners, and developing structure and managing my time
effectively.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen Afrikaanse opsomming beskikbaar nie.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen Afrikaanse opsomming beskikbaar nie.
Description
Thesis MA (VA)--Stellenbosch University, 2022.
Keywords
Ethnology -- Authorship, Art -- Diaries, Notebooks, Art -- Study and teaching (Higher), Teacher-student relationships, Art students, Art teachers, Art in education, Artists as teachers, UCTD