© 2007
ELISA GARGARELLA
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
LANDMARKS FOR CHANGE: A CASE STUDY EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF A
COMMUNITY-BASED ART EDUCATION PROGRAM ON ADOLESCENTS
A Dissertation
Presented to
The Graduate Faculty of The University of Akron
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Elisa Gargarella
May, 2007
LANDMARKS FOR CHANGE: A CASE STUDY EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF A
COMMUNITY-BASED ART EDUCATION PROGRAM ON ADOLESCENTS
Elisa Gargarella
Dissertation
Approved: Accepted:
______Dr. Carole Newman Dr. Bridgie Ford Co-Advisor Department Chair
______Dr. Sandra Spickard-Prettyman Dr. Patricia Nelson Co-Advisor Dean of the College
______Dr. Kevin Concannon Dr. George Newkome Committee Member Dean of the Graduate School
______Dr. Sharon Kruse Date Committee Member
______Dr. Susan Olson Committee Member
ii ABSTRACT
Critics of contemporary schooling practices posit that many students will not have the necessary resources to meet the challenges or to address the pressing issues of the 21st century. Modernist ideals like self-governing individualism, competitiveness, conformity, objective knowledge, subjective realities, racial progress, and male dominance still shape the ways adolescents are taught in society. Education practices in which modernist tendencies still exist may make it difficult for youth to navigate an increasingly pluralistic and complicated world and may make it increasingly difficult to maintain community attachment or an investment in their futures (Lesko, 2001).
This qualitative case study examined what can happen when youth are given the skills and the opportunities to invest in their own future or the futures of their communities. The primary purpose of this study was to explore an understanding of a community-based art education program and its role in helping young people become more connected to their communities and more engaged in matters of social change. I drew theoretically and methodologically from a research approach that incorporated postmodern theory and practice into a community-based art education framework in order to better explain the complexities of youth growth and change in contemporary society.
Through this lens, it appeared that the “Artists as Activists Program” encouraged social responsibility through community-based art works by engaging multiple people in
iii meaningful creativity and including the narratives of young people in making art for the
public. This community-based art education program built on postmodern principles
allowed students to learn about and develop a connection to their communities through
art-making as well as to develop the skills necessary to become engaged citizens in social
change.
This study presents evidence that community-based art education has the potential
to help youth use their art as a mechanism to connect to their communities and to recognize their role in creating personal and collective landmarks for change.
iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
As methodologist and co-chair of my dissertation, Sandra Spickard-Prettyman has
guided me through my academic career with great intelligence, attuned sensitivity, and
genuine interest in helping me to be more reflective and profound in all my work. She
has helped to build my confidence in writing my dissertation and has given me a stronger
voice as a researcher and as an educator. Dr. Prettyman has also been a terrific mentor by
encouraging and helping me to publish and present my work on the national scene.
Carole Newman, the other co-chair for my dissertation, was kind and encouraging
to me throughout my entire study. Her enthusiasm for my work, practical advice, ability
to synthesize my writing, and nurturing demeanor all added to the conceptualization,
implementation, and writing of this research.
Susan Olson, my academic advisor, was extremely helpful in guiding me through
the dissertation process and doctoral studies program. She was always available to explore ideas and to offer intellectual and personal advice. Dr. Olson asked essential questions of me and challenged me to define and maintain a strong theoretical and conceptual framework throughout my study.
Kevin Concannon proved to be an invaluable member of my dissertation committee. With expertise in the fields of both art history and art education, Dr.
Concannon introduced me to a great number of artists, movements, and researchers who
v have made impacts on the development of community-based art education. His insight
provided me with real inspiration and a scholarly and historical backing for this research.
Sharon Kruse was the voice of pragmatism on my dissertation committee. She provided explicit feedback and directions for this paper. Dr. Kruse’s critical examination of my work forced me to think reflectively about my work and pushed me to really tighten my chapters. Her advocacy for my work and quiet support always made me feel
confident that I could create a valuable research study.
I wish to thank the youth participants in the Artists as Activists Program for allowing me to explore my curiosities about their culture, for trusting me to tell their unique stories. Each of the students in the program served as the ultimate inspiration for
my work. It is my hope that anyone who reads this study recognizes the potential of
today’s youth to make great strides in their communities.
My family has been a major system of support for me throughout this entire
process. My husband, Dawson Steeber, was kind and compensating. He gave me
physical space when I needed to work, and most importantly, the emotional support when
I needed it most. My parents, Gaetano and Diann Gargarella, created an environment
throughout my life that helped inspire my love of learning, my desire to enhance the lives
of young people, and my competitive nature. Their intellect and senses of humor have
helped to shape my ways of thinking and living in ways I am most thankful for. My
sister, Gianina Gargarella, and brother, Gabriel Gargarella, have been so supportive and
forgiving of my time spent immersed in the process of writing this paper. My mother-in-
law and father-in law, Judith and Ralph Steeber, supported me with love and many
prayers.
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF TABLES...... xii
CHAPTER
I. INTRODUCTION...... 1
Introduction...... 1
Impacts of Postmodernism and Community-based Art Education on Adolescent Growth and Change ...... 5
Theoretical Framework...... 7
Personal Groundings...... 9
Statement of the Problem...... 13
Purpose of the Study...... 14
Research Questions...... 14
Methods...... 15
Background of AAP ...... 16
Significance and Benefits of Study...... 17
Assumptions ...... 18
Delimitations...... 19
Definitions and Operational Terms...... 20
Summary...... 22
vii
II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE...... 25
Introduction...... 25
Part I: Broad Concepts of Postmodernism...... 26
Defining Postmodernism ...... 26
The Modernism/Postmodernism Relationship...... 28
Part II: Postmodern Intersections With Art Education ...... 30
Community-based Art...... 32
Exploring Community-based Art Education ...... 33
Part III: Impacts of Postmodernism and Community-based Art Education on Adolescent Development...... 37
Societal Trends Affecting Adolescents...... 38
Adolescents and Social Change...... 41
Positive Pathways to Adulthood ...... 42
Adolescent Transition to Adulthood...... 42
Postmodern and Community-based Art Education Influences on Adolescent Development ...... 46
Summary...... 48
III. METHODS...... 49
Introduction...... 49
Research Design...... 49
Population and Setting...... 50
Population...... 50
Setting for the Program...... 53
Gaining Access to the Program...... 54 viii
Rapport...... 54
Consent Procedures...... 55
Data Collection...... 56
Participant Observation...... 56
Interviews...... 57
Document and Artifact Collection...... 58
Data Analysis...... 60
Theme Development...... 62
Data Management...... 64
Subjectivity...... 65
Researcher Bias...... 66
Validity and Reliability...... 67
Summary...... 69
IV. DATA ANALYSIS...... 70
Introduction...... 70
Background and Setting of the 2006 Artists as Activists Program...... 71
Analysis of Major Themes...... 82
You Care About Us: Collaborations With Caring Adults ...... 83
Adult Expectations...... 83
Identity/Acceptance of Youth...... 88
Adult Mentorship and Collaboration With Adults...... 89
Collaboration With Caring Adults...... 91
Providing a Safe Haven for Youth Expression...... 93 ix
It’s a Simple Life ...... 94
Living a Simple Life ...... 94
Education, Training, and Curriculum ...... 98
Connecting to the Past ...... 102
Perspectives on Technology ...... 104
Developing an Emotional Attachment to Nature...... 105
When Opportunity Knocks ...... 107
Opportunity to Matter/to Make a Difference...... 107
Getting Their Work Out There ...... 112
Opportunity to Leave a Mark...... 114
Marking a Name for Themselves: Developing Youth Culture...... 116
Summary...... 117
V. SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH...... 119
Introduction...... 119
Review of Previous Chapter Discussions ...... 120
Findings...... 122
Research Questions...... 122
Interconnectedness...... 123
Ways Interconnectedness Was Encouraged...... 124
Factors That Encouraged Interconnection ...... 128
Social Change...... 130
Ways Engagement in Social Change Was Encouraged in Youth...... 131
x
Factors That Promoted Engagement in Social Change...... 136
Theoretical Findings...... 139
Suggestions for Practice...... 145
Additional Research...... 149
Summary...... 151
REFERENCES ...... 153
APPENDICES ...... 164
APPENDIX A SAMPLE CONSENT LETTERS FOR STUDENT AND ADULT PARTICIPANTS...... 165
APPENDIX B INITIAL SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW QUESTIONS...168
APPENDIX C GROUP FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW QUESTIONS...... 170
APPENDIX D CODE AND THEME LISTS...... 171
APPENDIX E IDENTIFYING NOTATIONS...... 174
APPENDIX F JOURNAL PROMPTS ...... 176
APPENDIX G TIMELINE AND CASE STUDY PROTOCOL...... 178
APPENDIX H INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD LETTER...... 180
xi
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1 Population Demographics ...... 53
xii CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Introduction
Young people are idealistic, irresponsible, and given to excess. They’re bored, apathetic. They don’t care about anything except themselves. These societal myths present negative perceptions of adolescents and often associate them with social problems like crime, violence, substance abuse, and teenage pregnancy. Perhaps they have bought into the popular media image of the contemporary adolescent—the one that is disengaged from her or his community, superficial and materialistic, lacking in direction and disenchanted with the world. Popular media commonly portray adolescence as a period of great storm or stress; a period that includes problem behavior driven by raging hormones, rebelliousness, identity seeking, heightened social concern, and peer conformism (Jacobs, Chin, & Shaver, 2005; Lesko, 1996, 2001). Males (1994), in a report on media myths about teenagers, emphasized the ways today’s media stereotypes mimic those once openly applied to unpopular racial and ethnic groups: violent, reckless, ignorant, hyper-sexed, welfare-draining, and obnoxious. These stereotypical images of adolescents suggest society holds suspicion about today’s youth and little trust that they will rise to the occasion of becoming healthy, productive, and valuable citizens.
1 Throughout my early career as a middle school and high school art teacher, I often found myself questioning media myths and stereotypes of teenagers. While I had no doubt popular media played a major influence on the ways society views young people, I wondered if all adolescents were as disengaged as they were made out to be. I had serious concerns about the futures of my students if they were in fact as disconnected and disengaged from their communities as the media and society had positioned them.
Like other professionals who work with adolescents in a period of time marked by serious social, political, environmental, and cultural threats to the well-being of all living things, I worried that my students would not have the skills, knowledge, or concern to meet the challenges of today’s world. I also worried that they might not have the desire or the capacity to affect their own life conditions or fix real-life problems in their futures.
If adolescents were only consumed with materialistic or self-serving interests, I wondered if my students even thought about major issues like global warming, racism, or international warfare or if they were concerned with local issues like loss of jobs or failed school levies. From my discontent with the ways adolescents were portrayed in the media and my sincere quest to enhance the life conditions of my students, I began to explore questions in my earliest art classrooms about teenagers and issues of social change.
Social science literature on adolescent development supports only some of these claims and shows patterns of apathy and disengagement among youth when it comes to interest and involvement in the social systems that shape their lives (Pinquart &
Silbereisen, 2005; Youniss et al., 2002). Youniss et al. describe adolescents around the
2 globe as feeling as if they had no opportunity to make an impact on their communities.
The problem is that a large number of today’s adolescents have no connectedness with
their communities (Hawkins & Catalano, 1992). Youth disconnectedness from community appears to breed disengagement in social change. Many do not know how to connect to their communities or how to engage in social change, and are not given opportunities to do so. This problem fuels the stereotypical portrayal of adolescents in popular media, society, and even in schooling—that they are self-involved and are disinterested in the serious social problems of the present or the future.
Some evidence exists in the literature, however, to suggest that adolescents can be instrumental change makers in social movements, and do engage in social change when their interests are at stake or when given a voice (Pinquart & Silbereisen, 2005; Youniss et al., 2002). Several community-based art education projects around the globe highlight youth as actively connected to their communities, and actively engaged in efforts toward social change. Organizations like Appalshop-The Appalachian Media Institute teach youth how to use video cameras and audio equipment to document the unique traditions and complex issues of their mountain communities (Appalshop Mission Statement,
2006). Other organizations like the Global Action Project provide media arts and leadership training for thousands of young people living in underserved communities, from New York to Croatia to Guatemala to the Middle East and beyond (Global Action
Project Mission Statement, 2006). Both programs provide youth with the knowledge, tools, and mentorship they need to create powerful, thought-provoking media on local and international issues that concern them, and to use their media as a catalyst for
3 dialogue and social change. As evidenced by these programs, those youth who are
actively engaged in social change are guided or mentored through the process by either a
community education program that is committed to social change or by individuals
committed to empowering youth in these ways.
Contrasting views from scholarly research presented suggest many youth around
the globe are actively engaging in social change efforts of local and world importance.
Yet, there seems to be a discrepancy between the societal or media myth of the
contemporary teenager and their potentials to participate in their communities and to
contribute in meaningful ways to the world. Some of these discrepancies might be due to the major social changes and challenges adolescents are facing in the 21st century as they
are caught in the gradual shift in society from modern to postmodern ways of thinking
and living. For example, adolescents in the 21st century are reported as having identity
characteristics modernists still elevate like increased independence, self-determination and self-realization (Miles, 2000). Some researchers emphasize the changing conditions of youth identity formation within contemporary society that is electronically mediated.
Giroux (1996) explains that society is producing a new generation of youth which exists between the borders of a modern world and a postmodern world of hybridized identities, electronic technologies, local cultural practices, and pluralized public spaces. An understanding of these concepts and views helps to conceptualize the ways today’s youth must negotiate the emblematic impacts of modernity and the current postmodern influences on their lives.
4 Chapter I provides an introduction to some of the challenges today’s youth must
face. Following an outline of the impacts of postmodernism and community-based art education on adolescent development, the theoretical framework for the study is
presented. After the personal groundings of the researcher in relation to the study are
discussed, the purpose of the study, a statement of the problem, research questions, and a
historical background of the program under investigation are provided. An overview of
methodology, significance and benefits of the study, assumptions, delimitations,
definitions and operational terms, and summary are also included in this chapter.
Impacts of Postmodernism and Community-based Art Education on
Adolescent Growth and Change
The National Research Council (2006) describes today’s youth as
the first generation to grow up in a world characterized by instantaneous global communication and the threats of both AIDS and the widespread use of terrorism as a political weapon. They will be the first generation to fully compete in a global economy and the first generation of whom the majority will spend a least part of childhood in a single-parent household. (p. 5)
Given the social trends that earmark the 21st century, many youth will be faced with
uncertainties about what the future holds for them in such a fast-changing environment,
and many challenges to becoming productive, rational, independent adults (Lesko, 2001).
Some critics of contemporary schooling practices posit that many students will
not have the necessary resources to meet the challenges or to address the issues of
society. Postmodern educators such as Giroux (1996) and Lesko (2001) emphasize that
modernist ideals like self-governing individualism, competitiveness, national strength and
growth, objective knowledge, subjective realities, racial progress, and male dominance
5 still shape the ways adolescents are taught in the 21st century. In contemporary Western schooling, there remains a great push for conformity, competition, and objectivist knowledge. These phenomena are evidenced by the use of standardized testing. The residual effects of schooling in which modern ethos still exist may make it difficult for youth to navigate their increasingly pluralistic and complicated worlds, and may make it increasingly difficult to maintain community attachment or an investment in their futures
(Hawkins & Catalano, 1992; Lesko, 2001).
Postmodern educators like Lesko (2001) and Wilson (2004) challenge those modern social formations still fostered in contemporary education systems. This means postmodernists seek to break down dominant social and cultural structures, to include the realities of diverse cultures and recognize many forms of knowledge, to provide safe havens for individual growth and interconnectedness with a caring community, and to offer opportunities for young people to matter; to make a difference in the world. From this postmodern perspective, educators may better be able to assist youth in transitioning to adulthood and to navigate through some of the uncertainty. Martusewicz (2001) points out a challenge to postmodern educators: “how do we ask our students to grapple with issues of justice, environmental responsibility, suffering and social welfare in the face of such overwhelming uncertainty and possibility” (p. 27)?
Artists of every era have dealt with these issues and have often provided a conscience for society (Brenson, 2001). Social issues dealing with environment, racism, homophobia, gender, sexuality, homelessness, and AIDS, to name just a few, are recognized sites for artistic interventions (Desai, 2002). The same issues have made their
6 way into the research and practices of many art educators as well. In particular,
community-based art educators have become increasingly intent on helping adolescents
engage in social change and interconnectedness with community. Taylor and Ballengee-
Morris (2004) explain that through community-based art education, young people can
learn to see the world as a transformative place, and not as a static entity, and that the transformation and civic renewal that take place through this learning “could be viewed as a social movement” (p. 11).
Theoretical Framework
Postmodern thinkers are interested in the active process of reconstructing social, political, and cultural boundaries to be more inclusive and more reflective of local as well as global issues (Gablik, 1991). Postmodernists critically break down modernist tendencies such as universalism, progress, and independent and rational individualism in attempts to reconstruct social belief systems. Moving away from modern principles, it is in this postmodern model that individuals are not celebrated for independence from society, but are instrumental participants in constructing social realities. Anderson
(1997) explains that there is a tendency of postmodernists to “borrow from traditional or indigenous societies . . . in rediscovering alternatives to modernism” (p. 65). Anderson also speaks of the postmodernist’s role in reintroducing the concepts of cultural embeddedness and the positioning of society over the individual.
Postmodern theory is realized in contemporary arts educational practices in a number of ways. Art educators like Neperud (1995a) and Gablik (1991) recognize
postmodern practices as those that depart from producing a dominant model of art and
7 culture to those that foster social responsibility, ecological sensibilities, and
interconnectedness. The study of community and ethnic arts, of local and cultural
wisdom, and of social justice issues are all part of the postmodern art educator’s scholarly
pursuits. By introducing youth to such constructs, by including them in collaborative arts
efforts and social, cultural and ecological restorative efforts, and by welcoming their
contributions in creating art in the service of community, art education programs built on
such postmodern principles are able to encourage youth connectedness and participation
in social transformation.
The term “community-based art education has been used as an overarching term
to encompass diverse art education practices and theories aimed at a close relationship
between art education and community” (Bastos, 2003, p. 70). Community-based art
education programs that are based on postmodern theory and practice are the focus of this
study. These programs encourage in young people the revitalization of community and
ethnic arts and practices, the intergenerational sharing of folk experiences and wisdoms,
and a knowledge and skill base to address important social, environmental and cultural
issues.
This study sought to understand if and how a community-based art education
program encouraged adolescents to connect to community and to engage in social
change. It was informed by postmodern theory, a theory that depicts notions of truth and
reality as constructed by multiple discourses and individuals as connected with community. The research was broadly guided by a postmodern oriented community- based art education framework that draws on local community and social change.
8 Informed by such a framework, the research explored factors within the “Artists as
Activists Program” (AAP) that nurtured interconnection between adolescents and community, social responsibility, ecological sensibilities, and cultural renewal and/or change. This approach stems from my understanding of the ways community-based art education programs can empower youth to connect to community and examine their possibilities in society. Such an approach could address the unique ways “art education practices are attentive to possible relationships between the arts and communities”
(Bastos, 2002, p. 70). This approach also seemed the appropriate mechanism for exploring some of the complex educational influences and variables that affect youth development. Fundamentally, this work clarified the postmodern ethos and attitudes community-based art education practices have the potential to assume.
Personal Groundings
The day my teaching certificate came in the mail, I was hired to work for a school district cited by Kozol (1991) as one of the most notorious and low ranking urban districts in the country. Long before my first day on the job, I had been warned by other teachers, a local police officer and neighbors that the junior high school where I would be teaching was among the most dangerous in the city. I heard the horror stories of gang shootings in the school, teachers who had been the targets of violence, and of the general apathy of the students. The only real facts were that 98% of all students at my school fell below the federal poverty line, and that I would be teaching art in the basement.
For the next 3 years, I worked with a meager budget, overcrowded classes and in appalling physical spaces. Many of my students were in trouble with the law, were at
9 risk for academic failure, were victims of violence, and were faced with the tribulations
of living in poverty. Many administrators and teachers in my school seemed distracted
by high-stakes testing, and left few occasions for attending to the social and physical
needs of the students. Most of my students expressed little confidence that they could
meet the standards of their teachers and the tests, and that what they were learning was
not useful to them anyway. They would shut down and proclaim that no one cared about
them or about the things they considered important. They felt they simply did not matter.
The standard practices valued by many art educators I had studied at the time
appeared to ignore the same needs. Teaching about the “masters” like Monet and Seurat,
Van Gogh or Warhol was boring and uninteresting to my students. Students commonly
expressed that they did not care about this kind of art curriculum. A failure to motivate
my students turned quickly into the behavior problems about which I had been warned.
Students stole from me, quit coming to class, or disrupted my instruction. Despite their behaviors, I wanted to believe my students were as smart, quick, and capable as I thought they were. I remained optimistic that my students had a lot to say and were perhaps just
not given the opportunity to do so. I was desperate to give my students a more relevant experience and to improve the conditions of my own teaching and their learning. I really wanted my students to feel like they had a voice in my classroom, like they mattered. I finally asked my students what they did care about. Most agreed that their history,
family, friends, church, future jobs, being loved, personal safety, and wanting to matter
were among the most important things in their lives.
10 It was then that I began introducing students to local cultural and social practices.
Though my students were 98% African American, few of them knew who Langston
Hughes was. Few knew that their school was within one mile of an Underground
Railroad safe house. With the strong push toward standardized testing and accountability, knowledge of local history and culture seemed to be given little attention in school curriculum. I began using my instructional time to fill in some of these gaps.
We studied the artists and writers of the Harlem Renaissance, one of whom even went to their school! I brought in a local quilter to teach my students how to sew and make quilts with hidden symbols and messages, like those used along the Underground Railroad. We attended gospel performances at a local church and a youth step dancing competition at the community college. These events excited and engaged my students in ways I had not seen before.
I also focused my instruction on the contributions of people historically marginalized by race, gender, class, or ethnicity. Guests from a Native American cultural organization and artists with special needs visited my classes. I secured a grant to bring in an internationally known photographer to explore language and meaning in African
American culture through pictorial symbols. Throughout this artist residency, students were exposed to visual media depictions of other youth their age, and created photographs that challenged assumptions about race and poverty. The six foot photographs created by my students became part of the “Youth Speak Up” exhibition at the contemporary art museum that showcased the creative works of urban youth in response to issues about which they were concerned. Almost all of the curricula
11 encouraged interdisciplinary conversations. Much of the work my students completed over 3 years would be exhibited in public spaces like the museum and the downtown library. This recognition seemed to make my students feel important. It seemed to motivate them to want to participate in learning about themselves and the places they had come from.
I witnessed new ways art education could provide my students with safe spaces to express their thoughts and feelings about their worlds. However, I still found many urban adolescents to have little or no connection to their communities without having these experiences, opportunities, or some guidance provided for them. A world beyond their immediate school and their home life seemed unimaginable and/or irrelevant to many students. Most of my students underestimated their ability to affect change, and often expressed little confidence regarding the impact they could have on society. Rarely did these teenagers think of themselves as educators of the public, nor did they consider it their job to preserve or engage in cultural ideals or places in their communities. It seemed my students were participating in the media-fulfilling prophecies of adolescence.
After several years of working with adolescents, I was offered a position at an urban university. Recognizing the opportunity to make an exponential difference in the field of art education and in the lives of more youth, I committed to working with pre- service teachers. This initiated a new career as an art education faculty and coordinator of art education outreach programming. In my first year, substantial funds were made available to create a summer art program for underprivileged teens from the inner city.
Given this charge, I developed a month-long art education program that would involve
12 teens in creating public art for local nonprofit organizations. In its infant stages, the program focused on developing artistic skills, raising self-esteem, and building opportunities for teens to explore different art forms as a career. My deep commitment to art education and desire to help young people connect to their communities and to view themselves as agents of personal and collective change ultimately led me to develop this research study.
Statement of the Problem
Many adolescents experience low community attachment or community connection and demonstrate little investment in their own personal futures or the social wellbeing of their communities (Hawkins & Catalano, 1994). While research supports this claim, there is evidence to suggest that some art education programs are effective in helping youth to connect to community and engage in the kinds of imagining, exploring, and creating necessary for social change.
This study evolved from the personal interactions I have had with adolescents that suggested youth desire a sense of community and the opportunities to make meaningful contributions to their community. Theories of postmodernism in art education, social science studies about adolescent development and social change, and my interest in understanding the ways adolescents connect to their communities and become engaged in social change also influenced this research. Through the lens of a postmodern community-based art education framework, this study investigated if and how a community-based art education program, the AAP program,, encouraged
13 interconnectedness between adolescents and their community and engaged adolescents in
social change.
Purpose of the Study
After 4 years of successful partnerships and creative programming, I came to recognize the potential of AAP to become a mechanism for connecting youth with their communities and for providing the kind of mentorship necessary for helping them engage
in social change. Throughout my career as an educator and a scholar, I have pursued
interests in adolescent development, art education, and social change. The program I
created evolved from these passions and provided me the opportunity to develop a
program that could help foster youth interconnection with community and their
investment in social change. The general purpose of this study was to explore the role of
community-based art education in encouraging young people to become more connected
to their communities and more engaged in matters of social change. Specifically, this
research study investigated AAP to understand if and how it was the kind of community-
based art education program that could connect adolescents to their community and
engage them in social change.
Research Questions
Research questions were inspired from a number of sources. My interests in
adolescent growth and change, art education, and social transformation were among
earliest motivations for the questions I sought to answer. My theoretical framework and
a review of literature on postmodernism and community-based art education influences
on adolescent development also contributed to the generation of major research
14 questions. From these sources, the following general research questions and sub-
questions were addressed:
1. Does participation in AAP encourage interconnectedness between adolescents
and community?
a. How is interconnectedness between adolescents and community encouraged or not encouraged, and what factors promote interconnectedness?
2. Does participation in AAP encourage adolescents to engage in social change?
a. How is engagement in social change encouraged or not encouraged in adolescents, and what factors promote engagement in social change?
Methods
This study employed case study design methods of data collection and analysis.
Using case study methods, I integrated data from observations, interviews, and artifacts
like student art work, journals entries, and sketchbooks. By piecing together the many sources of rich data, I was better able to reflect the lives of adolescents and other participants in the contemporary context of the AAP program. All places and participants, as well as the name of the AAP program, were assigned pseudonyms for this study.
In order to address the problem, I acted as a participant observer in making daily observations throughout the course of the 4-week AAP program. Interviews were conducted with all participants and art and journal artifacts were collected for analysis.
These qualitative tools allowed me to explore, describe, and explain the many interactions, events, and phenomena that constitute the AAP program. As a whole, this
15 qualitative inquiry was able to assist in understanding the thoughts, feelings, and actions
of youth participants and of the complexities of adolescence in postmodern times.
Background of AAP
AAP was conceived after the Midwestern university art education program I
coordinate received an endowment from a local folk artist to create a summer arts
program for low income high school students from one urban district. Once a year, AAP
brings together inner city high school art students and a practicing artist to produce
permanent or semi-permanent public art pieces for nonprofit organizations that are committed to the conservation of local culture, society, and/or environment. In the
course of a month-long summer program, student apprentices meet resident artists,
teachers, researchers, and partner organization educators to collaborate on the
development and creation of a site specific public work of art.
AAP consists of five major components. First, student apprentices curate and
execute a public exhibition of the personal artwork they created over the course of several
years. Second, they work with an artist-in-residence to plan, research, and create art for a
public organization. Third, students engage in organized discourse with artists,
educators, and administrators from the partner organization, and other decision makers or
stakeholders in discussions about topics important to the program and to the community.
Fourth, students reflect on and journal about their experiences in the program. Fifth,
students assist in organizing a public celebration to unveil the installation at the partner
site. During the course of this program, students are paid as apprentices. Throughout
each of these components, students receive positive mentorship by artists, staff, and
16 community partners. Through creative problem solving, they are provided opportunities to explore complex social issues that are important to their communities. They are provided with avenues for making a real difference in their community, and in return, they receive recognition for their valued service.
Significance and Benefits of Study
This specific case study grew out of an opportunity to explore an existing community-based art education program, the AAP program. This study was based on recommendations for more research studies to identify factors which promote interconnectedness between adolescents and their communities and active engagement in social change (Pinquart & Silbereisen, 2005; Takanishi, 2000). Informed by a postmodern community-based art education framework, the research looked for those specific factors within the AAP program that nurtured adolescent and community interconnection, social responsibility, ecological sensibilities, and cultural renewal and/or change.
The purpose of this research is to create possibilities for better understanding how art educators can address issues located at critical points of change in both society and in young people’s lives (Freedman, 2005). The troubles posed by contemporary times and the transition to adulthood both mark critical points of change in adolescents’ lives.
Adolescence, therefore, can be a time when teachers are able to reach young people at their most imaginable, their most impressionable, and their most malleable stages of development. Today’s youth must navigate obstacles like globalization of economies, depletion of environmental resources, and increased poverty while they inherit the
17 responsibility of sustaining the roots of democracy. Art education, a field well documented in commitment to change, may be one way to contribute to the preparation of young people educated and engaged in social issues of concern (Bolin & Blandy,
2003). It is therefore important that issues of adolescent connectedness and engagement in social change become integral to the theoretical and practical discourse among educators and policy makers. A better understanding of the ways community-based art education programs can impact today’s youth may move art educators toward new theories and practices with great implications; and thus move us in perhaps small, yet significant and transformative increments toward changes in the way we educate tomorrow’s citizens (Stout, 2006).
Assumptions
There were several underlying assumptions in this study. It was assumed that all student apprentices had been enrolled in at least one art class because the art teacher must have recommended a student and recruiting materials were sent to art teachers in the district. Because art teachers recommended students based on their leadership potential, level of maturity/responsibility, and their interest in the arts, it was assumed that students would possess these characteristics. Because participants in the study were initially screened for their commitment to the arts and for their leadership potential, it was assumed that students would respond cooperatively to interview questions and would demonstrate little to no resistance to any artistic or educational activities organized for them. Also, because a few of the students participated in previous AAP programs, it was
18 assumed that they would have a strong connection and connection to me and to the
program.
As a participant observer in the study, I had opportunities for close interactions with all participants and had to carefully monitor these interactions. I kept personal notes in a field log throughout the course of the project to reflect on any bias I might have developed toward particular participants or ideas. I assumed that my authentic interactions with participants, especially the adolescent participants, would encourage them to be open, honest, and respectful.
Delimitations
Delimitations in this study concerned the characteristics of the student participants in AAP. Because AAP is funded through a private endowment, several criteria had already been established for recruiting student apprentices. Students from seven urban high schools from one district would be included in the recruitment process. Every high school art teacher in the district received a recruitment packet to distribute in their classes. Student gender, race, or religion could not be controlled. At least 50% of applicants must, however, come from low income families. Of all students in the district who applied, only eight students would be selected to participate in AAP by a blind review panel consisting of two fine arts professors, a member of the partner organization and one art teacher from a district other than that of participants. Candidates would be recommended by their art teachers based on their leadership potential, level of maturity/responsibility, and their interest in the arts. Potential participants needed to provide the panel with a short essay explaining why they should be selected to participate
19 in AAP, and what their thoughts were regarding their views of how public art can educate
and/or change a community.
The student apprentice population may not be generalizable to other populations
of high school students. As qualitative researchers suggest, results from small population
studies may not be generalizable to a larger population, but they may fit well within
current theory or give transferable insight to developing theory (Eisner, 1998; Yin, 2003).
Definitions and Operational Terms
For the purpose of this study, the following definitions were used:
Art Education: A method or model of teaching which uses art as a tool for
learning.
Community-based Art: Art created for a community, by a community, or in
collaboration with a community based on the belief that cultural meaning, expression,
and creativity reside within a community (Goldbard, 1993).
Community-based Art Education: Art education practices that are attentive to
possible relationships between the arts and communities.
Interconnectedness: To connect or be connected with one another. In this study, it is an adolescent’s sense that they are connected or bonded to other persons, their community, and the society (FYSB, 1997). Interconnectedness between adolescents and
community can be evidenced by the development of interactions and dialogue, of positive
and respectful relationships, of support and value for each other, and/or of contributions
to the sustainability and the well-being of each other.
20 Material Culture: Material traces of human behavior (Hodder, 1994). For example, artifacts and documents like student journals, photographs of art work, sketch books, and art objects are considered material culture.
Modernism: A broad term that denotes a 19th and 20th century movement in the
arts and humanities. For this study, it is considered an attitude or ethos in which
objective and unified notions of truth and reality are favored and the individual is
positioned over society (Appleby, Covington, Hoyt, Latham, & Sneider, 1996).
Postmodernism: A broad term that denotes a shift from modernism that offers
competing conceptions of knowledge, power, subjectivity, and representation without
universal guarantees (Lesko, 2001). For this study, it is considered an ethos or an attitude
in which notions of truth and reality are constructed by multiple perspectives and
individuals are connected with community (Peters & Wain, 2003).
Reconstructionism: The active process of reconstructing social, political, and
cultural boundaries (Gablik, 1991). Postmodern reconstructionists foster a commitment
to reconstructing social, political, and cultural notions of truth and reality to be more
inclusive and more reflective of multiple interpretations while connecting individuals
with community.
Social Change: Broadly defined as change in the typical characteristics of a
society, such as the economic system, social institutions, cultural products, laws, norms,
values, and symbols. Engagement in social change was evidenced by the development of
interactions or dialogue, writings or art creation, and or taking action toward issues of
social, environmental, or cultural importance.
21 Theory of Adolescent Development: Adolescence is considered a transitional
period between childhood and adulthood generally thought to occur between the ages of
11 and 21. This is a transitional phase marked by changes in cognitive, psychomotor, and
affective domains, and is affected by genetic as well as environmental and cultural factors
(Broderick & Blewitt 2003; Lesko, 2001; Miles, 2000).
Summary
The media rarely showcases actual depictions of today’s youth as engaged in their
communities, pro-active, goal oriented, and resilient to the changes associated with the
21st century. Scholarly research, however, presents numerous examples in which
adolescents embody these characteristics when given access to opportunities in their
communities that guide and engage them in active imagining, exploring, and creating
social change. My own experiences with adolescents have led me to believe that some
youth do “desire democratic individuality, community, and society” (West, 2004, p. 177).
Even with little sense of who they are and perhaps little imaginations for what their
futures hold they seem to share a longing to matter, to make a difference in the world.
Literature reveals that social realities like globalization of the economy and the
shifting nature of work, the rise of media and consumer culture, and pluralization pose
great challenges to the ways adolescents will be able to connect to their communities or
to make a difference in society (Miles, 2000; National Research Council, 2006; Pinquart
& Silbereisen, 2005; West, 2004; Youniss et al., 2002). Research suggests that
community-based art education programs can guide and mentor adolescents in meeting
these challenges (Blandy, Congdon, & Krug, 1998; Neperud, 1995a).
22 This study was structured around a community-based art education framework
that draws on postmodern education practices. Community-based art education programs built on the principles of postmodernism, like those that encourage social responsibility through community-based art works, value local cultural practices, engage multiple audiences in meaningful creative work, and give voice to historically marginalized peoples have perhaps even greater potential to help adolescents become connected to their communities in meaningful ways and to help adolescents develop the agency necessary for social change (Baca, 1995; Bastos, 2002; Garoian, 1998; Lacy, 1995;
Pearse, 1997).
This study traced the experiences of eight adolescents in the AAP program as they were mentored by an artist in residence and educators from nonprofit organizations through the process of creating a collaborative public art installation for their community.
As they took part in this kind of program over the course of one month, the thoughts, ideas, and actions of participants were collected and pieced together to provide a holistic understanding of the ways adolescents might begin to connect with their communities and engage in matters of social change.
Len Vygotsky (1971), a notable developmental theorist, once said, “Psychological investigation reveals that art is the supreme center of biological and social individual processes in society, that it is a method for finding an equilibrium between man and his world in the most critical and important stages of his life” (p. 522). It seems that adolescence is one of those critical phases when art may make the biggest difference in their lives. Entering the complex world of young people during such a critical phase, this
23 study may hold possibilities for better understanding the unique contributions and potential adolescents have to offer society. It may also help those invested in today’s youth to develop tools and programs that foster connectedness among young people and their communities, and help them engage in the kinds of social change that can improve the conditions of their lives and the lives of others.
24 CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Introduction
Those invested in today’s youth seek ways they can help young people view
themselves as responsible agents of change in the reconstruction of a diverse postmodern
world (Milbrandt, 2002). Many art education programs seem to foster connectedness
among young people and their communities and are helping them engage in the kinds of
social change that can address the many problems and opportunities of our time
(Aronowitz & Giroux, 1991). This study examined what happens when youth are given
the encouragement, the skills, and the opportunities to invest in their own future and the futures of their communities.
This study specifically explored the ways a community-based art education program could help young people become more connected to their communities and more engaged in matters of social change. To provide a context for this study, a selected review of historical and current literature examining the intersections of postmodern theory, community-based art education, and adolescent development is presented.
A review of scholarly literature is divided into three parts to parallel the theoretical and conceptual framework for the study. This framework centers on postmodern orientations in community-based art education and their influences on
25 adolescent development. Part I presents the broad concepts of postmodern thought. It
provides a history and definition of postmodernism and outlines the relationship between
modernism and postmodernism. Following a review of postmodernism, Part II discusses
the intersections of postmodernism in current art education practices. Included in this
section is a review of literature covering community-based art and community-based art
education practices as they intersect with postmodern theory and education practices.
Part III communicates a more focused review of the ways postmodern theory is realized in community-based art education practices to impact adolescent development.
Part I: Broad Concepts of Postmodernism
The intent of this section of the literature review is to outline theoretical positions associated with postmodernism. Developments in postmodern theory will be outlined to describe how current ideas and practices in postmodern thought have evolved. This sets up a framework for understanding and clarifying its more recent developments and impacts on art education as a whole, and more specifically, on community-based art education practices. To illustrate the ways postmodern theory intersects with art education practices, it is imperative to first define postmodernism, to provide a brief overview of the relationship to its historical predecessor, modernism, and to highlight those characteristics that distinguish the two schools of thought.
Defining Postmodernism
For over 100 years, postmodernism has been a debated construct among scholars in social sciences as well as humanities, and while there has been a considerable surplus of scholarly literature on postmodernism over the last decade, the underlying features of
26 postmodernism still generate ambiguity and controversy. Although its prehistory can be
traced to the late 19th century, the term postmodernism became part of Western social and
scholarly vernacular in the early 1970s (Jencks, 1995; Peters & Wain, 2003; Rose, 1991).
Currently, no distinctive definition of postmodernism within any philosophical, political,
or aesthetic discourse has been universally agreed upon (Agger, 1991; Barrett, 1997;
Clark, 1996; Efland, Freedman, & Stuhr, 1996; Peters & Lankshear, 1996; Peters &
Wain, 2003). Adding to the grayness in defining postmodernism, literary journals and
anthologies across multiple disciplines including anthropology, literature, politics, education, sociology, cultural studies, and visual arts have generated volumes on the topic over the past 30 years (Giroux, Lankshear, McLaren, & Peters, 1996). According to Efland et al. (1996), postmodernism is sometimes used as an overarching term for the
“larger cultural shifts of a postindustrial society” (p. 11). Giroux et al. describe postmodernism as a “method, a philosophy, an attitude, a tonality, a style, a moment, a condition, a movement and even a theory” (p. 4). Postmodernism is a broad term that denotes a shift from modernism that offers competing conceptions of knowledge, power, subjectivity, and representation without universal guarantees (Lesko, 2001). For the purposes of this study, a social theorist definition of postmodernism will be used, where postmodernism is an ethos or an attitude in which notions of truth and reality are constructed by multiple perspectives, and individuals are connected with community
(Peters & Wain, 2003, p. 69).
27 The Modernism/Postmodernism Relationship
Some theorists describe postmodernity as an “epochal shift or break with the so called ‘modern era’ and with various traditionally ‘modern’ ways of viewing ourselves in the world” (Giroux et al. 1996, p. 7). Postmodernism is often framed by its relationship to modernism. A hybrid term, postmodernism suggests a paradoxical duality, or what
Jencks (1995) refers to as “double-coding,” in which modernism both continues as it is transcended (p. 30). It is contested in the literature whether postmodernism is antimodernism, an actual break from modernism, or a continuation of modernism. It is therefore important to discuss the modern/postmodern relationship and to outline those qualities that set the two ethos apart.
Modernism, or the avant-garde era of the 20th century, emerged from the period of
Enlightment (Barrett, 1997; Clark, 1996; Smith, 1992). Scientific, philosophical, and political leaders of modern thought “championed reason as the source of progress in social change, believing that with reason they could produce a just and egalitarian social order” (Barrett, 1997, p. 17). Modernism’s focus on purity of form and absolute truths, lasting ideals of the Enlightenment period, attempted to create a universal structural social order and what Clark (1996) refers to as “binary polarities” (p.11). These dichotomies, such as male versus female interactions and White versus non-White dynamics, produced narrow, absolute, and subjective realities, often exploiting subcultures on the periphery of the dominant social status quo.
Kvale (1995) provides another binary theme of modernity: the “dichotomy of the universal and the individual, between society and the unique person” (p. 20). This notion
28 positions the individual over society where individual selves are the center of modern thought. Cahoone (1996) further explains,
scientific knowledge of the world and rational knowledge of value places the highest premium on individual human life and freedom, and believes that such freedom and rationality will lead to social progress through virtuous, self- controlled work, creating a better material, political, and intellectual life for all. (p. 12)
Critics of this modern canon of individualism see such an ideal as leading to oppressive and isolating circumstances and an increased loss of personal identity, voice, efficacy, and responsibility to the common good (Clark, 1999). Cahoone (1996) agrees that critics consider modernity as a “movement of ethnic and class domination, European imperialism, anthropocentrism, the destruction of nature, the dissolution of community and tradition, the rise of alienation, and the death of individuality in bureaucracy” (p. 12).
Postmodernists like Gablik (1991) and Hutchens and Suggs (1997) similarly criticize the effects of the modern movement as leaving a residue of subjective and disinterested individualism, disconnectedness from community, freedom from obligation to the world, and freedom from relatedness. Skeptical of those beliefs derived from the Enlightenment concerning truth, knowledge, and the self, they argue for the revitalization of interconnectedness between individuals and community, and recognition of the holistic nature of human and social conditions.
Differing from modern concerns, postmodernism is preoccupied with multiple meanings, shared decisions, and an interest in diverse narratives or stories of a community (Kvale, 1995). Postmodern thought attempts to decentralize universal meaning by focusing on local systems of knowledge and honoring multiple traditions.
29 Departing from a modernist focus on purity of form and universality of human experience, postmodernism is concerned with identifying differences and interpreting multiple voices. In other words, postmodernism is invested in deconstructing and/or reconstructing patterns of socially constructed knowledge, truths, and human experiences.
Part II: Postmodern Intersections With Art Education
Literature in art education suggests postmodern approaches have permeated the field theoretically and in practice over the past decade (Gablik, 1991; Hutchens & Suggs,
1997; Neperud, 1995a; Noel, 2003; Pearse, 1997; Taylor, 2002; Ulbricht, 2005; Wilson,
2004). Both in practice and in theory, postmodernists are in pursuit of multiple interpretations and the recognition of diverse, pluralistic perspectives (Kindler, 1997;
Wilson, 2004). Hutchens and Suggs put forth the idea that postmodern art educators embrace critiques of common human affairs and social conditions. Wilson agrees that
“opposing views are useful, that local knowledge should compete with the notion of world system,” and that contemporary studies of youth’s art will most likely consist of many intersecting intertextual stories rather than one master modernist narrative (p. 326).
Art educators like Neperud (1995a) and Gablik (1991) see postmodern practices as reconstructive, like those that depart from producing a dominant model of art and culture to those that foster social responsibility, ecological sensibilities and interconnectedness.
In contrast to modernist ideals still championed in many art classrooms, such as individualism, originality, self-expression, and formal studies of Eurocentric art,
Milbrandt (2003) recognizes postmodernism as offering “the means to move art education from a peripheral, somewhat elitist, modernist position to one that integrates
30 and defines itself as interactive and relational” (p. 318). Taylor (2002) also recognizes the postmodern art education arena as a place for transformative and socially reconstructive practice.
Postmodern thought is actualized in contemporary arts educational practices in a number of ways. Wolcott and Gough-Dijulio (1997) identify three ways art educators incorporate postmodern practices: (1) they integrate arts with other disciplines to create a broad, holistic context; (2) they use diverse art works to generate questions about meanings, and to think more critically about themselves and their world; and (3) they pay more attention to multicultural issues and less attention to forms of high and low art.
Hamblen (1995) describes additional ways postmodernism has influenced art education.
Collaborative art projects, the study of community and ethnic arts, and environmental design responsibilities are expressive of the values of postmodernity. Postmodernity embodies the values of social pluralism, ethnic diversity, tradition, and contextualism. Local knowledge and the input of nonexperts are valued, in contrast to the rationalism and technological expertise values by the modernist. Concrete experience, folk wisdom, and tradition play a role in the postmodernist’s world and his or her decision making. (p. 47)
A review of the literature suggests many art educators demonstrate a commitment to incorporating a reconstructive postmodern model of knowing and learning in their classrooms and beyond. Educators like Neperud (1995b) encourage in students ideas of understanding how to respond to the demands for cultural renewal and change, of individual and community interconnectedness, and of hopefulness toward local, ecological, and social reconstruction. Similarly, Gablik (1991), Hamblen, (1995), and
Taylor (2002) recommend studies of long-term or on-going projects, non-object-based art, and art that is not concerned with formal aesthetics. Instead, they agree that studies
31 of collaborative efforts, intergenerational exchange of histories and experiences, social, cultural and ecological restorative efforts, values of local ways of knowing, and multiple voices in creating art in the service of community and justice are valuable.
Community-based Art
Much like the history of postmodernism itself, the origins of community-based art in the United States are debatable. Dreeszen (1994), as cited in Congdon, Blandy, and
Bolin (2001), believes community-based art programs like the Village Improvement
Movement (1853), City Beautiful Movement (1853), Works Progress Administration
(1933), and Cooperative Extension Service (1937) were the earliest models of community-based art programs. These infant models largely produced art for the purpose of beautifying and humanizing public spaces. The National Endowment for the Arts’ establishment of the Art in Public Places program (1967) fueled the emergence of the kind of community-based art initiatives as we understand them today; those that go beyond simply producing art for community aesthetics. Many of these initiatives were thought to have roots with social activist ideals of the 1960s (Goldbard, 1993; Lacy,
1995). Goldbard explains,
energetic, idealistic, socially conscious artists were driven by the forces that propelled ‘The 60’s’ into being; rebellion against socially enforced conformity, recognition of pressing social problems that had been obscured by the quietism of the Red Scare and its aftermath, and the flowering of cultural identity in racial, ethnic and sexual liberation movements. The energy to develop a community arts practice unquestionably came from those artists; the seeds that sprouted in community arts activity came from their own communities. (p. 25)
Researchers like Congdon et al. (2001) and Ulbricht (2005) expose community arts as situated with groups of people joining together in places like museums, churches,
32 local arts agencies, park facilities, retirement centers, prisons, and recreation facilities.
They speak of the ways community-arts programs work collaboratively with the public to
“engage people in the arts as a part of the discourse required by democracy and that nourishes civil society” (Congdon et al., 2001, p. 4). Goldbard (1993) asserts that there are two essential components in defining community-arts: (1) they are centered in localized cultural meaning, expression and creativity; and (2) they exist through collaboration between artists and community. Others, like Lacy (1995) and Stephens
(2006), speak of participatory public art or art in the public interest. Each of these scholars emphasizes the same interconnective and collaborative methods as integral to this kind of public art and to community-arts in general.
Bastos (2002) states that the term community-based art education has a broad orientation that describes art education theories and practices that are attentive to potential relationships between the arts and communities. Though a general description of community-based art education exists, there is no consensus in the scholarly literature on either its origin or its definition (Congdon et al., 2001; Goldbard, 1993; Ulbricht,
2005). Despite its increasing popularity in art education, an examination of community- based art initiatives in art education may help to at least define its purposes. Exploring its purposes in art education with also strengthen the argument that community-based art education in and of itself can be considered a reconstructive postmodern practice.
Exploring Community-based Art Education
Drawing from the literature, community-based art education programs may be best equipped to combine what is known about adolescents and postmodern behaviors
33 together in an active, real-world way (Neperud, 1997). Youniss et al. (2002) agree that
community-based art education programs can be counted on to “rise to the call for
preparing adolescents to become partners in the political evolution that is already under way” (p. 139). Ulbricht (2005) sees community-based art issues and events presented in contemporary art education circles through the means of informal teaching, organized community teaching, outreach efforts, ethnographic methods, and in public art creation.
Informal teaching can be described as any type of art education that takes place outside the traditional school, including museum visits, foreign travel, arts apprenticeships, and home-based instruction. Organized community teaching refers to those formal activities taught by professionals in nontraditional classroom settings like museum school and schools of craft. Outreach efforts often include those efforts that increase empowerment and visibility for marginalized groups like art programs for special needs populations or art exhibits to recognize local arts as valid contributions to community life and culture.
For example, an exhibition at Bowling Green University in 1987 titled, Boats, Bait and
Fishing Paraphernalia: A Local Folk Aesthetic, was organized to explore a range of functional objects as representative of local culture, identity, and aesthetics of towns in northwest Ohio. Exhibitions like these are strong examples of those which exemplify traditional community purposes and aesthetics and bear outreach criteria (Blandy &
Congdon, 1988). Ethnographically-based programs exist to increase knowledge about local culture, customs, and social and physical environments in which people live.
Finally, public art that is entwined with specific issues related to community like
34 citizenship, democracy, environment, and revitalization can be another realization of
community-based art efforts in art education spectrums.
Congdon et al. (2001) recognize community-based arts education settings as
places where people create together for a variety of political, cultural, economic, and
educational purposes; those purposes “directed towards debating and creating the
common good” (p. 3). Similarly, Bastos (2002) sees community-based art education as a
“change-oriented” framework that draws on local community, art, and culture (p. 70).
Judith Baca’s Guadalupe Mural Project (1986) provides a strong example of this kind of
community-based work, the kind of work that Russel (2004) refers to as a “listen and
lead” model of collaborative public art. Gathering insight from local people from the
community, largely a Mexican-American agriculture population, Baca embraced the role
of both community-artist and ethnographer. Baca listened to the community’s ideas
about their heritage as well as their future dreams and organized a four panel mural
project that not only incorporated their visions but enlisted the help of over 100
community members to implement the project. In another example, Baca developed a
visual history representing Los Angeles’ ethnic populations. In a collaborative mural
with at-risk youth Baca created the Great Wall of Los Angeles (1974-1979), signifying a
purpose to “create a public memory for a many-cultured society” (Baca, 1995, p. 137).
These are the kinds of participatory art projects that empower, celebrate local and
often marginalized cultures, and are rooted in connectedness and collaboration; the kind
that may be considered a form of reconstructive community-based education in and of
itself (Stephens, 2006). These initiatives are also thought to encourage and model civic
35 engagement in a variety of ways involving diverse participants and myriad venues, which over time can nurture important discourse about issues of social significance (Congdon et
al., 2001).
Literature in art education frequently cites community arts as a topic for
curriculum in contemporary art classrooms. “These diverse art objects and practices
function, in part, as catalysts for dialogue about individual and group identity, local and
national concerns, and ultimately the pursuit of democracy” (Congdon et al., 2001, p. 3).
As Ulbricht (2005) points out, some community-based art education is aimed at
increasing specific art skills, while others are undoubtedly concerned with promoting
social change. In certain curricula, there is a strong focus on studying tribal, folk, local,
and agrarian art and culture (Desai, 2005). Other curricula aim to incorporate
deconstructionist goals like exposing and critiquing structural inequities in our society,
deepening critical consciousness and imagining alternative courses of action, while others aim to inspire more reconstructionist agendas such as critical action or social transformation. Like Neperud (1995), Blandy et al. (1998) focus on developing an awareness in students of how ecologically minded community-artists use ordinary materials and found objects, and how they consider “nature and ethnicity, recycling and location, gender and eco-feminism, environmental devastation, sign texts, and ecological and cultural restoration” (p. 232).
The theories and practices related to community-based art education seem to be similar to the postmodern theories and practices described in earlier sections of this review. Whether art educators engage students in learning about local culture, or artists
36 engage communities in creating intergenerational works, they each signify a postmodern agenda. The tenets of postmodern thought are evident in the collective goals of community-based art education: to encourage social responsibility through community-
based art works, to uphold collaborative and participatory practices among artists and
their audiences, to value local cultural practices, to engage multiple audiences in meaningful creativity, to include the narratives of or give voice to historically marginalized peoples in social and democratic processes, and to accept cultural artifacts from all places and times as valid objects of meaning (Baca, 1995; Bastos, 2002;
Garoian, 1998; Lacy, 1995; Pearse, 1997). For these reasons, it can be implied that community-based art education has the potential to help adolescents become connected to their communities in meaningful ways and help adolescents to develop a genuine sense of agency toward social issues within the broader global spectrum.
Part III: Impacts of Postmodernism and Community-based Art Education
on Adolescent Development
Current literature suggests that local communities are possible sites for empowering today’s youth (Cargo, Grams, Ottoson, Ward, & Green, 2003; “Carnegie
Council for Adolescent Development,” 1995; “Family and Youth Service Bureau,” 1997;
Hicks, 1990). Research reveals that adolescents who are connected to their local communities are more likely to make successful transitions to adulthood and are more likely to develop a commitment to social change both locally and in broader spectrums
(“Family and Youth Service Bureau,” 1997). The following section of the literature review discusses large scale societal trends affecting adolescent development. While a
37 full study of the culture of adolescence was beyond the scope of this review of the
literature, this section does outline possible responses adolescents choose toward
engagement in social change in lieu of such societal trends. Finally, this part of the
review explores the ways postmodern community-based art education impacts the
development of adolescents.
Societal Trends Affecting Adolescents
Consistent in the literature as having profound influences on adolescents’ lives,
several social trends exist: globalization of the economy and the shifting nature of work,
the rise of media and consumer culture, individualization versus pluralization, and
demographic changes (Miles, 2000; Pinquart & Silbereisen, 2005; West, 2004; Youniss,
et al., 2002). Youniss et al. (2002) explain,
youth did not create the post-1989 global uncertainty nor the sprawling global economic structures that can easily breed a sense of impotence. Nonetheless, youth will be the critical participants in the processes that achieve stability, even out the widening gap between rich and poor, preserve the environment, forcefully quell ethnic enmities, and render a balance between globalization and cultural traditions. (p. 139)
They describe the social climate of a contemporary era that today’s youth are born into,
suggesting adolescents have tremendous challenges to overcome if they are to survive the
quickly changing climate of the 21st century.
Due to shifting economic patterns, globalization of the marketplace and ever-
changing communication technologies, more and more young people are finding themselves with feelings of uncertainty about the future and feelings of low community
attachment (Hawkins & Catalano, 1992; Youniss et al., 2002). These trends in adolescents’ lives may be associated with an increase in mobility and a weakening of
38 community ties (Pinquart & Silbereisen, 2005). Giroux et al. (1996) suggest that adolescents must navigate through multiple borders and spaces marked by “excess, otherness, difference, and a dislocating notion of meaning and attention” (p. 68). Having to cross social and cultural borders, today’s youth may find themselves disconnected from both themselves and their communities.
Advances in technology are also thought to increase uncertainty in adolescents about the changing world of work, the skills needed for productive work, the opportunities that will be available to them, and the possibilities of having low income jobs in their futures (Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, 1995). What is clear is that the constant flux of economic patterns and technological advances requires adolescents to develop increasingly advanced technical, creative, analytical, and communication skills to participate in contemporary society. Adolescents from different backgrounds, especially those from low income families, may not be as knowledgeable or may not be able to keep pace with the rapid developments in technology thus increasing disparities in skills and in opportunities (Takanishi, 2000). It can also be argued that today’s youth are living in a pseudo-reality; that technological media has become a substitute for experience and a mode for escapism (Giroux et al, 2000; West, 2004).
Many are disconnected from local community life and connect instead to the Internet or to “reality” shows on television. The television models for family life, aesthetic appearance, and material wealth can lead to unrealistic future aspirations and affect the development of identity. Adolescents plagued by a consumer culture that pits individuals against individuals may also struggle with building a stable identity. Adolescents are not
39 immune to the pressures to look better, buy more, “must have it now” ideas enforced by various sectors in the media. West (2004) paints the media as glamorizing “possessive
individualism at the expense of democratic individualism” (p. 175).
One researcher identifies adolescents in the 21st century as having increased
independence, self-determination, and self-realization (Miles, 2002). These ideals seem
to be a carry-over of modernism’s championing of the individual. Giroux et al. (1996)
express that it is helpful to understand the
changing conditions of identity formation within electronically mediated cultures and to appreciate how they are producing a new generation of youth which exists between the borders of a modernist world . . . and a postmodern world of hybridized identities, electronic technologies, local cultural practices, and pluralized public spaces. (p. 61)
Likewise, Pinquart and Silbereisen (2005) recognize the collapse of traditional sources
for building identity and social norms like family and community, noting that these are
replaced by a liberalization of social norms.
Changing demographics may also have great consequences on adolescent
development. Young people must live and work with an increasingly diverse population
of cultures and religions in this country. As Hicks (1990) points out, adolescents must be
open to diversity and difference, recognize the voices of marginalized peoples and
become part of the widening gap between wealthy and poor people. With a decline of
localized social norms in an increasingly pluralistic world, it is possible to see how youth
can become disconnected and alienated from their communities.
40 Adolescents and Social Change
Scholarly literature presents few examples of empirical studies that exist on the topic of adolescent development and the ways they engage social change. One source explains that the ups and downs of social change are experienced through youth lifestyles, and that “the way in which young people engage with these lifestyles is through the construction of their identities and the negotiation of the relationship between structure and agency” (Miles, 2000, p. 147). Lifestyles can be considered outward expressions of identity, constructed by the active integration of individuals and society
(Miles, 2000). In other words, adolescents are consciously and unconsciously molded by society, while at the same time adolescents actively construct their own social realities.
In this sense, lifestyles of adolescents seem to parallel social life, overtly expressing the tensions between individual purposes within larger social structures. Peterson (2000) defines four qualities that young people must possess in light of current social changes.
They include: (1) technical and analytic capabilities to participate in a technologically knowledge-rich international economy; (2) motivation for life long learning; (3) values to live peacefully in a diverse society; and (4) a capacity to live with uncertainty and change
(p. 295).
Current trends in society like globalization of the economy, saturation of media and consumer culture, and individualism within pluralization may be too difficult for some youth to absorb. While many adolescents will find themselves further distanced from their communities, there is promising data to suggest that some young people are choosing lifestyles committed to social change. Youniss et al. (2002) say, “although there
41 are limited data on young people’s involvement in the full spectrum of political and civil
activities across nations, the general picture that emerges is one of apathy toward
traditional politics, but interest in a range of nonmainstream forms of civil involvement
that can become mobilized” (p. 128). Adolescents seem particularly motivated when
issues close to home like school violence and transforming unattractive spaces in the
neighborhood present themselves. A strong connection to community, as this next
section describes, is one factor cited in the literature that can lead to successful transitions into healthy and socially participatory adult life.
Positive Pathways to Adulthood
Adolescence is considered a transitional period between childhood and adulthood.
Throughout this transitional phase, generally thought to occur between the ages of 11 and
21, young people begin to make important decisions about their futures. While all humans transition through various stages of youth development, it is important to understand that adolescence is a process affected by genetic as well as environmental and cultural factors (Broderick & Blewitt 2003; Lesko, 2001; Miles, 2000). Miles describes youth as an “increasingly nomadic experience” as individuals attempt to navigate through the many possibilities as well as challenges before them (p. 156).
Adolescent Transition to Adulthood
The Family and Youth Service Bureau [FYSB] (1997) provides a conceptual
model for understanding youth development and the successful ways adolescents make
the transition to adulthood. For what FYSB refer to as “positive developmental
pathways” to occur, adolescents must develop a sense of competency, connectedness,
42 control, and identity. Exploring the aspects of competency, connectedness, control, and
identity can provide a useful picture of the ways adolescents may develop the propensity
for connecting and committing to community and social change.
A sense of competency can occur when adolescents are engaged in productive activities within their communities and win recognition for their productivity. When public recognition situates adolescents as valued and credible contributors, they can imagine themselves as productive agents in society (FYSB, 1997). Competency is the result of preparation and training in skills essential to becoming active, contributing members of society. Youniss et al. (2002) suggest that for young people to develop
competence, they must acquire “behaviors that allow citizens to participate in
government and permit individuals to meet, discuss, and collaborate to promote their
interests within a framework of democratic principles” (p. 124). Competence is also
developed through personal action in local contexts and through the collaboration with
older generations in forging civic ideas and bonds (Youniss et al. 2002). Increased
feelings of competency coupled with the development of life skills have also been
reported to result in the development of a stable identity, both necessary precursors to
positive development in adolescents (“Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development,”
1995; Erikson, 1968).
The FYSB (1997) reports that adolescents who have a strong sense of control
over their fate believe they can affect their futures and feel a sense of hope that they can
change their lives through their own actions. This is the same kind of hope that is thought to precipitate commitment toward efforts of social change. The Carnegie
43 Council on Adolescent Development (1995) agrees that a belief in a promising future
with real economic and social opportunities as essential to a successful transition into adulthood. Adolescents given the opportunity to construct their own life experiences, to
voice their ideas, opinions, and concerns in a meaningful way, and to make decisions independently, and collectively within their communities develop a strong sense of control over their futures. Such experiences are reported to increase feelings of confidence and participatory competence; the kind of experiences that give young people
a sense of personal control (Cargo et al., 2003).
Throughout the literature, youth connectedness to each other and to their
communities seems to be a strong indicator of positive development (Cargo et al., 2003;
“Carnegie Council,” 1995; FYSB, 1997; “National Research Council,” 2002; Youniss,
McLellan, & Yates, 1997; Youniss et al., 2002). Youniss et al. (1997) found that youth
participation with community organizations during adolescence was a predictor of adult
political behavior and future volunteer, collaborative, and activist tendencies. A report
from the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development (1995) identified a sustained and
caring relationship with at least one mentor or adult as well as connectedness to a social
support system as paramount to the successful transition into adulthood. The National
Research Council (2002) similarly found there is strong concurrent and longitudinal
correlational evidence that connectedness, being valued by the larger society, and
institutional attachments for positive youth development were strong predictors of
academic success, long-term career opportunities, good mental health, positive identities,
confidence, self-efficacy, optimism, and good self-regulation skills.
44 Adolescent identity development is shaped by cultural and environmental
contexts, local and world views, the biological, social, cultural, and political ways in which adolescents identify themselves, and by their commitments to various positions in the world. Smith and Stevenson (2003) state a major issue of the 21st century as
whether young people can establish an identity strong enough to enable them to knit their worlds—including home, friends, neighborhood, gender, race, ethnicity, and school—into a cohesive world in which they grow and thrive or whether they will be caught in fragmented and disparate worlds that frustrate and impede their efforts to learn and develop. (p. 12)
Developing a stable and consistent identity during adolescence can set the foundation for
future ways of thinking and acting in adulthood. Researchers like Taylor (2002), Youniss
et al. (2002) and Cargo et al. (2003) see identity as related to involvement with their
communities. Youth participating in service or volunteer projects have the opportunity to
develop their identities within a community context. Community organizations for youth
reciprocate by providing meaningful experiences that may have lasting developmental
impact. They hold possibilities for encouraging positive identity formation by enabling
adolescents to make their own choices about who they are and who they want to become
(Congdon et al., 2001).
The individual qualities of connectedness, competency, identity and control seem
to overlap and support growth for each other in mutually beneficial ways. An increase in
feelings of competency may lead to increased feelings of connectedness; an increased
feeling of connectedness may strengthen identity formation; a stable identity may
strengthen feeling of personal control. Adolescents who are given the opportunity to
develop these characteristics may have a greater propensity for achieving positive
45 developmental pathways to adulthood. It seems that successful transitions to adulthood
may also lead to success in overcoming some of the social obstacles young people must
face as well as the proclivity for developing socially active lifestyles.
Postmodern and Community-based Art Education Influences on Adolescent Development
Patterns in the literature suggest that the characteristics of competency, control,
connectedness, and a stable identity in youth can ensure positive transitions to adulthood.
These characteristics could have a better chance of realization within young people if
they are involved in and mentored through activities that punctuate the life of their communities. FYSB (1997) cites several ways communities can foster those attributes known to foster positive developmental pathways. These include providing interactions that engage youth in productive activities worthy of recognition; interactions with adults that control and monitor adolescents’ behaviors in a consistent and caring manner while allowing them psychological and emotional independence; interactions that provide emotional support, encouragement, and practical advice to adolescents; and interactions in which adolescents are accepted as individuals with unique life experiences (FYSB,
1997).
As the literature on youth development suggests, adolescence is a pivotal point in which educators can nurture the development of young people’s commitment to social change. Positive experiences with community-based youth organizations can contribute to positive developmental pathways as well as empowered actions; actions that may transfer into ways they will engage in community and larger society as adults (FYSB,
1997; Neperud, 1997).
46 Literature supports the ideas that postmodern oriented community-based art
education programs have the potential to promote positive developmental pathways for
adolescents. It seems that these programs hold the potential for providing youth opportunities to increase feelings of connectedness, competence, control and help build identity traits that may transfer into adulthood—those that increase the likelihood that they will become critical participants in the social and cultural livelihood of the community. Community-based art education practices could be catalysts for youth empowerment, for social change, and for connecting youth to community. Community- based art education projects that utilize postmodern approaches to teaching and learning are committed to raising students’ critical consciousness through such means as studying
locally produced art and culture, or critiquing social ideologies that frame their personal
and world views.
Literature suggests community-based art education programs may hold the
possibility to examine and even challenge dominant social and cultural structures, to
include the voices of all peoples and recognize many forms of knowledge, to provide safe
havens for individual growth and interconnectedness with a caring community, and to
offer opportunities for young people to matter and to make a difference in the world. By
guiding, mentoring, and connecting with adolescents, these programs can transfer ideals
of hope and possibility for the future; ideals that are mimicked in postmodern approaches to teaching and learning within a community-based art education framework.
47 Summary
The literature on postmodernism in education, on community-based art education
and on adolescence all seem to be mutually exclusive. To this extent, little published
research or empirical evidence was found that directly linked postmodernism with
community-based art education in the interest of transforming adolescents. Despite this gap in the literature, themes from postmodern thought and tradition overlapped greatly with themes found in community-based art education literature.
Drawing on a community-based art education framework, the review of the literature highlighted reports and scholarly discussions on postmodern theory and education, community-based art education, and adolescent development. This conceptual orientation guided by postmodern education theory and practice, posits the value of encouraging youth and community interconnectedness and engagement in social change as possible new developments in contemporary art education. It also establishes the
important need for additional literature on these topics and the ways they intersect.
48 CHAPTER III
METHODS
Introduction
This study was an attempt to understand how a specific community-based art
education program assisted young people in becoming more connected to their communities and more engaged in social change. This research investigated the AAP program and its impact on developing interconnectedness between adolescents and their
community and engagement of adolescents in social change. Chapter III introduces the design used in the study to address the above purpose and research questions. In the
following sections of this chapter, the population and setting are described. Procedures for gaining access, developing rapport with participants, and obtaining participant consent are provided. Methods for collecting, managing, and analyzing data are discussed in detail, and finally, issues of subjectivity, validity, and reliability are addressed.
Research Design
Research methodologists often agree that research design evolves first from the purpose of the research and then from questions a researcher wants to explore (Marshall
& Rossman, 1999; Merriam, 1998; Newman, Ridenour, Newman, & DeMarco, 2003;
Yin, 2003). Yin (2003) asserts that examining “if” and “how” questions being asked
49 about a contemporary set of events is often best explored through case study design.
These kinds of questions are more explanatory and deal with operational links that need
to be traced over time (Yin, 2003). Yin submits these kinds of questions also require
researchers to draw on multiple forms of evidence like observations, interviews, and
artifacts. Case study designs in which the investigator has no control over behavioral
events must therefore rely on diverse sources of data to better understand the
phenomenon under study. The specific value of case study research is the potential to
study the intricacies and complexities of one case, or one program. The case for this
research centered on the AAP program and the individuals taking part in the program.
Case study design was employed because it is well suited to investigating the complex lives of adolescents in real-life contexts. Eight adolescents participated in the
AAP program. A case study design allowed for in-depth observations and interviews with all participants, and therefore held the potential to contribute intricate or subtle
information about the participants and their growth and change in contemporary society.
This case study employed qualitative methods like participant observation, interviews,
and the collection of artifacts and documents for analysis. These tools allowed me to
explore, describe, and explain the many interactions, events, and phenomena that
constitute the AAP program.
Population and Setting
Population
The population in this case study was the AAP program and included all student apprentices that were recruited and selected for the program, a resident artist and artist
50 assistant, and staff and administrators from the partner organization. Every high school
art teacher in the district (representing 7 high schools) received a recruitment packet to distribute in their classes. Student gender, race, or religion could not be controlled.
However, at least 50% of applicants needed to come from low income families as a
condition of the endowment for the AAP program. Candidates were recommended by
their art teachers based on their leadership potential, level of maturity/responsibility, and
their interest in the arts. Potential participants provided a review panel with a short essay explaining why they should be selected to participate in AAP and outlining their thoughts
about the role of public art in a community. It should be noted that all participants,
settings, and events were given pseudonyms in the write-up of this study.
Of all students in the district who applied, only eight students were selected to
participate in AAP for 4 weeks in the summer of 2006 (see Table 1). Apprentices were
selected by a committee made up of two art faculty from the university, one staff member from a former partner organization, and a local art teacher from outside the school district of the students. These eight students represented three high schools. Youth participants included three males and five females and were between 14 to 18 years of age. Six of the youth participants came from low income families, while only two came from a middle class socio-economic status. One student was African American, while the seven other students were Caucasian. Despite a lack of racial diversity within the group, students brought a variety of interests, life experiences, religious backgrounds and individual characteristics to the program.
51 Three adults were also full-time participants. Because the adult participants in
AAP provided guidance and mentorship throughout the program, their contribution to the data set was important. Liz Peters is a 44-year-old Caucasian female. She was selected as the artist for the 2006 AAP program. She worked daily with student apprentices to plan, guide, create, and install their public art sculptures. She participated in activities with the apprentices and was one of the central developers of artistic and educational curricula for the project. Jan Townsend was the artist’s assistant and administrative assistant throughout the program. Jan Townsend is a 26-year-old Caucasian female. She was a graduate student who was studying to become an art educator. Jan helped to organize daily events and provided logistical support to both me and to the artist. Ed
Ames is the Program Director for the environmental education center where students created their art installation. Ed Ames, a 34-year-old Caucasian male, engaged students in site-based programming related to environmental education, and spent 5 days interacting with youth during meals, at campfires, and during hikes.
Three other adults met with students during the program, though on a short and limited basis. Cassie Demeter, Irene Fields, and Eva Hill were representatives from the
National Park and a local urban public art organization. They were not interviewed for this study but did provide students with opportunities for open dialogue about art and social issues related to National Parks and urban life. See Table 1 for demographics on all participants in the AAP program.
52 Table 1
Population Demographics ______
Name Position Age Gender Race School or organization ______
Alex Apprentice 15 Female Caucasian Baldwin High School Anna Apprentice 17 Female Caucasian Washington High School Cash Apprentice 18 Male Caucasian Washington High School Jeff Apprentice 16 Male Caucasian Washington High School Maddie Apprentice 16 Female Caucasian Carter High School Nicole Apprentice 15 Female Caucasian Baldwin High School Nobel Apprentice 14 Male African American Washington High School Scout Apprentice 16 Female Caucasian Washington High School Ed Ames Program 33 Male Caucasian Environmental Education Director Center Liz Peters Artist 44 Female Caucasian University Jan Townsend Artist’s 26 Female Caucasian University Assistant Cassie Demeter Cultural Art 34 Female Caucasian National Park Coordinator Irene Fields Director of 52 Female Caucasian Local Urban Public Art Public Art Organization Organization Eva Hill CEO 36 Female Caucasian National Park ______
Setting for the Program
Marshall and Rossman (1999) ascertain that sites for conducting a research study should be unique or compelling and should ensure that there will be a rich mix of the processes, people, programs, and interactions of interest. The university where AAP was held served as the primary site for the study. Classrooms, studios, and gallery spaces at the university provided rich backdrops for observing student apprentices throughout the
AAP program. Events such as the curation of a gallery exhibit, the creation of art for a public art installation, a weekend camping trip, and participation in a closing celebration added depth to the daily observations. Field trips to the partner organization, a local environmental education center and other community sites, like a local historic center and 53 graveyard where students collected research for the public art installation they created,
provided other sources for compelling data.
Gaining Access to the Program
As director of the AAP program and a full time faculty member for the art
department at the university, access to the program did not pose a problem. Prior to the
study, I was the director of AAP for 3 years. In this capacity, I performed all
administrative duties for the program. For example, I established partnerships with area
organizations, recruited and hired artists and apprentices for the program, organized the annual budget, supervised all staff, and oversaw daily operations. In addition to my role as a director of AAP, for this study, I was a participant observer. Throughout the program I maintained my role as an administrator in a limited capacity with the help of an administrative assistant. My role as an administrator and participant observer facilitated opportunities to organize events like interviewing schedules and program orientations.
Rapport
Being accepted and trusted is an essential condition for the participant observer when conducting qualitative research (Glesne, 1999). Rapport with both student and adult participants occurred rapidly through my daily participation in the AAP program.
While a friendly rapport was developed with participants, I was careful in monitoring my relationships closely. Though I engaged in personal conversations with participants, I worked hard to maintain a professional relationship with them. The monitoring of interpersonal relationships helped deter any biases, experimenter expectancy effects, over-identification between participants and researcher, and/or issues of inaccessibility to
54 potential data sources from occurring (Glesne, 1999; Marshall & Rossman, 1999; Yin,
2003). To gain information about insiders’ perspectives, honest, forthright, and respectful interactions with participants was my goal throughout the study. I also tried to put into practice the standard of taking careful consideration for “individual participants and for the setting, portraying them with complexity and dignity” (Bresler, 2006, p. 65).
This approach helped me to maintain strong researcher ethics throughout the research.
Consent Procedures
Prior to conducting the study, I obtained Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, and permission was attained from the director of the art school to conduct this study. One month before the start of AAP, a formal orientation was held at the university for AAP staff and artist, partner organization staff and administrators, and student apprentices and their guardians. During the orientation, the goals and missions of AAP were outlined and specific features of the summer 2006 collaborative project were described. The purposes and procedures of the study were explained to students, their guardians, and other adult participants. Participation in the study required signed consent by students and a guardian. Each participant and/or their guardian gave permission for their child to participate. A copy of consent letters can be found in Appendix A.
Pseudonyms were used for the protection of participants and partnering organizations
(See Table 1). Participants and guardians were assured that there was no risk involved in participating in the study and that confidentiality would be protected throughout the study.
55 Participants were informed prior to all interviews that their participation was voluntary, that they could terminate their interviews at any time, and that data obtained
through interviews would be kept confidential and would not be viewed by anyone but
the researcher. They were also notified that all identifying information would be retained
in a locked cabinet or other locked storage area.
Data Collection
The design of this study incorporated qualitative data collection procedures,
including participant observation and semistructured interviews. Artifacts like student
journals, art work, photographs, and program brochures were also collected. A case
study time line and protocol is outlined in Appendix G.
Participant Observation
One of the greatest benefits in using participant-observation is the ability of the
researcher to “perceive reality from the viewpoint of ‘inside’ the case study rather than
external to it” (Yin, 2003, p. 94). This technique can provide the kind of rich and
descriptive data necessary for reporting a more accurate portrayal of a complex
phenomenon. Participant-observation also holds the unique possibility for a researcher to
gain access to events or groups that may be inaccessible to scientific investigation (Yin,
2003).
In this study, I engaged in daily participant observations during the course of the
4-week program and took extensive field notes as often as possible. Observation was
used to provide first hand accounts of situations and participants under study (Merriam,
1998). In this study, earliest field notes were used to describe general and broad
56 observations related to setting, participants, and organization of daily events without pre- determined categories. Throughout the length of program (approximately 20 days, for 3
to 5 hours a day), rudimentary scratch notes and thoughts were recorded in a field log while at each site. Notes were transcribed and expanded into descriptive, analytic, and personal notes within 24 hours of each observation. Participants were observed throughout daily interactions and activities they engaged in at the environmental education center, university studios and gallery, and at other events. Early notes taken in the field formed the focus for subsequent observations and provided a basis for
generating questions for a group interview conducted after the AAP program ended.
Interviews
Marshall and Rossman (1999) suggest that when interviews are combined with observation, researchers can better understand the “meanings that people hold in their
everyday lives” (p. 110). Eisner (1998) suggests that conducting good interviews is like
participating in a good conversation. Asking questions that focus on specific examples
and genuinely listening to participants are important attributes when conducting
interviews with various participants. Because good interviews emerge from the
participants’ point of view, open-ended questions in a semistructured format were utilized
(Marshall & Rossman, 1999). Such a format is flexible, allowing the researcher to
conduct interviews in a more natural way. Semistructured interviews also encourage a
participant’s perspective to evolve in relation to questions or issues related to the purpose
of the study.
57 In this study, a semistructured interview was conducted with each of the participants in the program, including student apprentices, the artist, and partner organization educators and administrators. Interviews were conducted with youth participants during the last week of the AAP program. Adult interviews occurred within one week of the end of the program. Interview follow-up questions and clarifications were carried out within one week after the program with the entire AAP group together.
A semistructured interview protocol was utilized (See Appendix B). The interview protocol was developed to reflect the questions under investigation and evolved from the literature as well as from early observations in the field. Firstly, interview questions were tied to a community-based art education framework. Secondly, initial interview questions were derived from themes identified in the literature as they pertain to the study. For example, this list included open-ended questions that asked participants to describe the kinds of opportunities they have to connect to their community. Thirdly, observational data analyzed by domain helped identify factors that appeared frequently in the data (Schensul, Schensul, & LeCompte, 1999). These factors shaped the interview questions and aided me in answering questions about how important factors were or what they meant.
Document and Artifact Collection
Collecting artifacts related to the program to complement other data collection methods can assist in better understanding the beliefs of participants and can provide credibility in a study (Marshall & Rossman, 1999). Material traces of human behavior, or artifacts and documents like student journals, photographs of art work, sketch books,
58 and art objects provide a rich source of information that can reveal what participants
might not or cannot say, and can generate a context in which deeper meaning about a
complex phenomenon can be illuminated (Eisner, 1998; Hodder, 1994). For this study,
several types of documents and material culture related to the AAP as well as the study were collected. Brochures about AAP and the partner organization, as well as any invitations and posters for the exhibition of student apprentice and resident artist work
were collected to help ground the study in context (Merriam, 1998). Beyond collecting
documents that describe AAP, more revealing material culture like student journals and
artwork were collected for analysis.
Hodder (1994) states, “material culture is the product of and is embedded in
‘internal’ experience” (p. 398). In my experience, many youth have demonstrated a hard
time expressing their internal feelings and experiences in a group of their peers or aloud
to the public. Their art work and journal writings are often safe places for them to take
risks and to express their true thoughts, anxieties, quirks, and true knowledge or
understanding of certain ideas. Representational artifacts like these were therefore
collected to illuminate some of the internal experiences of participants.
Eisner (1998) emphasizes that photographs can say things that “not only would
require pages and pages of words to describe, but in the end could not be adequately
described with words” (p. 187). Photographs were taken of student art work that were
too cumbersome to collect. Artist statements, personal drawings, and design sketches
from participants as well as their art work were analyzed for their representational
symbolism as well as their implicative value. The artifacts collected reflect the kinds of
59 private thoughts that provide insight into other components of participants’ lived
experiences that Hodder (1994) says add to the richness of a study.
Data Analysis
Several means for analyzing data were incorporated in the study. Prior to the
study, an a priori code list was generated from themes in the literature and from the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings that broadly guided the study (See Appendix
D). Yin (2003) explains that theoretical propositions can be helpful for guiding case
study analysis. For example, because this study sought to understand if and how a
community-based art education program encouraged interconnectedness between
adolescents and community, the theme of connectedness guided early data collection and
analysis. General themes like interconnectedness and subthemes developed a priori
assisted in focusing early observations and developing an interview protocol.
Data analysis occurred from the start of the program. A daily field log was used
in the study to record descriptions of events, people, conversations and activities. It also
became a place for reflections, ideas, and notes about patterns that were emerging
(Glesne, 1999). After each day in the field, notes and comments were reviewed. Time
was allotted to reflect on and analyze the data. Glesne suggests that this was the time to
“write down feelings, work out problems, jot down ideas and impressions, clarify earlier
interpretations, speculate what’s going on, and make flexible short- and long-term plans
for the days to come” (p. 53).
As daily field notes and interview transcriptions were entered into a database,
they were broken into descriptive, analytic, and personal categories and scrutinized for
60 emerging patterns, themes, and codes. Descriptive notes highlighted direct observations
of participants, activities, and settings, while analytic notes allowed for pattern
development and overlapping theme development (Glesne, 1999). Personal notes were
important for regulating researcher emotions and helped develop a checks and balances
system for researcher subjectivity (Eisner, 1998; Glesne, 1999).
During each phase of the data collection, data were screened so that related or
emerging patterns in participants’ behaviors and/or attitudes could be explored. Gaps or inconsistencies in the data were also examined and explored for possible justification.
Similarly, descriptions and analysis of participant artwork, journals, and other material culture required careful scrutiny. Hodder (1994) explains, “the methods of interpretation of material culture center on the simultaneous hermeneutical procedures of context definition, the construction of patterned similarities and differences, and the use of relevant . . . theory” (p. 401).
Code lists developed a priori were refined over the course of multiple readings to reflect emergent themes from the data. The use of constant comparisons and frequent readings of notes early in the data collection phase allowed me to collapse codes and ground subsequent observations in relation to research questions throughout the study
(Glesne, 1999). Although rudimentary coding schemes were developed early in the study, once the data collection was complete, classifying and categorizing each code required greater focus.
After all data had been collected, specific notes, quotes, images, and other information that seemed pertinent to the study were written or explained on index cards.
61 Each card was sorted into major code clumps (Glesne, 1999; Stockrocki, 1997). The
contents from each major code clump were broken into smaller subcodes. Each major
code and subcode was defined, given an identifier, and entered into a code book. A code
book assisted in arranging code clumps in logical sequence and helped to analyze larger
chunks of data. Once a working code book was in place, constant comparison methods
and thematic analysis were again utilized to revise and collapse codes (Glesne, 1999).
Major codes and subcodes were continuously reviewed for frequency, relevancy, and
relationship to the study and its questions. While all internal analysis was cross referenced to provide a holistic picture of the phenomena and to highlight the significance of the findings, it was important to contemplate rival explanations for findings (Merriam, 1998; Yin, 2003). This strategy aided in monitoring bias and
considering social, theoretical, and logistical influences that could have contrasted with
interpretations of the data. A discussion of specific code and thematic developments are
discussed in the following section.
Theme Development
After reviewing initial field notes and interview data, several codes were
developed from an a priori list born of themes prevalent in the literature related to youth development, and youth connectedness to community and social change (See Appendix
D). In the earliest stages of scanning field notes, I searched for postmodern themes in students’ interactions, comments and behaviors, as well as in the activities students, artist,
assistant, and EEC staff engaged in. I noted on several occasions youth engaged in the
critique of mass media, their support of each other’s diverse contributions to the artistic
62 process, recognition of historic and cultural influences in the generation of art objects,
and an appreciation for the intergenerational sharing of knowledge between artist and
themselves.
I scanned data for moments where students talked about social change, were
exposed to issues dealing with social and environmental justice, or acted upon issues
related to these concerns. Other initial codes, like youth connection to community
through artistic ventures or collaborative activities were explored.
Finally, identifiers like individual and group change were also examined. I
specifically sought evidence from students or from activities that promoted personal
change like increases in artistic skills, increases in leadership abilities, increases in
confidence, stronger communication skills, feelings of competence and feelings of
control, or belief in ability to affect their own future. In addition, I searched for any
comments or actions related to personal identity. Group change, such as increased
connection to peers, collective decision making, and group identity formation were also
among early constructs I searched for in the data.
After scanning my complete data set, I re-read field notes, interviews, and student
journals and artwork several times while constantly comparing initial and revised codes
that had evolved from the literature and from each reading. A final list of coding
emerged and was collapsed into six data chunks: competency, control, connectivity,
identity, social change, and activities, and curriculum (See Appendix D).
Participants’ actions and interactions, journal reflections, conversations, and artwork revealed that public recognition for their contribution, value for their
63 contribution, collaboration with caring adults, opportunities to leave a positive mark on the community, and the development of personal skills were all agents that contributed to
their feelings of personal, artistic, social, and work competencies. Opportunities to make
choices and to voice their ideas about their contribution to the art project and a belief that
they could affect changes in their lives seemed to enable feelings of personal control.
Connection to peers and adults participating in the program, connection to community,
and renewing connections to the past were also common threads that repeatedly surfaced
in the data. Being accepted as individuals and being treated with respect from adults
seemed to reinforce positive identities in youth. References to the environment, cultural
diversity, the development and appreciation of youth culture, and other social issues
important to youth were included in the social change code group. Finally, activities and
curriculum which encouraged personal or group change in regards to competency,
control, connectivity, identity formation, and social change were also highlighted in data.
The six revised codes and subcodes that emerged from multiple readings of the
data contributed to the formation of three major themes: collaboration with caring adults,
living a simple life, and having an opportunity to matter and/or to make a difference (See
Appendix D). An in depth discussion of these themes is presented in Chapter IV.
Data Management
A large volume of data was collected for this study. Because analysis occurred
throughout the data collection and afterwards, it was important to have a data
management system in place. To establish an audit trail, each data unit or scrap was
dated and assigned an identifying notation (See Appendix E). Field and transcribed notes
64 were assigned page numbers, along with artifacts like journal pages, photographs and writings. Three dimensional artifacts like student artwork or video tapes were assigned
separate numbers. All notes were arranged in a field log chronologically and were assigned page numbers. Marginal notes were utilized to track ideas and emerging patterns as data were collected in the field. As codes were established they were defined, color coded, and assigned specific abbreviations. A key to explain codes, colors, and abbreviations was created. Once codes were refined, specific quotes, observations, and/or artifacts were written on index cards. They were later categorized and organized into thematic chunks.
Subjectivity
Consciousness of personal subjectivities can guide strategies for monitoring those perspectives that might shape, distort, construe, or misconstrue what a researcher makes of his or her observations (Glesne, 1999). Subjectivity, once recognized, can be monitored for more valid and trustworthy research (Glesne, 1999). Though researchers’ voices, knowledge, and experiences inherently contribute to their understanding of the questions they seek to explore, it is imperative that outlooks and reports are objective
(Eisner, 1998; Glesne, 1999; Yin, 2003).
Throughout the study, I made every effort to maintain transparency to both participants and to readers in data records and reporting through a comprehensive data trail. During the data collection phase of the study, thoughtful and honest personal notes were kept. Glesne recommends using personal notes to inquire into a researcher’s perspectives and interpretations and to shape new questions through re-examining
65 assumptions. Throughout this research, my use personal notes were monitored through careful reflection and analysis of field notes and transcriptions.
Researcher Bias
Case study research has often been viewed as a less desirable form of inquiry than other empirical inquiries (Yin, 2003). Yin says case study investigators are often accused of not following systematic procedures or of allowing equivocal evidence or biased views to influence the direction of the findings. Throughout this study, I worked hard to report all evidence fairly and confronted my biases throughout the process.
I came to this study with a history of experiences that focused my observations in particular ways. Having been a middle school and secondary school art teacher for several years, I arrived at this research with a strong commitment to art education and with respect and compassion for adolescents. I questioned the purpose of art education in contemporary schooling. Ultimately, I arrived at this project with the idealistic notion that there exists an opportunity for art education to be a transformative agent within young people’s lives, within our communities, and within society.
I monitored this potential bias by first accurately recording the daily interactions and experiences of my participants, and by keeping careful personal and reflective notes about what I observed. I developed a set of methodological procedures prior to conducting the study to help guide my data collection, management, and analysis. As participant observer, I took special precaution to avoid having any curricular impact on the AAP program. I relied on the artist, artist’s assistant, and other program coordinators to conduct all teaching sessions with youth participants. I made every attempt to
66 maintain an external observer role throughout my daily data collection. To focus my initial observations, I established a priori observation checklists and code lists for data collection. Semi-structured interviews were derived from the literature and from early observations. Finally, the postmodern community-based art education framework I used to guide the study helped me to collect, to read and re-read, and to report the data in a focused theoretical and practical manner. This allowed me to portray the participants and the setting with dignity and complexity while providing an accurate portrayal of the case study phenomena.
Validity and Reliability
Multiple measures were incorporated in the study to increase the validity and reliability of findings (Glesne, 1999; Marshall & Rossman, 1999, Yin, 2003). These included the use of multiple methods to collect data such as observation, interview, and artifact collection; the use of prolonged engagement for long-term data collection; and the use of multiple analytic tools such as pattern matching and constant comparison methods.
In qualitative research, validity pertains to the kinds of understanding that evolve from an account or phenomenon being investigated (Maxwell, 1992). In conducting observations and interviews, factual and accurate physical and behavioral acts of participants were recorded. Accurate descriptions of material culture and documents were taken. Such investigation across the communication modalities of language and image helped to increase the possibility of achieving validity (Emme, 2001).
Precise recording of such events, objects, or accounts increased the primary descriptive validity or what the “researcher reports having seen or heard” (Maxwell,
67 1992, p. 286). While valid descriptions of accounts were imperative, the meanings,
intentions, beliefs, or reasons for participants’ acts were equally crucial. To avoid threats
to interpretive validity, Maxwell (1992) recommends interpretive accounts be told as
accurately as possible through an emic perspective or in the language and voices of the
participants. In this study, the voices of adolescents and other participants in AAP are
reflected in the rich descriptions and stories that emerged. Finally, the use of theory to
characterize phenomena can also be a means for building internal validity. This research
used a postmodern community-based art education theoretical framework to examine and analyze the data.
Case study research has been criticized for its lack of generalizability beyond the
immediate scope of a single case. Yin (2003) states, however, that case studies rely on
analytical generalizations, or those in which investigators strive to generalize a particular
set of results to some broader theory. In this case, generalizability refers to the degree to
which the accounts of AAP could be extended to other people, times, or settings
(Maxwell, 1992). To eliminate or minimize threats to external validity, the research
allows others to use the particulars of this study or a postmodern community-based art
education framework that led to the investigation, to identify other cases to which the
results might be generalizable (Yin, 2003).
It should be noted that the specific student participants in this study were pre-
screened for their interest the arts and for their leadership potentials. These participants
understood my role as a director of the program and were comfortable with me as a
researcher and a participant. They were also aware of the nature of the AAP program and
68 its commitment toward integrating science and the arts in a unique curriculum. For these reasons, it was anticipated that student participants would demonstrate no resistance toward completing daily tasks in the program, keeping journals, answering interview questions, and/or submitting artwork or other artifacts for my study.
Reliability of the study comes from a well developed audit trail which is detailed in the case study protocol (see Appendix G). Documentation of data collection and analysis procedures are provided to ensure the study can be replicated. As many steps as possible were operationalized to guarantee a reliability check can be conducted by an outside reviewer or researcher (Yin, 2003).
Summary
This study broadly sought to understand the possibilities art education holds for aiding young people in becoming more connected to their communities and more engaged in social change. Accordingly, I chose to conduct a single case study because I believed this approach could adequately address the purpose and the questions of my research. Using case study protocol, I hoped to convey, in what Stout (2006) considers an open, unassuming, and persistently reflexive way, the story of one art education program’s impact on its adolescent participants. The observations, interviews, and material culture collected in this study, along with my own careful and critical awareness, helped me to paint intimate portraits of the young people whose experiences I hoped to better understand.
69 CHAPTER IV
DATA ANALYSIS
Introduction
In attempting to understand if and how community-based art education can assist teens in becoming more connected to their communities and more engaged in social change, this case study was propelled by a number of analytical steps. Bresler (2006) defines qualitative research as involving the infusion of fieldwork, analysis, and writing with a focus on the particular or on the unique. This study focused on the particular and unique experiences of eight teenagers participating in the AAP program. Having such a small number of participants to focus on gave me special access to the many subtle ways youth in the program perceived themselves, reacted to new challenges, and interacted with peers, adults, and their environment. A presentation of analysis of the data collected
for this study attempts to reveal those behaviors, actions, and interactions among youth in
the AAP program that go beyond the preconceptions and ready-made categories of
teenagers as they so often are portrayed by society.
Chapter IV provides a background and setting of the AAP program. A
presentation of the background and setting for the program is essential to understanding if
and how youth were encouraged to connect with community and to engage in social
70 change. Following an overview of the background and setting, an analysis of the three themes that emerged from the data are presented in detail.
Background and Setting of the 2006 Artists as Activists Program
It was 3½ weeks into the AAP program. The eight high school participants were gathering to revisit the site in the National Park where their collaborative art project would be permanently housed. A second overnight stay at the EEC was organized to install their final art work. As students arrived at the university, I thought back to the many events leading up to the final installation.
The “Great Eight” pulled into the parking lot of the art school one by one. Liz, the artist, called them that. She kept telling them they were going to do something great; they were going to be something great. Some smiled. Some didn’t look so sure.
Maddie, Nicole, and Nobel arrived by bus with all their gear in tow—pillows, sleeping bags, and overnight luggage. Cash slinked out of his father’s car with a cigarette in hand, and a small bag. Scout would be late as usual because she had to count on her boyfriend to drop her off. Jeff and Anna shared a ride, and Alex’s mother appeared to embarrass her by hugging and kissing her goodbye in front of the other kids. Everyone crowded in the old, white utility van. I pulled out of the lot, watching the urban landscape grow smaller through the rearview mirror. The kids chattered like old friends as we winded our way through the woods and valley to the National Park. Along the way, they pointed out familiar sites: the beaver marsh, the compost facility, the graveyard, the covered bridge. As we pulled in to the environmental center, I could overhear Maddie say, “It’s good to be home.”
71 Anna and Cash were the only two returning participants, and they were the oldest.
The six other participants were younger—sophomores and juniors. At the orientation a
week before the program started, all of the students were shy even though Anna, Cash,
Sam, Scout, and Nobel went to the same magnet school for visual and performing arts,
and Alex and Nicole recognized each other from their high school. Maddie, a 16-year-
old Caucasian girl from one of the more notoriously dangerous city schools, looked uneasy as she tapped nervously on the table with her long, painted fingernails. She
would later tell me, “I remember before thinking I don’t want to be there you know with
all those strange people. I don’t want to get up early. And deal with these other awkward
looking people.” (Y5:II:10). Her foster mother, an African American middle-aged woman, beamed enthusiastically as I discussed the details of the AAP program. Each of
the participants was accompanied by at least one guardian, all of whom seemed excited
for his or her child to have an opportunity to participate in the program.
The orientation served as an opportunity to introduce the art project as well as
student participants and the staff for AAP. Liz Peters, the artist selected for the 2006
program, was a middle-aged, local ceramicist and outdoors enthusiast whose work was
often centered on creating contemporary landmarks. She announced to participants and their guardians that this year, the AAP program would concentrate on creating a contemporary ceramic version of ancient rock formations and historical landmarks, like cairns, stone circles, or gravestones. She stated that she hoped that, “like historical monuments, our art will be used to draw people to a site and to create a cultural marker”
(A2:FN:1:2). Liz spoke of the National Park where the work would be housed as a
72 treasure and a “temple” for which students should have “reverence” (FN:2:2).
Throughout the program, she stressed what an honor it was to have their work in a place where tens of thousands of people would see it and what an honor it was to be chosen to participate in AAP.
The students selected to participate in the 2006 AAP program spent the first two
days at the university's art school gallery, matting and framing artwork they had created
during the previous years. In displaying their artwork, students curated their own show,
making decisions on how to display drawings, photographs, paintings, and sculptures.
They painted pedestals, measured and leveled prints and paintings, and typed labels.
They designed a logo for the AAP program and painted it on a large wall in the gallery.
Throughout the process, several students commented on how much work went into developing their exhibition and felt it was a valuable real-world experience in behind-the-
scenes gallery exhibition planning. The students seemed to take pride in seeing their art
in a professional gallery. They kept showing each other their work and complimenting each other. Students with little work, like Alex and Nicole brought in more work the
second day or asked to create additional pieces on their own (FN:1:2).
Students spent the remainder of the first week on a 3-day, 2-night retreat to the
installation site. A local environmental education center situated on 600 acres of
National Park forest served as the site for AAP’s art installation. The environmental
education center (EEC) provides a residential experience to school groups throughout the
regular school year. The local watershed where the center is located provides an outdoor
73 learning lab for school groups to study water quality, local and natural history, bio-
diversity, and other components of environmental education.
An old farm house transformed into a dormitory for residential stay provided a
communal space for students to sleep, play card games, talk into the late hours of the
night, and relax. Three freshly prepared meals were served family style around large
round tables in the dining hall, a historic barn on the property. Students were responsible
for setting tables, cleaning the dining room, and sharing food. They were taught how to
measure food waste and were encouraged to take only what they could eat on their plates.
They also learned where some of their food came from, and how much energy was
consumed to bring food to their tables. Many students spoke of the significance of eating
together as a bonding experience and a rare opportunity to connect with their peers.
Nobel, a 14-year-old African American who lives with six sisters, commented in his
interview, “Going to the (EEC) was my favorite part . . . we got to have three-course
meals, wait . . . three meals a day . . . that’s a better way to say it. We got to have an
actual breakfast which hardly anybody has now, actual lunches, no one hardly has and dinner” (Y7:II:18).
While at the EEC, students experienced three full days of organized arts and environmental programming. They surveyed and cleared the installation site, an
evergreen grove situated along one of the main connector paths at the center. In
surveying the site, students measured potential spaces for the installation, took digital
photos of fauna and flora surrounding the site, and discussed natural lighting options.
They also learned from park rangers and the program director at the site about
74 environmental impact statements, and issues surrounding site specific public art like audience interaction, preservation of the space, and the impact of their work on the natural environment.
After an initial surveying of the site, students spent hours exploring the natural environment at the center. Some students appeared to have little experience with the outdoors. I watched students like Noble and Alex swat at bugs, afraid they would get stung. Others seemed frightened of frogs and even seeds flying through the air (FN:3:1).
Ed Ames, the program director at the EEC, met students at the orientation but re-introduced himself before he led them through several activities. He spoke of how art and science are deeply connected; how both are rooted in discovery, the collection of data, and searching for truths. He taught participants how to collect samples of pond species like tadpoles, salamanders, and several types of benthos or aquatic insects. With field guides, magnifying glasses, and field microscopes, students were able to identify particular water species indigenous to the area. They also learned how scientists measure the diversity and populations of aquatic insects for indications of water quality. At first, students were hesitant to dig through the muddy banks of the pond with their nets.
Several students commented on how gross the decaying matter smelled and how disgusting it was to put their hands in the mud. Maddie was the first to fully immerse herself in the experience, not letting her professionally manicured nails get in the way of discovery. Soon, all the students were engaged in collecting living species from the pond and raced around to show each other their discoveries. Alex, Nobel, and Maddie would later tell me they had seen things they had never seen before (FN:3:4).
75 After completing a pond study and determining the health of the water of the
EEC’s property, Ed led them on a long hike to a local tributary where students collected rock samples and fossils to study, sketch, and photograph as research for the ceramic
rocks they would later create. Upon arriving at the creek, each student immediately
removed their shoes and began wading in the water to collect samples. Some wandered
off to sit alone on rocks in the middle of the stream, while others like Scout, a16- year- old self-proclaimed artist and world traveler, drew in their sketchbooks. Jeff and Anna
talked softly about how beautiful it was, and Nobel skipped rocks along the water. Alex,
a 15-year-old street smart punk rocker, collected rocks in a small pile and showed each
one to me, pointing out their texture and color as if she had seen stones for the first time.
As I sat and watched each student, I was struck at how quiet the group was. After a short
while, each one found a space to be away from the group. They did not separate
themselves as outsiders but were seemingly in awe of the surroundings (FN:3:4). Though
they were wet, muddy, and tired, none of them wanted to leave the banks of the stream
that Anna called “special” (FN:3:5).
Each student was quiet as they climbed out of the ravine to return to their dorm.
Scout stopped to study the bark of a tree and found a painted turtle covered in leaches
that had seemingly lost its way. With the help of Anna and Jeff, they returned it to a
nearby pond after plucking off the parasites one by one. They were excited to have
“saved its life” (Scout, FN:4:6). Along the way, several stopped to observe snakes,
fungus, and flowers along the path.
76 Cash, a recent graduate whose dream is to be a tattoo artist, shared cigarettes after
dinner with Maddie, Alex, and Nicole, all of whom smoked with their parents’ consent. I watched as they discarded their cigarettes on the ground. On the first evening, I took everyone to a bluegrass concert in another part of the National Park. Heads turned when we arrived. The older, conservative crowd and their younger children looked weary of our group of pink hair, Mohawks, skull caps, hip hop, and gothic clothes. It was obvious the concert was not geared toward teenagers. We stayed for a while playing Frisbee and talking in our small group and returned to the EEC to build a campfire. To my surprise, the kids all said they enjoyed their evening at the concert, despite the fact that the music sounded a bit “old” for them. That evening, kids spoke of how they had never seen so many stars. They stayed up late talking and bonding with each other, eating marshmallows and telling scary stories.
The following day, 17-year-old Anna, who had participated in the program before, was the only student to get up early for a 7:30 a.m. hike with me, Liz Peters and
Jan Townsend, the artist’s assistant. She became interested in environmental issues after participating in AAP 2 years ago. She told me that morning she wanted to study art and environmental science in college as she quietly took notice of all the morning wonders.
In a later interview, Anna would reveal to me the ways AAP helped to generate a greater interest in environmental issues.
Elisa: Describe the way this program has changed you.
Anna: Before this, every summer, I was on the computer like eight hours a day, everyday . . . really disgusting . . . so . . . after I got out there and seeing what I could actually get done in a day, that I would have spent surfing the web, that’s so stupid. . . . I saw stuff and was like “oh, that’s really neat, I don’t need to do that,”
77 . . . it kind of made me think . . . and now I’m not on the computer . . . maybe like 5 minutes a week, so it’s really nice . . . it’s nice to actually be in real life, instead of in my head and what I think might be going on but I’m not really sure . . . and kind of becoming more aware of my surroundings, my entire surrounding.
Elisa: Do you think this program has kind of helped you gear your thinking towards becoming more in tune with your surroundings?
Anna: Yeah . . . because I know you’re very interested in, like politics and environmental things and that’s another thing. . . . I always was kind of interested in the environment, but then I got into this and it’s helped me a lot, especially with you showing me all of these different things that I never knew.
Elisa: What kind of things?
Anna: Just about the environment . . . it was just kind of like, “Oh, yeah, there actually is an outside world that I should be paying attention to.”
Elisa: You mentioned that you’re interested in the environment as well as art. What was it that brought you to that interest?
Anna: Probably a lot because of (AAP), because I think if I’d never have gotten involved with this in the first place. . . . I think this was the starting point for me . . . because when I created all of the art that I’m proud of, it was after that . . . because I went to (AAP).”
Elisa: About the environment thing, how did you get on board with that idea?
Anna: A lot because of you, and all of the stories you told, and when we were at the EEC . . . but a lot because I just think it’s a lot more interesting than anything man made . . . like all the detail that you see in a tree, you could never find anywhere else, in anything that any human makes (Y2:II:20-27).
On day two of our stay at the EEC, I drove students to the National Park’s historical center so they could learn about the local human history of the area. Scout,
Cash and Anna studied the 10,000 year time line of human inhabitation in the area. They sketched different symbols, artifacts and collected visual research while verbalizing some connections to the art they would create for the ceramic project. We visited a local
78 graveyard where Liz discussed landmarks left by humans, and students again collected visual resources to serve as inspiration for their ceramic sculptures. Back at the EEC, Liz taught students how clay was harvested and made, and demonstrated how to create imitation rocks from clay. After they started creating their own clay rocks, she gave them books filled with ancient Myan, Greek, and Druid symbols, as well as natural objects the kids collected to draw inspiration from. After dinner, students were led on a 2-hour night hike through the woods. Nicole, a 15-year-old girl with dyed black hair to her waist and gothic style clothing, walked with me the whole time. She shared stories of her difficult times with her divorced parents and her estranged father. We talked about her family, school, her future as the leaves cracked under our feet. At the campfire that night, a pack of coyote barked in a close by field as the kids held each other close. That evening, they opened up about things in their lives that concerned them: religion and extremism, school, electric cars, their futures, technology, taxes, health care and poverty, family and friends (FN:3:5).
On the final day of the retreat to the EEC, a roundtable luncheon was organized to give students an opportunity to meet local government officials and cultural organization leaders. Students were visited by Eva Hill, the Chief Education Officer of the National
Park, Cassie Demeter, the cultural art coordinator for the park, and Irene Fields, the director of an urban public art organization. During and after lunch, students were engaged in dialogue with the guests about their art work, about social, political and environmental issues related to the National Park, and about creating site specific public art.
79 Eva talked about the intersections between art and science, and how people can connect to the earth through artistic experiences. She reminded students that some artists are able to look at things differently—in more scientific ways (OA1:FN:4:1). Irene discussed public art and its ability to last and create landmarks and icons. She spoke of how some places used art to educate and to reflect their mission, stressing, “Public art creates a dialogue with the community” (OA2:FN:4:2). Irene further talked about environmental art and education, and showed examples of Eco-Works that educate people about how wind energy can be used to power everyday objects. Cassie expressed to kids that “the National Park is a big gallery to see art in nature,” and emphasized volunteer opportunities for kids. She stressed that the “arts are a HUGE way for visitors to experience nature” (OA1:FN:4:4). She focused on helping students understand why and how the National Park works to protect the environment. She iterated that National
Parks told stories (about animals, history, culture, ways of life, protecting environment) and gave kids the responsibility of protecting the future of the park by how they would tell stories.
All of the guests spoke to the AAP participants about how to apply for volunteer opportunities with the park and where to find opportunities to make public art. They thanked the students for their artistic contribution and impressed upon them how significant the opportunity was for them, while stressing how powerful art was and how it could make a major impact on their community. Scout, Cash, and Anna all said they planned to volunteer for upcoming art events in the park and with the public arts program and gave Irene and Cassie their email addresses.
80 When it was time to return home after spending 3 days at the EEC, many of the students expressed how they did not want to leave. When I asked in a group interview how it felt leaving on the last day, Maddie commented, “I got sad, you know, knowing that was going to be the last day that we were all going to be together” (Y5:GI:10). Alex agreed while Scout said, “I kinda like lingered there” (Y8:GI:10). Like Scout, the other participants seemed to take their time packing, capturing last minute photographs, and saying goodbye to the EEC staff.
For the next 2 weeks, Liz, with the help of her graduate student assistant, Jan, worked with participants in the university studios to generate individual pieces of ceramic stones for their collaborative piece. The collective piece evolved from both the artist’s and students’ designs and construction consisted of a six foot stacked clay stone sculpture and surrounding clay stone circle indicative of ancient rock formations. Liz taught the students how to construct clay forms, mix their own clay, fire in traditional Raku methods and in contemporary gas and electric kilns, throw on the potter’s wheel, and glaze their work. Students embellished their individual pieces with personal symbols, interesting textures, and earth tone pigments: all inspired by their research and the knowledge they gained at the EEC.
In addition to creating art for their collaborative installation, participants were also given reflective journal questions and several art production assignments designed to ignite critical thinking about the role of humans in relation to nature, and the ways humans have created monuments to people, places or things that are important to them, and how they could use their art as a vehicle for communicating important messages.
81 Finally, participants were given the opportunity to gain recognition for their
efforts by participating in a closing celebration of their individual and collaborative art
work. Students helped plan and host an event for over 100 community members, family,
and friends at the university art school and gallery. Students helped set up tables and displays of the work they completed over 4 weeks’ activities. They planned speeches for the award segment of the ceremony to thank adults in the program, community partners, and each other. They sold t-shirts and mingled with guests and the local press while explaining the work they had in the gallery and at the environmental education center.
After a visual presentation of the previous 4 weeks, each student received an award for their participation and achievements with the installation. Several students cried at the ceremony; sad that their time with the program and the new friends they had made was coming to an end.
Analysis of Major Themes
Consistently, youth made references to adults in the program as providing a caring, accepting, safe haven for youth to express themselves, as holding high expectations of them, and mentoring them throughout the project in various ways.
Prevalent in their interviews, personal artist statements, journal reflections, and interactions was the desire by youth in the program to lead a more simplified and peaceful life without urban distractions like traffic, violence, large accumulations of garbage in their physical environments, technology, and material wealth. Having an opportunity to matter and/or to make a difference and an opportunity to leave their mark
82 in the community was perhaps the most frequent themes in youth participants’
conversations, interviews, and personal and group actions.
You Care About Us: Collaborations With Caring Adults
Adult Expectations
Throughout the month-long program, adults involved with the Artists as Activists
Program expressed verbally and through their own actions, high expectations of youth participants. In her first encounter with youth and their guardians at the orientation, Liz, the artist, passed out a written overview of her expectations for students’ work, performance, and attitudes. The following document outlines expectations for participants.
Our plans this year include making public art in the National Park. Projects like this are not only fun and exciting, but a great honor and responsibility. We hope to create a sculpture that will not only last a few years, but inspire the many people who experience it. We have a big job ahead of us and your level of commitment can make or break our success. Each of us must take our part seriously.
When you arrive at the university ceramics studio at 9:00 each day, you need to be prepared to work. We will have 3 hours each meeting to build, dry, finish, and fire our pieces. This time will fly quickly. Clay can be demanding. It is also wonderful, flexible, and fun. It is very process oriented and we need to balance the creative work with the technical. You will learn a lot from this project and will find that sharing the responsibilities with your fellow students will assist the process and help you leave your mark. I won’t assume you know everything and will start from the beginning.
The strength of the project depends on the outcome of the work and how much we put into it. I know that by pulling our efforts and ideas, we can build something we can all be proud of. (MC:3)
Liz encouraged a collaborative effort and impressed upon youth the value of both individual and group contributions. She outlined specific work behaviors and roles that
83 would be required to complete the project, many of which mimic behaviors and roles necessary to complete any work experience. Liz also stressed the importance of each participant’s role, the privilege of working on a public art project, and the significance of producing high quality work. Liz further discussed the expectations she had for the participants and for herself in an interview with me after the project was completed.
Elisa: What roles did you see the kids taking on? What did you expect of them?
Liz: To have a certain amount of integrity in the work that they made, because I think that was really important in that same concept of talking to them about everyone’s work not necessarily being included if you don’t work hard and do strong work. They don’t want to just take it because you made it . . . but, they have to decide they were going to make really good work worthy of going into this project so that they could stand back and feel good about the final result.
Elisa: What do you view as the difference between your role as the artist and their role as the artist’s assistants?
Liz: Partly mentor, partly learning that hard work pays off . . . partly seeing that art just doesn’t come from the top of your head . . . you just don’t get ideas and try to make things because you want to . . . but, you have to really think about it . . . that you have to invest a certain amount into it to get something back out of it, and I think it is a role model that a lot of kids don’t get . . . well, these guys haven’t been exposed to a lot of them anyway . . . but I think in that case I didn’t want to come off as a teacher. . . . I didn’t want to come off as a mom-type role. . . . I wanted to come off as someone who had something to share with them and who could maybe give them the opportunity to learn something worth knowing.
Elisa: So, your expectations for them as artists was for them to make decisions on their own, or…
Liz: To learn it.
Elisa: And use these skills…
Liz: Yes (A2:II:12).
Liz, as well as other adults in the program stressed high expectations for both the youth participants and themselves. Jan, the artist’s assistant, discussed in her interview
84 ways expectations were transferred to participants: “You made their role very real to
them. You gave them a big sense of how accountable and how responsible they were in
their role in creating this installation” (A3:II:30). Their daily personal actions and interactions with participants mirrored a work ethic by being on time to work, taking their
art seriously, being organized and well prepared, putting forth great effort in the studio,
and doing rigorous research related to the project. They often pushed students to
challenge their own art work and each others’ through individual and group critiques at
various stages of the art making process. They modeled ways artists present their work
professionally in public spaces by writing and editing artist statements, talking to various
press reporters that covered the story, and by doing background research on inspirations
for their work. After modeling such behaviors and training youth how to complete the
same tasks, adults like Liz, Jan and Ed mentored youth through their own experiences of
becoming public artists.
Many of the youth participants in the program throughout their interviews agreed
that they were held to high, yet appropriate, standards. They spoke of ways that teachers
and other adults in their lives often had unreasonably high expectations of kids to be able
to complete ideas, projects, and tasks beyond their physical, mental, or emotional
capabilities. Many of the participants also made references to the negative stereotypes
and low expectations that many adults in their lives hold of teenagers. Ed, the program
director at the EEC, reiterated this stereotype in his own admission of the ways young
people are misrepresented. When I asked Ed about stereotypes society holds of
teenagers, he told me,
85 They’re all punks. Don’t give them a chance. They’ll take a look at them and see a Mohawk or a ripped t-shirt and automatically they’re a bad kid and they don’t want anything to do with them and that sucks. And it’s an unfortunate stereotype. You know that group you had out there. . . . I can see that happening to each of them. And after you get to know them, there’s no reason for it. They’re all great kids. (A1:II:11)
The following two passages with both Scout and Anna exemplify the ways youth in the AAP program felt they were perceived by some adults in their lives.
Passage 1
Elisa: Do you find you have different relationships with the adults in this program than you do maybe with the teachers from in school?
Scout: Well, yeah cause were much more relaxed here we’re not getting graded per say and It’s just we treat you like we treat each other . . . and like we can just be ourselves around you. We don’t have to be like, “Shhh stupid students.”
Elisa: Do you think that kind of relationship is important between young people and adults?
Scout: I think it is. I think it helps adults see young people as, as they are and not being just immature teenagers. Seeing that we do have some depth behind us and trying to understand where we come from. (Y8:II:31)
Passage 2
Elisa: Do you think that there are certain expectations of you in this program?
Anna: Yeah. High.
Elisa: Why do you say high?
Anna: When you’re at school, it doesn’t matter the quality of the work, as long as you get it done, and you just do it, just to get a grade. Here it’s different because you do it because you want to do something good. And you do it because you want people to look at it and say, “Wow, this is really, really cool.”. . . so, maybe we’re trying to impress. . . . I don’t know . . . you just want to do the best you can.
Elisa: Do you think that there aren’t enough high expectations for teenagers?
86 Anna: Not so much. . . . it’s just a generalized thing where, “Oh, you’re a teenager, and you’re going to do this and this, and you’re going to be lazy and you’re not going to get work done and,” so I think our expectations, when we finish something, are like, “You actually did that? How old are you?” So it’s not just a surprise when we don’t finish something or half-ass it. So, I think it’s just because we’re sort of a generalized group that we don’t get a lot of expectations put on us at all.
Elisa: Do you think that affects your work?
Anna: Yeah. A lot (Y2:II:22).
Like Scout and Anna, other students felt that society holds a negative perception of them, and that such a perception prevents them from doing significant things in school and in their lives. They often talked to me about how their teachers accused them of being lazy and would over-generalize all teenagers as trouble makers. On a long walk at the EEC, Nicole opened up to me and shared her perceptions of the ways her parents expected her to act like an adult, but treated her like a child. She explained that her check for participating in the program ($300.00) would help to pay the rent, yet she could still be grounded for staying out late with her friends. Other participants seemed equally
confused about their role in their family, school, and community life. Students like Cash
also talked of difficulties they have with authority figures.
Cash: Well if you think of you and Liz and Jan as the adults, it’s not as fun to work with you.
Elisa: You don’t like adults?
Cash: (chuckle) No, I don’t like adults, working with adults.
Elisa: Are you saying that you don’t like the adults in this program, or are you saying that they’re different from other adults or . . .
Cash: No, I do. They’re different, because you guys don’t treat us like kids. You treat us like employees or apprentices.
87 Elisa: So, do you think that you don’t like all adults or just some that have different roles in your life?
Cash: There’s a difference between adults and grown-ups. Adults are authority figures and grown-ups are people who are kind of teaching you. (Y3:II:14, 15)
Identity/Acceptance of Youth
Repeatedly, students spoke of the adults in the AAP program as being different from other adults in their lives: their teachers and even their parents. Students expressed that it was important to them that they were treated with respect from adults; they were treated as equals; and they were accepted for who they are. They also needed to know their opinions were valued. Jan, the artist’s assistant, spoke of the environment AAP created for the participants:
I think you had a big influence on the kids. In the same way that Ed treated all the kids as equals, as professionals, as artists, that they had a job to do. . . . I think that by making the kids part of working professionals along with the adults, that gives them more independence. It empowered them a little bit too. Because they felt themselves more equal to the adults there and because the adults reiterated how big this was and that it was going in the National Park and that it was them that was doing this. (A3:II:30)
Being able to talk to the adults in the AAP program about personal issues helped youth both trust them and confide in them. I often noted many students seeking approval for their clothing, hairstyles, their opinions about politics and artwork, and other things important in their lives. This relationship with adults in the program appeared to reinforce a personal and group identity; to help kids feel like it was all right to be themselves, or all right to try to figure out who they are among their peers and in their community. Their comfort with adults in AAP was reflected in Jeff’s comments.
Jeff: Working in a group as this is . . . makes it a lot more interesting and fun and also that working with a team like you guys is just way too wonderful.
88 Elisa: Why? What’s the difference between this group and the school groups that you work with?
Jeff: You guys seem to have more connection with us.
Elisa: Why’s that?
Jeff: Because you guys like the things we like. You guys can talk about . . . like things with us and you guys are okay with the things that we say or do.
Elisa: And you find that your teachers aren’t as maybe accepting?
Jeff: Yeah.
Elisa: Really?
Jeff: Yeah.
Elisa: So you think that adults make a difference in the way that you are able to work and create and to grow?
Jeff: Definitely (Y4:II:26).
Adult Mentorship and Collaboration With Adults
Youth spoke on many occasions to the positive mentorship they received throughout the program. Some referred to the opportunity to work with professionals like the artist, program director at the EEC and a college professor as instrumental in exposing them to career options and the kind of discipline and hard work it takes to become a successful adult. Cash, a graduating senior who decided after completing the program to go to college to pursue a fine arts degree, shared why he felt the AAP program helped youth transition to adult roles. He talked about his interactions with adults in the program with me,
You, especially because of the way you work with us, and you’re open with us, and you can say anything, and it’s not a problem . . . you just treat us like adults and it kind of helps us grow up . . . helps us not feel like children anymore . . .
89 being in AAP, it kind of makes me think about making my artwork in different ways . . . it just kind of pushes me further to places I wouldn’t go in my artwork. (Y3:II:24)
In their interviews, both Scout and Anna iterated that adults played dual roles: one
to provide guidance, training, and mentorship, and one to be their peer or “friend.” The
following passages highlight their reflections about adult mentorship.
Passage 1
Elisa: What’s the role of the adults in the program?
Scout: The role of the adults is well there for guidance. I know Liz is very much a guidance tool as for being the artist we can go and ask her and we can go and ask you and Jan and just for advice and supplies or say, “Hey could you come here look at this?” So the adults are more guidance just . . . what we should probably be gearing to do, not telling us what to do exactly. (Y8:II:31)
Passage 2
Elisa: How would you describe the role of the adults in the program?
Anna: I would say that it was almost like you were the students – not the students, but the apprentices – but you were just more mature and more guiding. (Y2:II:14- 15)
Like Anna, it seemed many of the participants viewed the adults as their peers.
This relationship was foreign for many of the students who were used to adults in their lives directing them, dictating rules and guidelines to them, and leaving little room for students to feel equal in their status or contributions. When I asked the artist’s assistant,
Jan, how she viewed the role of adults as mentors to participants, she provided additional insight. She spoke of the ways the four consistent adult staff in the program differed from their parents or teachers in our approach to working with young people and offered
90 the following as possible reasons students were able to relate better to the adults in the
AAP program.
For one thing, because you and I are older than them and younger than their parents that we represent some experience with that world that they are going to enter after high school. We’re a little bit closer to those issues that they have in high school; that they’re thinking about right now. And it’s OK to talk to us about that kind of stuff. To some degree, just about their life choices they’re going to make. Anna asked me questions about getting married. Those are probably questions she’d have some preconceived notions about what the answer would be should she ask her parents and wouldn’t probably ask her teachers. To some degree, I would say we’re definitely role models, and role models of a different type and to have some that are okay with lots of different life experiences and encouraging them to follow their paths. (A3:II:31)
Collaboration With Caring Adults
Youth development literature suggests that building strong bonds with positive adult role models can help teens cope with everyday challenges in their environments
(Farnum & Shaffer, 1998). Youth in the AAP program demonstrated that they were given many opportunities to develop these kinds of social bonds with adults who genuinely cared about them. One way students perceived adults as caring about them was in the acceptance of their ideas and of them as individuals. However, Jan indicated that adults in the program were not only accepting of youth but believed in their abilities to contribute positively to their community. She shared these thoughts with me in an interview:
I think they have a representation that we care. And we are interested. There are people who think you’re cool and think you’re going to be something and I think that us giving them all that responsibility and accountability in the program gave them some confidence, and gave them confidence in us that we want them to be all that they can be. (Y3:II:24)
91 In addition to wanting to be accepted by adults, youth also needed to know that
adults were interested in them on a personal level, that adults would take the time to help them, that adults would listen to them and not judge them, and that adults would treat them with respect. A group interview conducted at the end of the program highlights some of the ways these concerns were met.
Elisa: What did you get most out of your relationships with the adults in the program?
Nicole: I think you guys were really cool. Like normally, they treat us like we’re really ignorant, and they don’t tell you anything when you ask them a questions. And they’ll ignore me and go help someone else. Just because the way I look or the way I dress, teachers won’t help me. You guys like actually help with something and made me feel like I mattered.
Scout: You guys are opposite of what we’re used to. Teachers would like tell us, “This is what you have to do, and this is the way it’s supposed to look.” And with Liz teaching us we had a lot of creative wiggle room. You helped me cause you were just really good creative support.
Maddie: Being able to work with a known artist, and you guys get to do the whole thing which I’ve never been able to do. And I’ve always been interested in it (art). And like she said you guys were teaching us how it was supposed to be done, but there wasn’t a protocol.
Elisa: What do you think Alex? . . . Do you have the same relationship with adults here as you do with the adults at school?
Alex: No. . . . I got close to you especially, I think, because . . . you’re just a big part of my life, and you’re interested in a lot of the things that I am. . . . I just think I want to be like you when I grow up . . . and, I just think, teachers, I don’t really like them, but the adults here . . . from the outside view they are our teachers, but the adults here, they were kind of like parents to us. They taught us like other than exactly what we were supposed to do. They taught us more important things.
Elisa: Like what?
Alex: Like, they didn’t just show us how to do stuff. They taught us what importance it is, and the history of what we were doing, and how important it
92 actually was . . . what we were doing . . . we weren’t just putting up a piece of art just to decorate this place . . . it’s for other people to see and recognize and remember us by . . . so, that was important. (GI:20-23)
Research suggests that youth develop healthy social bonds under three conditions.
They need opportunities to make meaningful contributions, the skills to contribute
effectively, and recognition for their contributions (Farnum & Shaffer, 1998). The
previous passage suggests these three conditions were well established and
accommodated by AAP.
Providing a Safe Haven for Youth Expression
Youth seemed to quickly develop a sense of comfort for the places they interacted
in—the studio spaces, the National Park, the galleries. This comfort was illustrated by
the sense of ownership students exhibited in the ways they took charge of the studio
(cleaning, organizing, prepping for each day’s activities), the EEC (taking independent walks, lying in the grass alone, setting the dinner table and showing outsiders their dorm rooms and installation site) and the gallery (making choices about where to hang their work, labeling art, and talking to visitors to the exhibition). For example, Ed shared with
me, “Being in the park, being in nature, not having a neighbor 10 feet away from you,
cars honking, sirens all the time. And I think once they got comfortable with that, it just
became a safe place for them. . . . I don’t think they were trying to be anybody but
themselves. They were just comfortable with each other. And accepting of each other”
(A1:II:10). Ed also spoke of the ways adults were accepting of students: “You need to
accept kids for who they are. And you know, kids know that. They realize that. They know if they’re accepted. We probably helped them feel more comfortable” (A1:II:10).
93 Aside from the physical safety students felt, youth also spoke of ways they felt comfortable sharing their ideas with the group. They felt respected and valued for their opinions, their critiques, and their art work. They felt accepted by the adults and each other in the program. Though students never articulated the ways they felt emotionally safe, many of their comments suggested the adults in AAP helped to create a safe forum to discuss their ideas and their concerns for the future. Anna discussed why she felt more comfortable with adults in the program:
It’s nicer because it’s more personal, and we actually talk about personal things . . . whereas someone at school would just be like, ‘OK, well, finish your project . . . get to work,’ and the teachers just kind of sit back and don’t pay attention . . . don’t really talk to you, don’t really get to know you at all, and this wasn’t like that at all.(Y2:II:15)
Ultimately, having a safe space to increase skills, explore creative opportunities and gain recognition for their work also helped to develop a nurturing environment for learning about art, about individual and group identity, and about the natural world.
It’s a Simple Life
Living a Simple Life
The environmental education center where part of the program took place exists no more than 15 miles from their homes, yet many students had never been to the
National Park. Despite their unfamiliarity with this new environment, youth quickly developed a sense that they belonged at the center and even viewed it as a home away from home. On a return trip to complete the art installation, students gathered around the
fire circle to have a last lunch together. The kids all sat together, laughing, talking, eating, reminiscing about the past few weeks they spent together. After lunch, Ed asked
94 youth what they thought of their stay at the center, of their general impressions. When I heard Maddie say, “I love being out here,” and that “it’s one of my more favorite places,”
I grabbed my field note book and furiously recorded the following conversation.
Ed asks how many missed the EEC when they were gone and all kids raise their hands. Jeff says it was really nice to be on the paths, great weather, more freedom, everything is great. Maddie adds, “That pond thing was cool—digging in a nasty smelly pond – that was cool.” Other kids agree. Cash says it’s cool to get away from family. That sharing rooms and dinner, being in nature, getting scared of coyotes “brought us all together—made us closer—like a family.” Scout says they lived like brothers and sisters sharing bedrooms, bathrooms— “that brought us closer together.” Says everything was so calm and peaceful. Says she had the best sleep since she can remember because there were no distractions. She says it was nice to get away from computers, TVs. All the kids shake their heads and agree with her. Liz asks kids if they can withdraw from those distractions. Cash says it’s hard not to be distracted by others—hard to find quiet. Says he’s always being approached on the streets for money or cigarettes— Maddie agrees. She mentions how peaceful it is in the woods, and that no bums or loud cars clog her ears. Other kids agree. Alex talks about how her friends said EEC was for kids. Alex says, “I think they are wrong,” in a commanding voice. She says she got to do such cool things like skipping rocks, looking for fossils, digging in the ponds, campfires. Says her friends were jealous. Anna says she is completely at peace when she is here—grounded. “I never feel so good as when I am here.” She says, “It’s nice to get away from all the disgustingness of life like loud, pollution, no stars. City life has no quiet. It’s overwhelming—bam, bam, bam—in your face, too fast, you cannot think.” Ed thanks kids for their responses and says he did not expect that level of thought or emotion from them. Tells them he thinks that each one in their own way have developed an environmental ethic. He asks them how they can transfer those feelings, that ethic to their everyday life. Cash says he doesn’t litter or flick cigarettes anymore—does not pollute the streets and carries a pouch with him for his cigarettes and collects his friends’ butts as well. Maddie says she does the same thing—says she even picks up litter on the side of the street—sweeps up glass with her mom. Anna says she will turn off the technology—radio, TV, computer. Says she will encourage her parents to do the same. Says she feels like she is missing life being stuck with technology. Scout agrees that they didn’t even realize they did not have technology when they were at the center. Others agree that they didn’t miss it. Jeff says he’s staring at nature a lot more—helps him focus a lot more. “I love just looking at the trees swaying in the wind.” Maddie says the air is much better here and asks the kids if they agree—they do. Alex says she has a thing with bugs (doesn’t like them on her, around her, etc.) Says since she went home she watches where she steps now so she doesn’t step
95 on bugs. Now she doesn’t swat at them, she just blows on them. Ed talks about how lucky they are to have a National Park in their own back yard—what a great privilege that is and that they can come to the EEC whenever they want. Maddie says she doesn’t want to go home. (FN:13:1-5)
But the kids did go home. And while they demonstrated in their conversation with Ed some tangible impressions their experience at the environmental education center had on them, I wondered if anything they felt or learned would stay with them over time.
In interviews I conducted with students, many spoke of the concrete ways the program impacted their lives once it was finished. When I asked Cash to articulate those things about his experiences in AAP that affected his life beyond the program, he told me,
Well, like at the center, there weren’t any ashtrays because we were in the woods, and I didn’t want to flick my cigarette butt, and have an animal eat it . . . but around home there’s ashtrays . . . in the city. But days after we got back, I was still thinking about it, not flicking it in the street . . . and it dawned on me that I don’t really even think about it anymore . . . and now, like when we were at the center there was a spider crawling on my foot, and that would have freaked me out . . . I would have killed it . . . but I just scooped it up and flipped it . . . it’s stuff that people don’t even think about . . . but it’s given me a new appreciation for it . . . like I was working on it before with nature, but this just kind of reestablished and built on it. (Y3:II:17)
Ed also recalled the ways the program impacted students’ lives in his interview with me after the whole experience commenced. He talked about the conversations he had with students on the last day:
Ed: I still to this day, at least once a day, think about that last conversation at that fire ring. It blew me away.
Elisa: It blew you away. Tell me why? What did the discussion entail? Or what did you even ask them? Can you describe that for me?
Ed: Uh, just talked to them about their experience. How they felt about being out there. How they changed as individuals. How they look at the environment or their community differently. You know I knew that they appreciated the time that they spent out at the EEC. That they had a good time, that they were having a
96 good time together. But I didn’t realize the level of impact it had on them. You know hearing things like Cash say, “I know it’s a small thing but I don’t throw my cigarettes on the ground anymore. I throw them away or carry a pouch.” And he thinks it’s a small thing, but it’s HUGE. That’s a huge thing that mentally every time they smoke a cigarette to not throw it out. I forget who it was that said they have three trees in their front yard or somewhere on their street and she just goes and sits by them. I don’t know. It’s a special place for them now. Not just the park. There’s an appreciation of nature. (A1:II:14)
Youth in the program frequently commented that the environmental education center had a calming effect on them. Birds never quit singing. The crickets and cicadas, spring peepers and bullfrogs, the owls and packs of coyote; they chirped and chattered and howled all through the night. And still they referred to how peaceful and quiet their days at the center were. In comparison, many talked about the chaos in their everyday lives at home. Cash explained,
If anything it’s made my home life worse. There’s usually like anywhere between five to six people at my house, or at the bar with my girlfriend there’s even more people and they’re just like crazy. There’s a lot of bad craziness at my house. And coming here, there’s none of that bad craziness going on. It just seems like I have nothing to worry about. . . . Coming here is real quiet and real simple. Like one day I got real pissed off, and I went outside and laid on top of my picnic table and stared up at the trees for like 20 minutes . . . and it made me feel a lot better. (Y3:GI:19)
Nicole also talked about the calming nature of spending time in the woods alone:
“I don’t know. I’ve always liked nature. Like when I’m fed up with my mom, which is like every day, I like to go for a walk in the woods. . . . It like calms me. I walk and I just let it all out and when I go home and she starts yelling at me again and I just go back there again” (Y6:GI:19). Ed, the Director of Education at the center, reflected on many of his conversations with students about the constant chaos in their lives. He explained
97 that being in a new environment which students perhaps never knew existed helped to
mark a change in their comfort levels or attitudes about the environment.
Education, Training, and Curriculum
The AAP program developed a context-specific environment that engaged
participants in various activities designed to familiarize them with issues related to the environment and art, and enabled them to conduct science and art-based research for the
project. Participants spent 3 days and 2 nights at the EEC site engaging in an integrated
art and ecology curriculum. They studied their local watershed, learning about natural
and manmade wetlands, biodiversity of the region, the cultural, social, and political
impact of humans historically and currently on natural spaces, and threats to ecological
wellbeing.
While at the environmental education center, I observed Ed as he led students in a
pond study for aquatic life. Giving kids microscopes, field guides, nets and Petri dishes,
he demonstrated how to search along the muddy banks of a pond for insects, macro and
micro-benthics, tadpoles, and amphibians. After some initial trepidation at getting dirty,
and exploring something unfamiliar, all of the students began racing around to collect
freshwater species to identify and show each other. They seemed in awe of tiny
dragonfly nymphs and caddisflies, of tadpoles in various stages of metamorphosis.
Alex and Maddie commented they saw “weird” things they never knew existed
(FN:3:3). Like other students, they seemed to enjoy getting muddy and collecting
samples like “real scientists.” Students would later talk of this experience as unique
because young people don’t have opportunities to explore natural spaces in this day and
98 age. In an interview, Nobel explained why the trip to the EEC center was his favorite
part of the program: “What’d we get to do up there, we got to go digging inside of a
pond which normally no one would ever do. Period” (Y7:II:18). Similarly, Scout agreed that it is rare for young people to have a physical experience with nature. She also
seemed to express that society has lost its sense of priority when it comes to things they
do enjoy in her statement, “We’re just all go, go, go, go. Go get modern, get futurized,
flying cars, and we just can’t go out and enjoy nature, go play in mud anymore. It’s just
like we have too many Armani suits and bags, and we just don’t want to do that”
(Y8:II:38-39).
While at the EEC, students were also led on a series of day and night hikes around
the 600 acre woodland and wetland areas. They collected and sketched or photographed rock samples from a near by tributary, studying their physical, geological traits as future inspiration for their ceramic pieces. Scout explained: “It gave me a lot of inspiration for my piece. Being able to find patterns and designs from nature will really help to unify our pieces with the space” (Y8:JN:4).
Ed often talked to students about the intersections between art and science and how artists and scientists both look at the same kinds of things—that they both observe things, they investigate things, they look for solutions, and how they both try to make things better in the world. He spoke of the ways these particular exploratory experiences impacted students in the following passage from our interview:
Ed: Bugs. They didn’t like bugs. They didn’t want to dig in the pond, they didn’t want to get muddy. But after we dug in the pond, it was cool to see all of that change. I think they could have stayed at the pond for hours. And I think that’s
99 reflective too of our last conversation with them, and I think being out there had a big impact on them and that was very cool to see.
Elisa: You say that even in a matter of minutes, their level of comfort in exploring the pond, which was a pond study you sort of led them on—changed. What do you think—what signified that change, or what was the impetus to that change?
Ed: Discovering something new. I mean a lot of them were at the pond, um, and they got to see critters that they never even knew existed. Never even had the experience. You know again it was interesting at first they were all right where we first showed them right at the picnic table by the pond, but after looking at the microscope once, they were just everywhere! You know they went to the other side of the pond. They spread out and were yelling out for everyone to see when they found something and coming back to the microscopes. I really think it was just that discovery that they probably haven’t had that experience with. (A1:II:10)
Youth learned about the role of artists in creating public art and traditional art and craft making techniques. They explored natural surroundings to collect visual data for the art project, and sketched and photographed sites surrounding their future art installation. They visited the National Park’s visitor center and a local grave site to learn about human history and cultural marks left in the park. They studied the art of ancient cultures that related to their project. In her journal, Scout recorded some of the things she learned: “This program has shown me the symbols and clay/stone work of past cultures from around the world. I’ve learned about the symbols and placement of stones from
Ireland and England and even from Mayan and early Japanese culture” (Y8:JN:4).
They met National Park Rangers (interpretive specialists and cultural arts coordinators) and contributed to making mock environmental impact statements for their art installation. They selected and surveyed a site to create art that would have maximum visual impact and minimal environmental impact. Students were given the complete responsibility for preparing the installation site, while taking into consideration the
100 lighting for their sculpture, the visual impact of surrounding ground cover, human traffic
patterns around their work, the ways audience would participate with the work and how
their piece would integrate with environment.
Liz created several presentations highlighting the intersections of art and nature.
These presentations gave students a history of standing stones, cairns, and other rock
formations or landmarks. She showcased art left by cultures thousands of years ago that
marked places, directions, gravesites, or other culturally significant symbols. She showed images of historical and contemporary eco-art by artists like Andy Goldsworthy and Lynn Hull to encourage participants to think about the ways artists use their work to reclaim or revitalize natural spaces. She continuously asked students to consider what mark they would leave with their individual pieces. Her recommendation to consider the
significance of their work is exemplified in Anna’s comments after learning about various earthworks. Her journal notes revealed,
The thought that our little pile of clay stones will sit there for years and years, until maybe I get married or have a child or start teaching or do something is really, really amazing. Maybe the people who built Stonehenge didn’t know how long it would stand, and maybe ours will stand just as long (maybe). All things start somewhere, no matter how small. Indian burial mounds, etc. So, maybe ancient “little stone piles” started with practical reasons behind them; a calendar, a grave marker, and ours was a more mysterious reason, but somewhere down the road, they all mean something to someone. (Y2:JN:8-9)
After studying the art of past cultures, students spent almost 2 weeks in university
studios exploring the ceramic medium. They learned how to harvest clay from the
ground using traditional methods and explored the physical make-up of clay. Students
were responsible for mixing over 400 pounds commercial clay in the studio. They also
fired several individual pieces of work in gas and electric kilns and using more primitive
101 raku methods. Students practiced throwing on potter’s wheels but spent the majority of their time constructing and embellishing clay stones for the collaborative installation using traditional hand-building methods like coiling and slabbing.
Connecting to the Past
Much of the curriculum centered on exposing students to art of past cultures, and then creating art that drew on inspirations for those art forms. Cash explained how the art students created for the EEC reflected traditional cultural values and techniques. In his journal, he wrote:
We’ve looked at a lot of old structures that were put there for a reason. Behind every monolith or stone circle, there’s a purpose or a message that some culture wanted us to know about. People from back in the day are often underestimated though they were very good at using their surroundings. These structures are a piece of our world’s history, and it’s important not to lose that. We get so caught up in our own lives that we forget those who were here first. In this project, we are using techniques that have been used for who knows how long. We are also putting our own meanings and messages into our designs and symbols. (Y3:JN:3)
Like Cash, other students discussed the ways AAP introduced them to art of past cultures, and how that knowledge impacted their own critical thinking about contemporary society. For instance, Anna wrote,
I was never really into history until recently, maybe the past month or so. When I was researching Native Americans for AAP, I realized I think their lifestyle was amazing, and it finally hit me that Native Americans are REAL. They actually, honestly made pots. THEY DID. So when that hit me, I started looking at their burial mounds and arrowheads and things they made to use every day. I think it’s amazing that they all know how to make or kill or grow or pick everything they needed. Today, few people know how to do anything. Build a house, start a fire, weave a basket, make a drum. The art of being able to support yourself with what you have around you is gone. People, we are depending more on the machines that make objects than on our knowledge of how to build the object. Ancient people make everything they used. Nobody makes everything they use now. I want to be able to have every confidence in myself, to know that I could walk somewhere, a 100 miles away, and be able to get and make everything I needed.
102 People need to stop depending so much on metal and plastic and depend more on their knowledge and hands. (Y2:JN:3-5)
Participants like Nobel reflected on the importance of keeping traditional art forms, like ancient techniques used to make pottery, alive. “Without these forms from the start, we would never know how (certain) people viewed art. By keeping them alive, we can allow this information to be passed on – not to create a generation gap of ignorance” (Y7:JN:4). Alex spoke similarly of ancient stone structures,
This program has taught me a lot about rocks that I didn’t know. They were used for much more than tools and everyday objects. They were made into historical landforms and art. They define some cultures. Some civilizations were known for their rocks, and these art forms are very important for future civilizations to learn about the past just like we are. (Y1:JN:2)
As evidenced by Jeff’s journal notes, some students were able to connect what they learned about past cultures and their artistic contributions to the environment. He explained the ways the project students created related to former cultures:
This program has introduced so much to me, not only including art from past cultures. I’ve learned much about stone structures in England (because [Elisa] showed us some of her pictures from her trip), Ireland, and many other European countries. Because of this program, I know what a ‘cairn’ is, and about many strange, mysterious, and interesting stone configurations (stone circles, barrows, monoliths and more). This program is a projection of the past cultures we’ve learned about, except placed into a time far ahead. Like the ancestors that have created the rock formations we have seen, we are creating our project not only for aesthetic, but also for navigational and historical purposes. Like those in the past, who hoped their work would stand the test of time we have the same and hope those in the future will look upon our work and be proud of their past. (Y5:JN:2)
Many participants seemed interested in renewing traditional cultural and artistic practices in their lives. Scout, like other participants, insisted that her generation values the past. She explained that the project they completed “shows that we still have worth in
103 old cultures. That we just can’t make up a new future. We keep things from the past”
(Y8:II:26).
Perspectives on Technology
Students’ comments reflected a need to revitalize traditional art making
techniques and processes in the shadows of contemporary technology. Nobel spoke of
the purpose of drawing people to the site of their work. He explained, “The point is show
them that we, a generation knee-deep in technology, can take a step back for a second and
not only enjoy the simple life, but also to honor past cultures and incorporate them in life
today somehow” (Y7:JN:5). When I asked Nobel to talk about his favorite moments in
the program, he discussed how AAP helped him to experience daily life without technological distractions, expressing,
We got to get away from everything. You know we got to get away from mom, dad, TV, computers, sisters, brothers, annoying nuisances and all that. And it was just get away from all of that and be in an environment where we don’t have to worry about those kinds of things. Where you know there are no TVs, you know supposedly rotting our minds out” (Y7:II:18).
Paralleling the need to keep cultural tradition alive in their work, many participants discussed the necessity of living in a technologically advanced era.
Participants admitted that they spent a large amount of time in their daily lives engaged in communications that required the use of electronic media, yet after spending 4 weeks in the program, students like Jeff, Alex, Scout, and Maddie talked about the ways the program provided them with alternative outlets for investing their free time. In a group interview I asked participants how AAP encouraged them to make some changes in their
104 lives once they left the program. They expressed their thoughts in the following except from that interview.
Elisa: A lot of you in your interviews talk about this place as being a very simple place and how much you appreciated not having technology around and not having the constant chatter of your neighborhoods around.
Maddie: I don’t talk on the phone as much. I used to talk on the phone constantly. I don’t do that as much. I don’t listen to the radio as much. I don’t watch TV.
Scout: With the computer I thought that every night when I came home no matter if I was dead tired I had to check all my stuff.
Elisa: Like email?
Scout: Like My Space. That sounds horrible, but I just learned just from being here that when I’m tired I should sleep. Because I could be doing stuff in the morning. But I’ve been trying to wean myself off of doing that every single night. I’ve just learned to treat my body better.
Jeff: I find myself going outside a lot more often. I find myself walking around and riding my bike places. . . . Yeah, I’ve been doing a lot more away from technology and go places. I want to go to my friends and say like, “Hey, want to go to a park or something?”
Alex: Well we all know I’m addicted to My Space and I could stay on it all day. But if I had the chance to stay on my computer or come here, I’d come here.
Elisa: Would you all choose to come here?
Group: Collective yeah.
Elisa: Why? What’s the difference?
Alex: Cause I like my computer. I love my computer. But, I love it out here because it’s peaceful. I’m not that much of a people person and there aren’t that many people out here. I like just being secluded. (GI:16-19)
Developing an Emotional Attachment to Nature
Not only was I surprised that youth made attempts to reduce their reliance on
technology, I was equally surprised at how often youth in the program expressed their
105 appreciation at being able to spend time at the environmental education center. Many seemed to develop an emotional attachment to nature, often commenting on how good they felt at the EEC. They talked of how fresh the air smelled, how many stars they could see, how many beautiful open spaces existed. The AAP program appeared to provide students with a variety of physical experiences like spending time alone in the woods, taking nature hikes, and visiting various wildlife reservations in the area which translated into feelings of comfort with the environmental community. During their 3- day trip to the EEC, students not only participated in environmentally-based and art- based education, but they were exposed to volunteer opportunities that exist for them within the National Park. These opportunities included things like conducting research with interpretive specialists, leading art activities with younger children, and helping to organize and facilitate major cultural or recreational programming. They also attended a bluegrass concert sponsored by the National Park and discovered National Parks aren’t just for adults and young children.
Many students spoke of the ways they developed a new respect for or appreciation for the environment. In an interview after the program, I asked Cash what it was like to submerse himself in a place like the EEC. The following passage provides his response.
Elisa: What was it like to experience it (the EEC) first hand . . . to become more familiar with these (surroundings) . . . does that help develop a respect for it?
Cash: Yeah, because we were sitting there, and I remember one day I was coming out of the dining hall to come get you guys and we were all set up and ready and . . . I went out and saw a bunch of deer running around . . . and how we heard the coyote . . . it just kind of makes you feel part of it . . . and if you walk around parks for just a day, it’s like you see it and then you leave it and it’s gone, but 3
106 days, and you’re doing everything together, and walking through the woods at night . . . which is something I’ve never done before . . . something I never would have wanted to do before . . . it just kind of gives you a new feel for it. (Y3:II:16- 17)
When Opportunity Knocks
Opportunity to Matter/to Make a Difference
Many teens today feel as though they have limited opportunities to prove to society that they have the potential to make positive and meaningful contributions to their communities (Youniss et al., 2002). Youth involved in the AAP program expressed
similar views. Students were asked if occasions were presented to them in their everyday lives to make important choices about issues involving politics, their schooling, the way they spend their leisure time, and/or how they engaged in work and play. Students could offer few examples of when they were asked by adults in their families, schools, or community to contribute individually or collectively to making decisions about important issues in their lives. For example, when I asked Jeff, a 15-year-old Caucasian male with interests in art and theater, if there were ways he felt he could use his art to impact social issues he said were important to him, he explained, “I’ve never really thought about it that much because I think about liking to do stuff like that . . . making a big impact but right now . . . I am too young. Nobody listens to teenagers” (Y4:II:21).
Many spoke of having little or no opportunities to prove they were capable of helping to design school curricula, participate in the development of youth recreation centers or programs, contribute to the aesthetic of public spaces they share, or be involved in the democratic process of shared decision making regarding things like school leadership or creating political or social change in their communities. When I
107 asked what a “lack of opportunity” meant to students, they repeatedly maintained that they are not given choices in their worlds, that they are not asked to participate in activities that punctuate the life of the communities they are a part of, that no one listens to them or their opinions are dismissed. Over and over, students made remarks about societal stereotypes of teenagers, stressing that the positive contributions their peers make
rarely go noticed and that only negative stories about teens are highlighted in the media.
Throughout the program, youth demonstrated the desire to have tangible opportunities to matter or to make a difference in their communities. AAP seemed to provide such opportunities in a variety of ways like including students in decision making processes when generating individual and group art work, making site based recommendations for the installation site, and engaging them in all aspects of planning a gallery exhibition of their own work. Other ways included having the opportunity to voice individual opinions about their work and collective work, to offer ideas for improving the experience for other participants, and to provide feedback about their experiences. They were also given numerous occasions to make aesthetic and design choices about individual and collaborative artifacts, themes, and symbols they were working on, on programming events offered for them to attend in the park during their visit to EEC, on what roles they would play at various times throughout the program
(cutting or matting work, painting gallery spaces, and publicly speaking or welcoming guests to the final event) and on the selection of final pieces included in the installation.
Jan illustrated the ways youth were given opportunities by adults to make important
choices related to the project and to take on significant roles throughout the program.
108 She explained:
It’s very, um, like the lack of an authoritarian figure played a big role. While we had to set some boundaries, but I think that by making the kids part of working professionals along with the adults. They had to make more decisions, to step in and get a little bit more hands-on rather than sit around and be hand-held through every step of the process. They were given a project, and they got it done. I think that they liked having the freedom to choose some of the things they wanted to do. Some of them I think were not used to having that freedom and at first they didn’t know what to do with it. So, they almost had trouble coming up with ideas, because they were afraid of showing others what’s inside their head, but after a while everybody figured out that, “Sure I can do whatever I’d like to do.” I think that that had a big influence and I think that that gave them some self-confidence, and it made them realize that they weren’t just cast aside because of their age, or their level of education, or because of their level of art experience. But by throwing them right in there with the artist and the technician and the other learners of the program, that that again helped them have some accountability and responsibility for the project they were working on and I think they took it more to heart too. They were doing the work. Their work, their piece, their name. That really gave them some confidence and the realization of the impact that they can make. (A3:II:23-24)
When I asked students if the kids in this program were able to contribute important decisions and make choices for the art piece, many students agreed that they were given a lot of freedom within the program. One student, Nobel, spoke about the collective decisions students had to make: “Yeah basically I mean when (people) came to our gallery and stuff deciding like what goes where and how this sets up and how the light I mean how visually everything would look better including inside the EEC mostly how you have to set things up this way to make it look better for everyone” (Y7:II:3).
Students seemed to enjoy that each of their roles were accepted and valued by their peers and adults in the program. For instance, Anna discussed in an interview the ways AAP gave her the chance to matter. She explained, “I think it’s such a small group of people that everybody actually makes a difference. So, like if I hadn’t done anything
109 or if I was just sort of sitting in a corner by myself working, it wouldn’t work . . .
everybody is actually an important part, instead of just pretending to be an important
part” (Y2:II:17). She also added, “I think it’s like everybody having a specific part, and needing to do their part otherwise nothing would happen . . . that really helped me get things done . . . to realize that I’m important” (Y2:II:22). Like Anna, all youth in the program exhibited a need to feel important in their statements as well as their actions.
Early in the program, students sought approval for virtually every drawing, sketch, ceramic piece, and other design decisions they had to make. They seemed to need reassurance that they were making things “right.”
In both their initial interviews as well as the group interview that took place at the conclusion of the program, youth spoke of the ways the AAP program provided them with opportunities to contribute in meaningful and positive ways in their community, and with opportunities to dispel stereotypes about teens. The following passage highlights a group discussion with teen participants after they completed the program:
Elisa: Do you think that AAP gives teenagers a chance to make a difference in their community? If so, how?
Nobel: Everybody thinks that teenagers are like, horrible, and this actually gives us a chance to make a name for ourselves and actually brings out the good instead of the bad . . . like how they always put everything bad in the newspaper, but we actually had something good in the newspaper. And, it made people proud of (our) public schools instead of looking down on us like, “Oh they’re horrible, they don’t know nothing.” And, it gives us a chance to actually make something, like put our own twist on something, and actually say, “Hey, I did that, and I’m proud of that.”
Jeff: Well it defies the stereotype of teenagers around the world, pretty much, and that’s changing the world . . . and, when you look into the local newspaper and you see a story about a teenager it’s usually something about an arrest or how some kid lit a house on fire . . . and instead, people are seeing things about AAP
110 and about these amazing things that teenagers are doing and it gives people a new light in their eyes about teenagers and the younger groups who they see and think, “Oh, they’re annoying or they don’t know what they’re doing.” And, it really changes people.
Scout: I think that we all should probably feel really accomplished because out of a lot of kids who applied to this program . . . we’re the ones who get to do this . . . we’re the ones who get to go out into the woods and . . . some kids might take that for granted, but that we don’t take it for granted – that we all got something out of it – we should be proud that we just got that experience. And, we’ll always remember this.
Cash: If you just change like one person in the community . . . that can change something, a little bit.
Anna: It kinds of makes you feel like the teenage years are less of an in between time. . . . I guess it’s kind of forging new boundaries . . . people can kind of think of teenagers as productive and having something to contribute to the world instead of just being adults and getting a job. . . . I think slowly . . . if we are changing the world. . . . I think it’s slow.
Maddie: Yes, because at Carter (school), it has a really bad rap, and if people saw that a student from Carter was doing something like this, with kids my age from different parts of (the city) . . . doing something productive . . . it helps…
Elisa: It helps the reputation of where you go back to?
Maddie: Yeah.
Alex: I think we make a difference . . . most old people think that teenagers are just hooligans . . . but one of my grandma’s neighbors saw us in the paper and they were telling her about it . . . it kind of changes their mind . . . if they think that it’s a good program and it gives teenagers something to do so that they don’t do that other (bad) stuff. (GI:26-28)
Many youth felt as though they were often only recognized for negative behaviors and expressed a strong desire to receive recognition for their positive contributions in the project. Scout further iterated that point in her interview after I asked her if she thought teenagers should be given more opportunities to put their thoughts and ideas out into the world? She sarcastically responded, “I think they should . . . but I’m just a teenager”
111 (Y8:II:40). Like Scout, it seemed that while they recognized the ways teens are generally perceived by society in a negative light, these youth didn’t buy into the stereotype. They offered statements alluding to the fact that they wished to eliminate such stereotypes and often contradicted those dismissive comments of “I’m just a teenager.” Scout illustrated this point in her comment: “Well (this program) has given me the opportunity to make a difference by making art, by getting it out there to show people what we can do”
(Y8:II:40).
Getting Their Work Out There
As the literature suggests, “public recognition for a youth’s achievements is one of the critical elements in programs that enhance adolescent development” (Farnum &
Schaffer, 1998, p. 63). In the AAP program, youth were recognized for their achievements in a number of ways. First, youth were directly responsible for formatting and setting up a public exhibition their art work in the university gallery. Several admitted that hanging the art exhibition was a lot of work. For instance, Nicole wrote in her journal that she learned how people hang artwork in galleries, and that “a lot of people put a lot of work into art and art shows and sometimes when you plan things out they don’t work out” (Y6:JN:2 ). When talking about what he would tell his friends about the program, Nobel agreed that his experience was challenging. He commented,
I’d tell them that it’s a pretty good program I mean I will probably say I mean you know it’s not gonna be a walk in the park. I mean it’s gonna be intense you know at the end you’ll see that it’s all worth it you know and not just “oh you get paid,” but also seeing your work on display in front of hundreds of people and seeing this done and that done and just looking back at it and saying “I did all of this, we did all of this.” (Y7:II:18)
112 Secondly, students also planned a pubic event to celebrate their art work from the
previous school year and for the public art installation at the EEC. The closing ceremony
drew a crowd of over 100 people, providing participants with an opportunity to share
their achievements with family, friends, local politicians, teachers, and other interested
parties.
During the event, students sold AAP t-shirts, enjoyed live drumming and dancing
performances, and watched a short digital production highlighting their work throughout
the project. Students were thanked by the Director of the Art School, administrators from
the National Park and EEC, the artist, and others involved with the program for their help
in creating the public installation, and received letters or recognition for their positive
contributions to the community. Nobel, the youngest participant in the program was
awarded a professional art portfolio filled with studio art supplies for his extra work
outside the program to help make the closing event successful. Graduating senior, Cash,
was awarded with a $1000.00 scholarship to attend art school the following school year.
In addition to Cash’s award, all students were paid for being apprentices in the program,
which reinforced the fact that youth were valued for their contributions.
A third way students were recognized was through local news articles written about AAP and student accomplishments. In news articles, students were described as
“working arts professionals” and as having the opportunity to build confidence and self- esteem and a public landmark that thousands of people will see (MC:8). Many students
were quoted by journalists in each of the articles about their work, their experiences, and
their feelings toward the program. My field notes revealed in the following statements
113 students’ excitement over seeing their names and photographs in print the day the first
article was published in the city wide newspaper.
Kids come in and are sooooo excited about being in the (paper). Maddie calls me at 7a.m. to tell me AAP is in the news. Kids run up to each other as they arrive to show them the article. Nobel brings in two copies. Liz calls me in the morning to tell me. Jan calls to tell me. Everyone is psyched, and kids compliment each other on their quotes and their pictures. I tell kids they sound really intelligent in their quotes. Liz backs me up and tells Cash, “You sound like an intelligent teenager—being able to talk about the inspiration for your work.” She talks about how kids have made AAP look good and made themselves look good. (FN:11:1)
The multiple forms of public recognition youth received for their achievements
seemed to contribute to feelings of self and group worth for students. Such recognition
also seemed to help youth understand the magnitude of their work, knowing their
community considered it important enough to cover in several stories.
Opportunity to Leave a Mark
In addition to their strong desire to be recognized in their communities, many
participants seemed particularly interested in leaving their mark on the community in
some concrete way. In journal entries and interviews, youth in the program expressed
great pride in the art work they produced. Many claimed they developed greater
confidence in their ability to make art and greater confidence in themselves after they
finished the project. They reported developing other skills that enabled them to feel confident about the “mark” they would leave as well. In the following two passages,
Alex and Nicole describe their transformation throughout the AAP program and the ways
they developed a variety of personal skills.
114 Passage 1:
I’ll admit hearing about AAP was exciting, but when $300 was said, my ears were open. Getting up early to come to “school” wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for the start of vacation, but it soon became a willing responsibility, I was very nervous the first day. I didn’t talk to anyone but Elisa. I second day I started talking to people. By the first day (at the EEC), I’d become close to people I had a bond with. AAP brings kids together that have things in common. And this experience has taught me discipline, respect, and responsibility. AAP isn’t a little arts and crafts party. It takes dedication, commitment, patience, concentration and hard work. Unless you are prepared for that, I wouldn’t sign up. I have a really cool teacher and artist to work with. I wish I knew about this program a while ago. This is a good experience. I made new friends, learned new things and most important, created art for the public to enjoy. (Y1:JN:2-3)
Passage 2:
I feel that from AAP I will come back to normal life with a couple more friends and a great experience. Also with pride, pride that I actually left my mark on something and was allowed to. I feel that this program will help me grow and expand my mind and friendship qualities. Last but not least, I truly believe that this program will help a lot of teens with helping them grow and change. Also, I do think that this program will help me with my art skills and my self-confidence in them and make me work more.
Things I liked about the program: Education about almost everything around us Meeting new people and seeing what inspires them and what they like Making a different type of art and leaving my mark on a national park The opportunity to have this experience Working with a real artist Working with clay to make fun little rocks Inspiring other people Learning from one another. (Y6:JN:3)
Similar feelings toward the program were evident in other students’ comments in interviews, journals, and news articles. While a few students spoke of their increased confidence in their artistic skills, most spoke of more personal skill development. Some reported they experienced increases in leadership abilities, motivation to complete their work, better communication skills, and stronger work ethics. Students like Anna reported
115 being able to overcome her shyness and depression after participating in the program.
Others like Maddie, Nicole, and Scout talked about how they learned to accept each other’s differences, how to avoid passing judgment about others, and how to appreciate diverse perspectives and experiences of others in the group.
Marking a Name for Themselves: Developing Youth Culture
Almost all youth in the program spoke of a hope for their generation of youngsters to be recognized, valued, and remembered for the marks they will have left.
In a journal question, I asked what kinds of marks students would like to leave for future generations and to explain how their artwork reflected that. Many responded that they wanted their work to be viewed as magical, mysterious, and complicated. Others felt compelled to convey their respect for the past while showing they were capable of making great technological strides for their era. These notions are illustrated by students’
thoughts in several of their journal entries:
Passage 1
I want to leave a mark that not only shows who I am, but what my generation was like. The symbols and shapes all represent something. Some even mark technological advances within my generation’s time. (A7:JN:5)
Passage 2
I hope to leave something that people will observe and not just see as something unimportant. If this piece survives into the future, perhaps the future generations will look back on our history and see that the rocks may be primitive, but that the process and ourselves are not. When people look over at the project as they pass along, or when they walk up to it and observe closely, they should see something that is mysterious and indescribable. It should . . . make them proud of what our society can do. In the end, everyone should care. This art is going to be seen by so many, and this age should look at it and ask themselves “is this a good representation of what our time is.” Everyone alive in this time period should ask themselves this, and should care. (A4:JN:3)
116 Passage 3
I’d like people in the future to know what we were all about, what we thought looked cool and what we thought about things. I plan to show them this by doing something that really represents me and my work. We want to pull people to the site so all the blood and sweat is recognized. So that we did wasn’t done in vain. (A3:JN:3)
Passage 4
I would like to leave the mark of being an individual and have originality. That reflects my artwork because my rocks are different from everyone else’s. The purpose of drawing people to the site is to show them who we are and what we like and how we think. Also to show them that some people do care about the past and leaving their mark. I want this to say that we worked hard on them and it does belong there. (A6:JN:2)
Passage 5
We are creating art for people in the future to look at, enjoy and wonder. In the present we do the same to past art forms, I want our art to reflect this civilization’s beliefs and traditions. A national park is a beautiful natural habitat. A lot of wildlife lives there. When people come to hike in the park, we want them to see our art and wonder. (A1:JN:2)
While their journal reflections were centered on the specific art installation students contributed to, this desire to create wonder and magic, to be appreciated for their strenuous efforts, and to be recognized for their ingenuity appeared to serve as a metaphor for the hope many had for the ways their youth culture should be identified.
Summary
Participants in the AAP program responded positively to journal prompts, interview questions, and to the many arts and environmental activities organized throughout the program. Their positive reactions were not ingenuous, nor were they surprising. Students were pre-screened prior to being accepted into the program for their commitment to the arts, for their maturity, and for their leadership potential. Students
117 were made aware of their responsibilities toward the program, and of the kinds of
activities they would experience at an orientation. All students seemed to develop a
positive social connection to me and to the AAP program throughout the course of the
study. These variables may have contributed to the fact that I observed no resistance
from students in terms of their participation and may have accounted for their willingness
to make changes in their attitudes or behaviors toward issues of community connectivity
or issues of social change.
Not only did the AAP program provide a safe forum for creating artwork, but it
was also filled with useful opportunities for young people to contribute in meaningful
ways. Youth had opportunities to make choices about their art as well as public events.
It provided opportunities for students to familiarize themselves with natural settings and
to collect scientific and historic research relate d to art. AAP exposed youth to
traditional, cultural, and alternative ways of engaging in society. It gave them
opportunities to engage in critique about the work and other aspects involving site
specific art. It gave them the opportunity to create a lasting piece of art and a lasting piece of themselves. It gave them a voice in justifying their work and explaining its purpose to press, local citizens, and each other. AAP also seemed to celebrate and reward each creative effort of youth participants in public ways, which enhanced their beliefs about themselves and their futures.
118 CHAPTER V
SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
Introduction
Today’s teens must grow up amidst enormous social changes that have shaped and challenged the boundaries for their healthy growth and change (Hersch, 1998). With enhanced competition of fast-track capital across global economies, advances in technologies, and the erosion of local and state welfare policies, youth are living with increased socioeconomic pressures and high demands for self-sufficiency (Lesko, 2001).
Positioned in a self-oriented society where “social awareness and responsibility are readily jettisoned for personal pleasure, diversion, and escape,” it might seem difficult for adolescents to focus on anything other than self-survival (Bersson, 1997, p. 86).
Increased competition for jobs and material goods can leave many adolescents with feelings of fragmentation and isolation, making it difficult to maintain community attachment and an investment in the future (Hawkins & Catalano, 1992).
This study took a close look at what can happen when youth are given the skills and the opportunities to meet the great social challenges of today and to invest in their own futures or the futures of their communities. Chapter V highlights the results of my study of a unique community-based art education program, the AAP program, and its role
119 in helping young people become more connected to their communities and more engaged in matters of social change. This chapter includes a brief review of the discussions from the previous four chapters. Following this summary, conclusions drawn from the study are presented. Within this section, original research questions are revisited and findings related to those questions are highlighted. Lastly, suggestions for practice and for further research within this field of study are recommended.
Review of Previous Chapter Discussions
The AAP program existed between June and July of 2006, during which time, eight students participated in a variety of hands-on learning activities including curating their own art exhibition, conducting field based research at a local environmental education center for an art installation, and collaborating with a professional artist and local government employees in the planning, executing, and implementing of a site specific public sculpture for the National Park.
To investigate AAP and its impact on encouraging interconnectedness between adolescents and their community and engagement of adolescents in social change, a case study design was employed. As participant observer, I maintained prolonged engagement in both field work and analysis. I observed students in university studios and galleries, on overnight excursions to an environmental education center, at meal times and leisure times, and at celebratory events. My constant presence, my role as director of
AAP, and my willingness to listen to youth helped me to establish a quick rapport and deep level of trust with participants. The positive relationship I established with teens allowed me to conduct semi-structured interviews in a conversation-like manner and set
120 up the boundaries for youth to feel safe to express themselves in honest ways. Bresler
(2006) points out that this type in in-depth immersion in to a study helps researchers
“linger, connect, perceive, re-see, and grasp a perspective different than our own” (p. 56).
This kind of qualitative inquiry proved well designed for investigating the unique perspectives of adolescents in a real-life context.
Along with youth interviews, I conducted interviews with adults involved with the program, made daily field notes, and collected students’ journal entries and other material culture to determine if AAP encouraged interconnectedness between youth and community and an engagement in social change. An initial interview with youth contained 14 questions, while adult interviews contained 7 questions. In a group follow- up interview with youth in the program, an additional 12 semi-structured questions were initiated. While I followed a guided question sequence, many participants asked me additional questions and/or expanded on my questions. Sixteen journal prompts were also given to participants throughout the program. Both interview questions and journal questions evolved from a community-based art education conceptual framework and from theories and practices of postmodern education. They were also influenced by observations I made in the field and by early data analysis.
Throughout the research study, I used a community-based art education framework that draws on postmodern theory and practices to guide my observations and analysis. In particular, I looked for activities, behaviors, attitudes and interactions among all participants within the AAP program that nurtured social responsibility, ecological sensibilities, and cultural renewal and change. I also looked for components that make up
121 the program which encouraged youth to become connected to community. Through this
lens, it appeared that the AAP program encouraged social responsibility through
community-based art works by engaging multiple people in meaningful creativity and
including the narratives of young people in making art for the public.
Collaboration with caring adults, desire to live a simpler life, and having an
opportunity to matter and/or to make a difference emerged as three prominent themes in
the data. Each of these components served as a catalyst for change or transformation
among youth participants. They ultimately led this group to consider themselves as
important contributors to their community, which could be viewed as an initial step
toward encouraging youth to engage in social change on greater levels. These themes
helped to determine if participation in AAP encouraged interconnectedness between
adolescents and community, and if participation in AAP encouraged adolescents to
engage in social change. The following section discusses findings related to the original research questions as well as the subquestions.
Findings
In this section, both empirical and theoretical findings are brought to light. In the first part of this section, the original research questions are revisited. After this discussion, the theoretical undercurrents that have played an integral part in this study are revisited and explored.
Research Questions
Research questions evolved from the personal interactions I had previously with adolescents, as well as from a review of literatures for this study. Throughout the study, I
122 was primarily concerned with a community-based art education program, the AAP
program, and its ability to encourage interconnectedness between adolescents and their
community and to engage adolescents in social change. This interest generated a number of guiding questions and subquestions to focus on in my research of the AAP program.
These questions included:
1. Does participation in AAP encourage interconnectedness between adolescents
and community?
a. How is interconnectedness between adolescents and community
encouraged or not encouraged, and what factors promote interconnectedness?
2. Does participation in AAP encourage adolescents to engage in social change?
a. How is engagement in social change encouraged or not encouraged in
adolescents, and what factors promote engagement in social change?
In the first part of this section, I discuss findings related to question number one
and its subquestion. The latter section of findings deals with the second major research
question and its subquestion.
Interconnectedness
For this study, interconnectedness was defined as an adolescent’s sense that they
are connected or bonded to other persons, their community, and/or the society (FYSB,
1997). Interconnectedness between adolescents and community was evidenced by the
development of interactions and dialogue, of positive and respectful relationships, of
support and value for each other, and/or of contributions to the sustainability and the
well-being of each other. In general, students involved in the AAP program had the
123 perception that they developed positive bonds with peers, adults, and various communities including the National Park community, the local artist community, and their communities at large. My observations of students when they were engaged in art researching, planning, making, or installing activities in the studio and at the environmental education center, revealed their behaviors and perceptions to be the same.
Student responses to interview and journal questions also showcased similar feelings of connectedness toward each other, adults in the program, and the community.
Ways Interconnectedness Was Encouraged
Interconnectedness among youth and community appeared to be encouraged in a number of ways. First, AAP challenged and broadened students’ definitions of community. Initially, students defined community as the geographic region surrounding their homes. They were encouraged throughout the program, however, to consider community in other, more metaphorical ways. For example, Scout defined community in her interview as: “Community, I see a bunch of people coming together. . . . I see people coming to together and trying to be good people . . . the people who care about having better things (Y8:II:2). Other students like Nobel talked of how AAP helped to connect him to a larger community than his neighborhood. He said,
Well it’s helped me connect to the community cause you know normally my community would be around where I live, but you know it’s making me go back out there, you know go somewhere I’m not naturally at, so that’s connecting me to another part of the community and then so I come here and stuff and then we go all the way out into the valley (National Park) which is also a big part of the community and we went and saw art there so that’s also connecting me to the community not just allowing me to travel different places but also to leave a mark in that community.(Y7:II:11)
124 Another way AAP encouraged interconnected was by providing a consistently safe place for youth with similar interests to come together to share ideas and build bonds. The program lasted a total of 4 weeks, during which time students spent 3 to 4 hours together every day working on a collaborative art piece. Perhaps most substantial
was their time spent together for several days and nights at the environmental education
center where they conducted field research for the art installation. Students spent 24 hours a day together sharing meals, sharing bathrooms, socializing, sleeping, playing games, making art, telling stories at campfires, and hiking. During this time in particular, students appeared to develop lasting connections with each other and to break down boundaries of class, prejudice, and ideology. When I asked Scout to describe the ways the program had changed her, she responded, “Well . . . it’s made me look at people a different way” (Y8:II:8). In my field observations, I noted that students would stay up late talking about politics, control of wealth in our country, human and animal rights, religious fanaticism, and energy consumption. To my surprise, they often challenged each other’s ideals regarding religion and race, and debated with open-minded attitudes and curiosity about such issues. They seemed to accept each other’s differences and to appreciate diverse ideas and opinions. When they talked about what they missed most when the program was over, many students claimed they missed each other. The following passage taken from the group interview after the program ended showcases this phenomenon.
Elisa: What did you miss most when you left the program?
Scout: I miss seeing everybody on a constant basis. And I think if like we all met each other at a mall, it wouldn’t be different. It would be like we could hang out.
125 It’s like we’re all different, but we’ve all go that connection now. We could all hang out normally.
Maddie: Now I get up at like 8 or 9 in the morning and I think, “OK, now what?” That’s what I said to Alex and Nicole. If we were to get everybody together tomorrow, it would be like nothing has changed. Schoolwise, we’d all be in a different clique. Like here, that doesn’t matter. Like at first there were little cliques cause some people knew each other and then everybody became like a whole. I thought that was cool.
Elisa: That doesn’t always happen in high school does it?
Cash: All the other years I never really had a connection with everybody in the group.
Elisa: Do you think it was because we came here (EEC)?
Cash: I think that had a lot to do with it. (GI:14-15)
As Cash indicated in his comments above, having an extended stay at the environmental education center within the National Park helped to connect youth with each other. Their interactions and their interviews also suggested that youth developed a strong emotional connection to a physical place: the environmental education center.
They spoke of feeling “at home” after their times spent in the woods, along streams, and at the art site. Students like Anna, Jeff, Alex, and Scout all claimed they “loved the park” and would come back to the park when they could get a ride. Anna emphasized: “Yes, of course I’d come back! When I get a car (pshht), I’ll probably be up there practically every day. I love it (for fun or to volunteer)” (Y2:JN:3).
Another way AAP encouraged interconnectedness among adolescents and community included providing opportunities to develop caring relationships with one or more adults. Youth worked with four adults on a consistent basis: me, Jan, the artist’s assistant, Liz, the artist, and Ed, the program director for the EEC. Each adult held youth
126 to high expectations, while modeling strong work ethics, positive self-efficacy, and behaviors that promote democracy and social change. Literature supports this type of mentorship as being able to help youth deal with everyday challenges and develop a variety of skills to be successful (Farnum & Shaffer, 1998; Hawkins & Catalano, 1994).
Youth in the AAP program generally perceived they had developed such social bonds with one or more adults who cared about them.
Participation in AAP also helped connect students to the past traditions and cultural art forms of their community. Throughout the program, youth were introduced
to various local and traditional ceramic craft techniques and learned ways that Native
Americans from the area used the land for all their basic human, cultural, and artistic needs. When I asked Anna what the purpose of the art work the AAP group had created was, she offered this explanation:
The purpose is… - to bring people back to their birthplace: the earth, the trees, the grass - to delve into ancient cultures and make people think about how people of the past affected the earth and how they’re affecting the earth - to show that people still work the same way that we did thousands upon thousands of years ago. We can still group together to create something. Still use the same methods. Still cling on to our past. Have a connection. (Y2:JN:9)
Like Anna, many youth were able to connect what they learned about past cultures to inspire new artistic contributions at the environmental education center. This connection also appeared to inspire students to renew past traditions and cultural practices in their own lives. For example, some students like Maddie, Nicole, Scout, and
Anna spoke of diminishing their use of communication technologies in favor of making art, planting a garden, or spending time socializing face to face with people.
127 Some students spoke of ways the activities at the EEC and in university studios,
their relationships with other peers and adult participants, the emotions that evolved from
their experiences, and the artwork they created helped to encourage them to not only
connect to the environment, but to also preserve natural resources in their community.
Anna explained, “Well, it (AAP) helps me because I’m always half-heartedly fighting on
behalf of the environment (maybe not fighting), so seeing what I’m actually trying to save is very encouraging. It makes me want to actually help nature more so than I do now” (Y2:JN:8). When I asked how she might educate others about such an awakening,
Anna concluded in a reference to the National Park, “Really, the only way for them to understand is to go there” (Y2:JN:8). As Anna implied, youth seemed to need opportunities to experience nature first hand, to have a physical and emotional experience with nature over a longer period of time. The youth in the AAP program needed to be given opportunities to explore various natural settings on their own terms, to feel some
ownership for a place. They needed opportunities to learn about important issues related
to the natural world as well as opportunities to express themselves creatively and publicly
about things they believe in.
Factors That Encouraged Interconnection
Hawkins and Catalano (1994) identify the conditions or factors of opportunity,
skills, and recognition as those that create positive social bonding or interconnectivity.
The AAP program did incorporate a variety of activities aimed to provide students with
skills, voice, and opportunities to be recognized publicly for their contributions to the
community. Activities included planning and curating their own gallery exhibition,
128 completing site specific research for a collective art piece, and creating individual and
group ceramic art along side working professionals. Youth had opportunities to be active
contributors and to make meaningful contributions to the community. They were given
opportunities to make choices about their individual and collective artworks as well as
public events. AAP helped students build skills in collecting scientific and historic
research related to art. It gave them skills for critiquing their own art work and the work
of others, and for planning site specific public art. It gave them the opportunity to leave a
lasting landmark with their individual and collective artistic contributions. Finally, AAP
recognized youth participants not only through the public art they created for the EEC,
but also through a closing celebration which brought diverse members of the community to share in the achievements of students. When I asked Cash if he thought AAP gave kids a chance to be recognized for their work, he explained:
Cash: In a way, yeah, because . . . people are coming in to look at my artwork and everybody else’s artwork . . . we’re given a chance to talk to everybody
Elisa: Do you think that having your art in public sort of enforces that feeling of making it matter or giving young people the opportunity to make a difference?
Cash: Yeah, especially in the show now because I’ll of my stuff is hanging up with the group . . . and people would really get up there and look at it . . . and read what I wrote . . . even older people . . . and I knew that if they really got up there and looked and they read what I wrote, then they would take a piece of me with them. (Y3:II:27)
Cash’s comments reveal the desire for some teens to be recognized by adults as
making positive contributions on behalf of their generation of youth. The kind of public
praise AAP provided seemed to reinforce students’ efforts, enhance their beliefs about
129 themselves and their future, and encourage feelings of acceptance and real bonding with the community (Hawkins & Catalano, 1994).
Public art can be considered a cultural marker for any community. Participating in the creation of public art for the National Park gave students “the opportunity to demonstrate their sense of belonging by participating in the events that punctuate the social life of the community” (Wallot & Joyal, 1999, p. 29). The AAP program appeared to help youth participants reach a new understanding of community and the individual and group power that they could have within it (Blandy, 1987). Participation in the month-long AAP project enabled students to develop a sense of belonging and interconnectedness to each other, to adults in the program, to the past, and to their community. These findings are summarized by Anna’s remarks in her journal about her time spent at the environmental education center where students left their public mark.
When she was asked what she got out of her participation in the program, Anna wrote:
- To feel more in reality than I normally do, and then to feel thrown back into hazard when I left. - Closer with all the AAP bunch - To learn more about life, nature, growing, change, depth, etc. - To like clay - To feel history surrounding me. History and future all around me at once, like damp air. (Y2:JN:3)
Social Change
In this study, social change was defined as change in the typical characteristics of a society, such as the economic system, social institutions, cultural products, laws, norms, values, and symbols. Engagement in social change was evidenced by the development of interactions or dialogue, writings or art creation, and/or taking action toward issues of
130 social, environmental or cultural importance. Overall, students involved in the AAP
program perceived that they thought about social, environmental and/or cultural issues
during and after their participation. Some felt they developed new behaviors and
attitudes toward environmental conservation and preservation, the renewal of cultural practices and art making, their use of technology, and their relationships with diverse
members of a community. My observations of students and analysis of their interviews,
journal notes, and artwork throughout the program revealed their behaviors and perceptions to be similar.
Ways Engagement in Social Change Was Encouraged in Youth
Participation in the AAP program encouraged adolescents to think about and talk about social issues of importance to them. The AAP program appeared to bring youth to consciousness of their individual and collective roles in creating cultural, environmental, and social awareness and change. Several factors helped to initiate such consciousness and action. AAP provided a safe haven, physically, socially and emotionally, where students could come together and engage in meaningful, creative work. AAP helped them recognize their own responsibility in creating cultural, environmental and social awareness and change by engaging students in critical thinking about social issues, by providing students with skills to research and implement ideas about art, culture, and society, and by providing them with opportunities to represent themselves and their ideas publicly.
Both in their conversations as well as their journal comments, students expressed beliefs about social issues they were concerned with. Listening to youth discuss issues
131 like race, religion and the environment in daily conversations with each other prompted
me to ask students how they might use their art for social change. Several students spoke
of using their art work to inspire anti-litter campaigns. Additional themes for their art included gay, lesbian, and bisexual rights, anti-animal testing, urban decay, and equal rights for all groups of people. Other students talked about lost cultural practices. For example, Anna wrote about this social issue as one she’d like to create art in response to:
I might take on American culture as a whole. How no one knows how to make their own clothes or grow their own goods anymore. How people are uncomfortable with dirt and the thought of going somewhere other than the supermarket for their food makes them shiver. How nature is just in the way, invasive and uninteresting to them. The fact that people do things not because they’ve sat down and thought a long time about why they’re doing them, but because a magazine for the TV or the radio said they should. How nobody thinks anymore. (Y2:JN:4)
When asked specifically if the AAP encouraged youth to think about social issues, students like Nobel responded that the program did not encourage him to think about such things. However, his actions indicated that this was not the case. I often
observed Nobel engaging with other students in conversation about his racial
background, about issues of prejudice, and about issues of Christianity. I noted in my personal notes that Nobel, as the youngest member of AAP at 14 years old, may have had a hard time articulating his thoughts about major issues, or was not be able to define the term social issue at all. All of the students told me that they were not encouraged to think about issues of social importance in school. This might also explain why youth like
Nobel may have found it difficult to understand how he engaged in critical thinking about matters of the world.
132 Scout and Jeff commented that they thought about social issues even before they
came to the program. However, both Anna and Cash, the two returning participants,
were able to perceive some ways AAP challenged youth to engage in social change.
Their following two interview passages demonstrate that involvement in the program for
2 or more years might have a greater impact on youth engagement in social change.
Passage 1:
Elisa: Has this program has encouraged you to think about major social issues? If so, how?
Anna: I think it is because I was never really interested in that before I came here and before I talked to you with things like that (environmental protection). . . . I’m around adults all of the time, but they don’t really talk about social issues or things like that . . . or if they do, they just kind of expect me to stand off to the side and listen. . . . I think this just kind of opened my eyes about things like that more.
Elisa: Since you think about those things, has it encouraged you to act on them?
Anna: Just recently, because I thought that I was thinking about those things until about the beginning of this year, so . . . I was just kind of thinking about other people’s opinions and just kind of took them on as my own without thinking about why . . . so the past 4 months, I’ve actually started to THINK about things, if that makes any sense. . . . I just sort of started waking up now . . . like breaking things down into simpler terms . . . acting on them. (Y2:II:20,21)
Passage 2:
Elisa: You mention you use your art to provide a counter culture for young people.
Cash: Yeah. because you can’t let all of the kids get sucked in to what the school wants them to think . . . the teachers are just pushing it down your throat, and a lot of people just don’t believe it because . . . there’s a lot of people that believe they’re not teaching everything, they’re not doing everything to the best of their ability to make sure that you don’t grow up to be a stepping stone . . . free thought is the most important thing, because without that we have . . . anything.
133 Elisa: Do you think this program allows you that thought of resisting and being free?
Cash: Yeah, because everything we do is kind of open-ended. It’s left up to us what we do, and if it’s bad, that’s our fault. . . . We’re very free to do everything we wanted. (Y3:II:25)
Both students were the oldest in the program and had participated with AAP for 3
years. Cash and Anna perceived their participation as integral to developing critical
thinking about issues in their everyday lives; issues like environmental conservation and
free thought. It was unclear whether or not the program itself was responsible for fostering the kinds of thinking Cash and Anna describe or whether age, maturity, and
years in the program were more indelible factors. These comments do suggest, however,
that programs like AAP which expose students to real world problems and engage them in creative critique of such problems over an extended period of time can begin to nurture
social responsibility.
While a few students seemed unsure of how to articulate whether or not the
program engaged them in thinking about important social issues, they all did comment on
becoming more aware of the power they could wield by using their art as mechanisms to
communicate important social messages. On several occasions, youth were asked to
respond to journal prompts designed to gauge whether or not they perceived their art as a
vehicle for conveying such social messages. Appendix F provides a list of the journal
questions students were given throughout the program. In one question, students were
asked if they thought art had the power to make a difference in the world. The vast
majority of their responses confirmed that youth in the program considered art as viable
ways to create change. For example, Jeff said,
134 I believe art, besides politics, is the driving force of every human being, and influences those who get a message from what they see, hear, or learn. Art is very powerful in its ability to communicate where words cannot. Artists can convince the public about their issues by using factual depictions and truthful, emotional pictures. Although a lot of people by that time are already biased, art has a very lasting and impressionistic memory into people, changing the way they see the world around them. (Y4:JN:4)
Alex had her own ideas about the role of art in changing society. She wrote,
Art has an emotional impact on people. It can inspire people to do things that can lead to benefiting the world. Art can be made for several different reasons. They could use it to persuade people to do something, or to inform people of things they need to know such as issues in the community. Art could inspire someone to donate to charity, start a canned food drive or even stop everyday littering on the streets. (Y1:JN:2)
Other students like Maddie felt their art could help people respect diverse ways of thinking and living. For example, she wrote in her journal, “I think art has the power to make a difference in the world. Art can show a different perspective to the viewer. Art can shock the public. Art can show the world the different representations of beauty and emotions and can teach the world to respect those representations” (Y5:JN:3). Scout wrote about renewing cultural ties through the creation of public art. She expressed an understanding that students’ work needed to be made public in order to educate the masses about messages they felt were important. Scout’s interview illustrates this point:
Elisa: So what are some of the big social issues that, you know, this program has helped you to think about?
Scout: Well just how were treating nature and pollution and all that stuff and then just trying to preserve our history and ancient cultures just basically trying to preserve all the things that we have so . . .
Elisa: What impact do you think your art can have on the community?
Scout: Well I think that it’s gonna make people look at things differently I think it’s gonna make people at least try to make people understand that you can mix
135 the old with the new. You can keep it basically the same and you can learn from it you can learn about different cultures, different heritages, and different eras in time and I think that is going to make a difference.
Elisa: Do you think that’s one of the goals of public art?
Scout: I think it is.
Elisa: To . . . sort of educate the public?
Scout: To educate and to give people a new perspective on things because it’s so big and out there and public.
Elisa: Do you think that has more public weight than something you might do individually?
Scout: I think it does. I think that when you get a lot of people behind something and you work really hard enough with it and you have a message with it that its going to make a bigger impact than, than doing something on your own and keeping it on your bedroom wall. (Y8:II:37-41)
It is clear that the majority of students in the program began thinking about issues of social, environmental, and cultural importance. AAP appeared to bring youth into
awareness of the ways they could use art as one tool to educate the public about things
that are important to them individually and/or to their generation of youth. Moving
beyond just thinking about social issues, teens also demonstrated engagement in social
change in small ways after participating in the program.
Factors That Promoted Engagement in Social Change
Youth in the AAP program were provided with opportunities to develop social
bonds with one or more caring adults or mentors. Students perceived AAP as a safe
place to express themselves and as a place that rewarded youth contributions and
achievements. The program was built around activities and a curriculum that gave
students skills for solving real life problems, like the creation of site-specific and context-
136 specific artwork for a protected space on National Park land. The AAP program gave
youth opportunities to make a positive difference in their community through the creation
of public art. As a result, these opportunities seemed to help young people realize that
each one’s uniqueness and contribution was a function of togetherness, of being
participant; the kind of participation and togetherness that Greene (2000) says can yield
great changes.
After spending 4 weeks with the AAP program, students discovered and put into practice ways for reducing pollution and food waste in their everyday environments,
ways for protecting animal and plant species native to the area, and ways for revitalizing local and cultural traditions of art making and the use of natural resources. Students’ comments revealed they began to challenge their own use of communication technology, while some noted the isolation and passivity they felt when engaged in watching television, chatting on line, or talking for hours on the telephone. At a follow-up interview, students like Alex, Anna, Maddie, and Scout discussed ways they had reduced the time they spent on line chatting, emailing, or surfing the web. They also reduced time
spent on the telephone and time spent watching television, claiming they had discovered
more worthwhile things to do in their spare time. Some began to appreciate, accept, and
even celebrate the diverse contributions of various members of their peer community and
community at large. Scout, Maddie, Alex, and Nicole admitted to becoming more
accepting of other people’s life views, politics, interests, and contributions. They
specifically said they began to break down initial stereotypes and avoided making
137 assumptions about people based on things like their clothing, income level, or neighborhood they were from.
Like Cash, nearly all of the participants in the program began to appreciate the natural environment more and made simple initiatives to protect it (like recycling, cleaning up litter, respecting all living things, and challenging their friends and families to do the same). In his interview with me, Cash spoke about the appreciation for nature he developed after participating in AAP.
Elisa: Do you think it helps to kind of submerse yourself in a place . . . to experience it first hand . . . to become more familiar with these things . . . does that help develop a respect for it?
Cash: Yeah, because we were sitting there, and I remember one day I was coming out of the dining hall to come get you guys and we were all set up and ready and . . . I went out and saw a bunch of deer running around . . . and how we heard the coyote . . . it just kind of makes you feel part of it . . . and if you walk around parks for just a day, it’s like you see it and then you leave it and it’s gone, but 3 days, and you’re doing everything together, and walking through the woods at night . . . which is something I’ve never done before. . . . It’s special. (Y3:II:18)
Other students like Anna independently learned more about local Native
American craft and handiwork and began sewing some of her own clothing and planting a small vegetable garden at home.
Like Anna, several students began to use their artwork to connect to past cultures or to create visual representations of things they were concerned about. For example, students were asked to create a personal monument during the AAP program. Students responded in a myriad of ways to create art with a variety of thematic concepts and media. Nicole created a painting for the final celebration that centered on the celebration of diversity. Scout created a mixed media monument to the changing of the seasons,
138 emphasizing a concern for global warming. Anna created an abstract sculpture of herself as a monument in celebration of being a woman, and wrote the following in her artist’s statement:
I am a monument to God. One of trillions. But all I have is myself I am a monument My thoughts and blinks and fingertips are a monument And this is honestly the best I can do. (MC:8)
Students in the program were asked in journal questions to consider ways they could use their art to inspire social change. They were also asked to create artwork across the span of several weeks that took into consideration cultural symbolism, specific environmental concerns, and the function of personal and collective monuments. Though
I did not observe any adults in the AAP program specifically asking participants to engage in change behaviors, it was clear some of the students began to make choices and decisions about social, environmental, and/or cultural issues that they learned about or that were important to them.
Theoretical Findings
Today’s youth are faced with daily internal and external challenges to their successful transition into adulthood. Adolescents must be prepared to compete in a worldwide labor market and must have the skills to understand and appreciate cultures other than their own. In a national culture that functions under the residual pressures of modernization and economic development and still views the individual as the basic social unit, a sense of community life is disappearing among teens. The constant flux of economic patterns and technological advances requires adolescents to develop
139 increasingly advanced technical, creative, analytical, and communication skills to participate in contemporary society (Takanishi, 2000). Research supports that they must have life-skills training, adult mentoring, and strong social support systems to meet these challenges of the 21st century (Takanishi, 2000). Though research suggests today’s youth
need individual skills and support to survive and compete in the world, a disintegration of
community and a sense of community have become a reality for many teenagers
(Gardner, 1994). Amidst the disintegration of community and a push for individual
competition, youth are charged with searching for social ties, a sense of identity and
recognition (Jagodzinski, 2004).
The AAP program encouraged a sense of interconnectedness among teens and
community by creating a safe environment in which young people could have a valued
role, develop competencies and identity, feel a sense of personal control, and share pride
in their participation. Youth in the program needed to feel a sense of community, and
they were willing to do their share of what Gardner (1994) considers community
building.
The AAP program was not about helping teens merely survive or adapt to the
challenging world that awaits them. Instead, AAP helped participants make a cognitive,
emotional, and social connection to their community through the vehicle of art. In other
words, AAP provided the kind of opportunity Giroux (1997) says can “develop the
critical capacity to challenge and transform existing social and political forms, rather than
simply adapt to them” (p. 219). Youth in the program demonstrated their desire to work
hard and to be seen as respected, trusted, and valued contributors to their community. In
140 the process of connecting to community, youth began to recognize their potential to not
only survive or adapt, but to take a more active role in affecting change on behalf of their
own futures and the future of their communities. This kind of transformation could be
considered in small ways forms of social reconstructionism.
This research also suggests another interpretation of the evidence. In keeping
with postmodern pedagogy, the AAP program provided an alternative to the kind of
engagement necessary for competing in the world. It offered youth ways to resist
individualism and competition, and what Bowers (2001) considers a mounting pressure in
young people to become dependent on media and technology, consumerism, and outside
expert knowledge. However, youth demonstrated in their behaviors and responses the tension that exists between wanting to be more critical of contemporary media and the desire for positive public recognition for themselves and their adolescent peers. The fact
that teens did engage in deconstructing the media yet did not have postmodern responses
to the media, causes a theoretical discrepancy. This discrepancy suggests that youth may
need more concrete models and activities in order to develop social action attitudes and behaviors towards changing the impact of contemporary media on their lives.
Similarly, while some youth in the program were able to think critically about consumerism and its impacts on their contemporary culture, they demonstrated in their actions as well as their conversations their reliance on material goods. The inconsistency between theory and practice implies youth need exposure to both alternative, tangible ways of thinking about consumerism and the ways they can avoid complete dependence on material goods.
141 The AAP program did reintroduce teens to the kinds of local and cultural knowledge that have been lost over generations. It enforced a curriculum and mentorship that modeled some concrete ways youth could begin to change their behaviors and attitudes toward environment, toward their use of technology, toward renewing local traditions, and toward other independent and group life practices. The program ultimately offered them hope for their futures and the chance to grow individually, as well as grow for the good of the community.
This study established a relationship between theories of postmodern education and approaches to community-based art education for the purpose of social transformation. A postmodern community-based art education approach to teaching and learning celebrates the contributions of those who may not typically be asked to participate in making significant contributions to community. While literature suggests that marginalized peoples fall among those not recognized for their contributions, I argue that youth are often viewed in the same light. As others like McLaughlin, Irby, and
Langman, (1994) have found, this research confronted the conventional wisdom that says today’s “youth are unmotivated, beyond redemption, and uninterested in anything worthwhile” (p. 9). A postmodern community-based art education approach to teaching and learning also centers on critiquing contemporary media and technology, revitalizing traditional, cultural, and local practices, and exposing youth to the power of community and collaboration in their lives. From this postmodern perspective, community-based art education offers possibilities for artists, educators and students to see themselves as part of the collective potential of a community large or small.
142 The AAP program echoed postmodern theoretical approaches to teaching and
learning throughout its summer long community-based art education project. It
encouraged social responsibility through community-based art works. It encouraged
youth to value local cultural practices. It helped kids to “identify and maintain cultural traditions while continuing to modify and expand upon their own conscious aesthetic choices” (Boyer, 1997, 94). It engaged multiple participants in meaningful creativity.
And it gave voice to a group of young people not typically asked to participate in social and democratic processes that exemplify community life. It is these kinds of initiatives that are thought to encourage and model civic engagement in a variety of ways involving diverse participants and myriad venues, which Congdon et al. (2001) posit over time can nurture important discourse about issues of social significance. It allowed students to work collaboratively with adults and to share in the intergenerational exchange of histories and experiences. This approach to educating today’s youth thus promoted what
Bowers (2001), Gablik (1991), Hamblen (1995), and Taylor (2002) consider social, cultural, and environmental restorative efforts, values of local ways of knowing, and multiple voices in creating art in the service of community and justice.
The AAP project allowed teenagers to cross borders of class, discipline, and ideology. It helped them to understand and appreciate traditional culture as well as
“articulate what modern, urban cultural groups can learn from them” (Bowers, 2001, p.
6). It provided them with opportunities to connect through their art to a place--a physical piece of earth that was welcoming, inspiring, interesting, even life changing. When youth are provided these opportunities, they return to such places, and they begin to care,
143 feel responsible, and participate. Community engagement and interconnection can occur
when people recognize their voices being listened to, when they come together and make
meaningful, well-informed art and decisions about the places they share. The art students
created in the AAP program gave them a means to connect with community and to
connect to each other.
Results of this research suggest that students will remain connected to their communities and to each other long after the end of the program, and that youth, especially those that participate in the program for more than one year, will maintain a commitment to creating art for social change purposes. It also suggests that young people can become more deeply involved in and committed to activities in which they have a shaping role, where they are “drawn in and celebrated as participants and
contributors” (Gardner, 1994, p. xi). The concept of a postmodern community-based art
education could be considered as grounded in this kind of celebration as well as in the
interdependence of community and social change. This research shows the need for an
education that realigns the individual with community for the sake of both individual and community change.
While there are great implications from this study, it is important to establish that the discrepancies in the analysis and application of theory reveal a serious need for more research on postmodernism as it applies to art education. For this reason, ideas of postmodernism as being adopted as a theoretical frame for community-based art education should be considered with the understanding that further research and
144 exploration are needed to make it more relevant to important social issues and to
contemporary youth (Stankiewicz, 2004).
Suggestions for Practice
We may cultivate this most precious possession, or we may disregard it. We may listen to the young voices rising clear above the roar of industrialism and the prudent councils of commerce, or we may become hypnotized by the sudden new emphasis placed upon wealth and power, and forget the supremacy of spiritual forces in men’s affairs. It is as if we ignored a wistful, over-confident creature who walked through our city streets calling out, “I am the spirit of Youth! With me, all things are possible!” We fail to understand what he wants or even to see his doings, although his acts are pregnant with meaning, and we may either translate them into a sordid chronicle of petty vice or turn them into a solemn school for civic righteousness.
We may either smother the divine fire of youth or we may feed it. We may either stand stupidly staring as it sinks into a murky fire of crime and flares into the intermittent blaze of folly or we may tend to it into a lambent flame with power to make clean and bright our dingy city streets. (Addams, 1912, pp. 161- 162)
In 1912, Jane Addams, founder of Chicago’s Hull House, was advocating for youth rights. In an eloquent and perhaps prophetic plea, Addams challenged society to cultivate its most precious possession—its youth, or to lose them to the lure of material
wealth, power, and individual pursuits. Almost a century later, those invested in today’s
youth seek ways they can help elevate and advocate for the same precious possession.
They strive to help young people to leave an important mark for themselves, to make a
difference in their world.
Significant to art educators and arts administrators, artists, community educators, reformers, generalists and policy makers, the study focused on a program that uses art as a vehicle for connecting young people to their communities and for promoting participation in social change. A postmodern community-based art education approach to
145 teaching and learning provided an opportunity for participants to recognize the power of art to build community in their lives.
The students presented in this study represent the diversities and similarities and
the realities and experiences of youth growing up in a Midwestern city. The stories this
research presents suggest a different interpretation of the contemporary adolescent in
contrast to the stereotypical mythology of the teenager as self-involved, disinterested and
bored with life, overly materialistic, and destructive and irresponsible. Evidence from this study supports the notion that many adolescents do want to make a positive difference in their communities; many show enthusiasm for learning ways to live a simpler, more eco-friendly and less materialistic lifestyle. They demonstrate characteristics vital to community life: characteristics Gardner (1994) describes as respect for one another, a commitment to shared norms, and a sense of responsibility to group.
Like many adolescents worldwide, the youth in the AAP program showed signs of astuteness in their understanding of the larger and smaller issues affecting their lives, their community, the nation and the world (Blandy & Cowan, 1997). This supports the claim that while youth are able to critically consider the issues and challenges they face in contemporary society, many youth are not given opportunities, support or mentorship in their everyday lives to address the major issues of their time in meaningful ways.
Given the evidence that has evolved from this study, several suggestions for increasing the likelihood that youth will connect to community or commit to social change can be offered. These suggestions are organized according to the ways they align with thematic findings from the study.
146 Collaboration with Caring Adults and Others
• Youth need opportunities to develop social bonds with each other, with
one or more caring adults, and with the community.
• Youth need opportunities to network with likeminded people.
• Youth need opportunities to solve real world problems in collaboration
with mentors or community members with invested interest in young
people’s successes.
• Youth need to be given opportunities to work with diverse populations.
Providing Opportunity for Youth Engagement in Community and/or Social
Change
• Youth need to be exposed to the critical issues of our time, and to ways
they can address such issues.
• Youth need to be asked to contribute their ideas regarding important issues
in their families, classrooms and communities.
• Youth need opportunities to become active participants in important
decisions that affect them.
• Youth need opportunities to restore public places.
• Youth need opportunities to learn about and renew local and cultural
traditions and to build new cultural and critical knowledge.
• Youth need opportunities to use multiple forms of media as a catalyst for
dialogue and social change.
147 • Youth need safe places, both physically and emotionally, where they can
discuss issues of importance to them without judgment from peers or
adults.
• Youth need attractive opportunities to shape a productive and socially and
politically active future.
• Youth need to be shown multiple alternatives to their futures that may not
include individualism, competition, materialism, or advanced technocratic
skills to maintain a healthy, successful and productive life. They need to
be offered alternative ways of thinking, learning and living.
• Youth need real conceptual and physical experiences that engage them in
activities that punctuate the life of the community.
• Youth need opportunities to leave tangible marks on society and to be
recognized for their contributions.
• Youth need to feel valued for their contributions and viewed as valued
members of society.
This research suggests that community-based art education programs grounded in postmodern theory and pedagogy may hold possibilities for creating such meaningful opportunities for communities and youth to build essential connections. These programs can provide age-appropriate activities and emphasize dynamic teaching techniques like hands-on learning and apprenticeship relationships (Farnum & Shaffer, 1997). They can provide a source for fostering and recognizing young people’s accomplishments. A postmodern education should be understood as producing various forms of cultural and
148 critical knowledge as well as the tools to become social and political activists. This kind
of educational experience when combined with community-based art education can
provide the convictions and compassion necessary for exercising civic courage, taking
risks, and furthering the habits, customs, and relations that Giroux (1997) believes are essential to creating social change.
Any kind of pedagogical approach, not just an arts-based education, with these goals can also prepare youth with the skills they will need to create their own personal and collective landmarks, to locate themselves in history, and to find their own voices. It is such an education design that is transformative for young people. An education developed around a sense of community and postmodern principles, should become a theoretical and conceptual part of social and general education contexts, for this kind of education has the potential to move us in the direction of social reconstructionism.
Additional Research
Community-based art education programs are housed in many locations from museum and craft schools, community centers, after-school programs, and individual artists’ homes. Community-based art education initiatives reach a wide base of adolescent audiences. Ulbricht (2005) states, “today with our pluralistic postmodern perspectives, arts educators often design new community-based programs specifically for local citizens and special groups including at-risk youth, homeless individuals, older adults, handicapped people, gifted and talented individuals, the incarcerated, and others not always included in mainstream K-12 art classrooms” (p. 8). While they have a great number of specific goals including raising cultural awareness, career counseling, job
149 training, increasing artistic skills and restoring public spaces, they are all concerned with the greater goal of creating safe places for young people to develop genuine connections to their worlds and to realize their infinite potentials and possibilities (“Carnegie Council for Adolescent Development,” 1995; “Coming Up Taller,” 1997; Yenawine, 2004).
Community-based art education programs built on the canons of postmodernism appear to be valid avenues for connecting young people to their communities and for encouraging efforts toward social change. Literature suggests there is not only a growing
number of community-based art education program is in this country, but there is
increasing interest in the research, policy, and funding sectors for looking closely at the important role these types o programs play in positive adolescent development (“Coming
Up Taller,” 1997). Despite the current state of relevant knowledge, the literature reveals a great need for studies to uncover those social interventions that will make the most sense (Takanishi, 2000). In keeping with the literature, this study also suggests the serious need for longitudinal studies that track both short-term and long-term effects of these kinds of community-based art education programs on adolescent growth and change.
Since few studies about the long-term effects of postmodern community-based art education projects like the AAP program exist, collecting empirical data on such projects could add to the knowledge base concerning the ability of such programs to encourage interconnectedness among youth and their communities and to encourage social change in youth. Additional research studies could use a pre-test and post-test method to collect data concerning youth perception of community, youth understanding of social change,
150 or youth connection to community or engagement in social change both before and after
participation in a program. In future studies of similar programs, a comparison group of students who do not participate in the program could be used to compare findings with those students who do participate in such programming. Finally, former participants from community-based education programs could be interviewed to determine the potential long-term effects of their experiences on their lives. For example, follow-up studies with former participants could be conducted 1, 3, and 5 years from the completion of the program to identify participants’ attitudes and behaviors toward social change, and to determine if involvement with community was extended beyond initial experiences in the program. Data from such studies could be used to document the effectiveness of programs like the AAP program and increase the likelihood of replication in other community organizations, schools or outreach programs.
Other studies might be useful for more traditional schooling practices. For example, future research on programs like AAP could be used to determine if and how participants’ newly evolved sense of community impacts student learning in an academic environment. Additional work could address whether or not participants in these programs increase in likelihood of enrolling in more high school art classes in relation to opportunities available, or in selecting college majors or career choices related to art.
Summary
This scholarship aimed to contribute to a broader rethinking of educational practice by learning from a specific theoretical and pedagogical model. This study recommends a postmodern community-based art education approach to teaching and
151 learning; to helping youth learn to solve the pressing problems of their time through
active participation in the livelihood of their communities. It is a hopeful approach that
postmodern educators envision for contemporary pedagogic practice where “one change
creates many others and encourages a multifaceted view of a situation by including
interrelationships, total contexts, radical alternatives, and long-range ramifications”
(Blandy & Congdon, 1997, p. xvi). It is an approach that offers youth the opportunity to create their own landmarks for change. It is an approach that offers youth the opportunity to do something great – to be something great.
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163
APPENDICES
164 APPENDIX A
SAMPLE CONSENT LETTERS FOR STUDENT AND ADULT PARTICIPANTS
Dear Student Apprentice:
You are invited to participate in a study being conducted by Elisa Gargarella, an art education faculty member at the University of A in the College of Fine and Applied Arts.
The project focuses on the Artists as Activists program (AAP) and its participants. Specifically, the project will look at the kind of experiences that take place in the AAP program and the impact the program has on the participants. The researcher is particularly interested in understanding whether students develop connections to their community and become engaged in social change after participation in the program.
If you decide to participate, you will be asked to take part in one interview that will take place during the course of the program at the University of A. The interview should take about one hour of your time. Also, excerpts from your journals and examples of your other work may be used in the study.
Your participation in this study is voluntary. You can refuse to answer any questions, ask for your journals or work to be excluded from the study, and may withdraw from the study at any time without penalty.
Your confidentiality will be protected throughout the study. Any data obtained from you through audiotapes of interviews, journals or other program work will be kept confidential and will not be viewed by anyone but the researcher. All identifying information will be retained in a locked cabinet or other locked storage area. The data will be kept for five years and will then be destroyed.
There are no anticipated benefits or risks to participants aside from helping to build a better understanding of the AAP program.
If you have any questions about the research project, you can call Elisa Gargarella at 330-972-8325.
This research project has been reviewed and approved by The University of A Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects. Questions about your rights as a research participant can be directed to Ms. Sharon McWhorter, Associate Director, Research Services, at 1-330-972-7666 or 1-888-232-8790
I agree to participate in this study.
______Name & Signature Date
165
Dear Guardian:
Your child has been invited to participate in a study being conducted by Elisa Gargarella, an art education faculty member at the University of A in the College of Fine and Applied Arts.
The project focuses on the Artists as Activists program (AAP) and its participants. Specifically, the project will look at the kind of experiences that take place in the AAP program and the impact the program has on the participants. The researcher is particularly interested in understanding whether students develop connections to their community and become engaged in social change after participation in the program.
If your child decides to participate, she/he will be asked to take part in one interview that will take place during the course of the program at the University of A. The interview should take about one hour of her/his time. Also, excerpts from your child’s journals and examples of her/his other work may be used in the study.
Your child’s participation in this study is voluntary. Even if you consent to your child’s participation, she/he can refuse to participate. Your child can also refuse to answer any questions, ask for your journals or work to be excluded from the study, and may withdraw from the study at any time without penalty.
Your child’s confidentiality will be protected throughout the study. Any data obtained from your child through audiotapes of interviews, journals or other program work will be kept confidential and will not be viewed by anyone but the researcher. All identifying information will be retained in a locked cabinet or other locked storage area. The data will be kept for five years and will then be destroyed.
There are no anticipated benefits or risks to participants aside from helping to build a better understanding of the AAP program. If you have any questions about the research project, you can call Elisa Gargarella at 330-972-8325.
This research project has been reviewed and approved by The University of A Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects. Questions about your child’s rights as a research participant can be directed to Ms. Sharon McWhorter, Associate Director, Research Services, at 1-330-972-7666 or 1-888- 232-8790
I give my consent for my child______to participate in this study.
______Guardian’s Name & Signature Date
166
Dear Artist, Staff, or Educator:
You are invited to participate in a study being conducted by Elisa Gargarella, an art education faculty member at the University of A in the College of Fine and Applied Arts.
The project focuses on the Artists as Activists program (AAP) and its participants. Specifically, the project will look at the kind of experiences that take place in the AAP program and the impact the program has on the participants. The researcher is particularly interested in understanding whether students develop connections to their community and become engaged in social change after participation in the program.
If you decide to participate, you will be asked to take part in one interview that will take place during the course of the program at the University of A or at the partner site. The interview should take about one hour of your time.
Your participation in this study is voluntary. You can refuse to answer any questions and may withdraw from the study at any time without penalty.
Your confidentiality will be protected throughout the study. Any data obtained from you through audiotapes of interviews or other program work will be kept confidential and will not be viewed by anyone but the researcher. All identifying information will be retained in a locked cabinet or other locked storage area. The data will be kept for five years and will then be destroyed.
There are no anticipated benefits or risks to participants aside from helping to build a better understanding of the AAP program.
If you have any questions about the research project, you can call Elisa Gargarella at 330-972-8325.
This research project has been reviewed and approved by The University of A Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects. Questions about your rights as a research participant can be directed to Ms. Sharon McWhorter, Associate Director, Research Services, at 1-330-972-7666 or 1-888-232-8790
I agree to participate in this study.
______Name & Signature Date
167 APPENDIX B
INITIAL SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Interview Questions Student Apprentice Interview Questions
1. What needs to be changed to make this community a better place for you?
2. What opportunities do you have to connect to your community?
3. What opportunities do you have to make choices in the community?
4. Describe the images that come to mind when you hear the world community.
What factors determine membership in a particular community?
5. What communities do you see yourself as belonging to? Describe what makes
you a part of these communities.
6. Would you describe yourself as being involved in any sort of community
activities? If so, describe them. What effects has this had on the ways you think
about the community? If not, describe your reasons for choosing to not be
involved.
7. What were some of your reasons for getting involved with this program?
8. How would you describe the way in which youth work together in this program?
9. How would you describe the role of adults in the program?
10. What have you learned from your participation in the program?
168 11. How have the things you experienced in the program influenced other areas in
your life?
12. Would you describe the ways, if there are any, this program has changed you.
13. In what ways, if any, has this program encouraged you to think about social
issues?
14. In what ways, if any, has this program encouraged you to take action regarding
social issues?
Adult Participant Interview Questions:
1. How would you describe the way youth participate in the community?
2. What conditions influence the way youth participate in the community?
3. How has youth participation in the community changed, if at all, since the
beginning of this program?
4. How have conditions influencing youth participation changed in the community
over the course of the program? What factors influenced these changes?
5. What kinds of changes have you seen, at the individual level, in those youth
working in the program?
6. What kinds of changes have you seen, at the group level, in those youth working
on the project?
7. What have been the benefits of this experience for you or your organization?
169 APPENDIX C
GROUP FOLLOW-UP INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Group Follow-Up Interview Questions
1. How did the celebration make you feel?
2. What did you miss the most after the program was over?
3. What do you think of your art work that it’s completed?
4. Do you feel your approach to making art will be different once you go back to school? In
what ways?
5. How does it feel to be back at the EEC?
6. How has this program encouraged you to make any changes in your lives once you went
home?
7. Some of you described AAP as a safe place in your first interview. Do you all feel that
way? In what way is AAP a safe place?
8. What did you get most from your relationship with the adults in the program?
9. What did you learn from each other?
10. Now that you’ve had some time away from the program, looking back, what did you get
out of the experience?
11. What was your most memorable moment?
12. Do you think AAP gives teens a chance to make a difference in their community? How?
170 APPENDIX D
CODE AND THEME LISTS
A Priori Code List
List of Codes ______
Postmodern Tendencies Critique of mass media Intergenerational sharing of knowledge Respect for diverse contributions to art Revitalizing the past
Social Change Social justice concerns/critiques Environmental concerns/critiques Social justice actions Environmental actions
Connection to Community Through art Through collaborative activities
Individual Change Personal skills Leadership Confidence Communication Competence Control Artistic Skills Identity
Group Change Collectivity
171 ______
Revised Code List
List of Codes Color of Code
Competency (COMP) Orange • Recognition (COMP-Rec) • Valued contribution (COMP-Val) • Collaborate with adults (COMP- Adult) • Leave Mark (COMP-Mark) • Personal Skills (COMP-Per Skill)
Control (CONT) Blue • Make choices (CONT-Choice) • Voice Ideas (CONT-Voice) • Belief that they can change their lives (CONT-Change Life)
Connect (CONN) Purple • Peers (CONN-Peer) • Adults (CONN-Adult) • Community (CONN-Comm) • Past (CONN-Past)
Identity (ID) Yellow • Accepted as individual (ID—Accept) • Respect from adults (ID—Repsect)
Social Change (SC) Green • Environment (SC-Enviro) • Cultural diversity (SC-Diversity) • Youth Culture (SC-Youth Cult) • Other (SC-Other)
Activity/Curriculum (ACT) Brown
172 Themes Developed from Codes
Theme Indicator
You Care about Us Adult mentorship Model behaviors/actions Adult expectations Collaboration with adults Provide a safe haven for youth expression Identity/Acceptance of Youth
It’s a Simple Life Renewal of past traditions Challenge to technocratic ideals Concrete examples of how to connect to environment Emotional attachment to nature Individual and group discovery
Opportunity to Matter Community values contribution Choice Brought in to decision process (voice) Respect for contribution (voice) Individual Group Community recognition for contribution
Opportunity to make a difference Activities Curriculum Real world opportunity to contribute Empowering agents Providing the next step (volunteer opportunities, development of relationships, networking with likeminded individuals)
173 APPENDIX E
IDENTIFYING NOTATIONS
Participant Identifying Notations ______
Participant Identifier ______
Youth Participants Alex Y1 Anna Y2 Cash Y3 Jeff Y4 Maddie Y5 Nicole Y6 Nobel Y7 Scout Y8 ______
Adult Participants ______
Ed Ames A1 Liz Peters A2 Jan Townsend A3 ______
Other Adult Participants
Cassie Demeter OA1 Irene Fields OA2 Eva Hill OA3 ______
174 Data Type Identifying Notations ______
Data Type Identifier ______
Field Note FN Individual Interview II Group Interview GI Student Journal Note JN Material culture (Ex. Newspaper MC articles, art work, photographs, and other visual documents) ______
175 APPENDIX F
JOURNAL PROMPTS
Journal Prompts
Social Change Questions
1. Do you think art has to power to make a difference in the world? If so, in what ways?
2. If you had to create art with a social message, what issue would you choose?
3. How can artists make a community aware of important issues?
4. Does art have the power to make a difference in the world?
5. If there was one social commentary I could put into artwork, what would it be?
National Park
1. Now that you have been to the park, do you have a better idea of what parks are for?
Could you describe their mission or the difference they make in the country? Would you
return to the park for other events? Just for fun? To volunteer?
2. How, if at all, has this program encouraged you to help preserve the park as a natural
resource?
3. What things might you do to help educate others about national parks?
Local and Traditional Art Forms
1. In what ways, if any, has this program introduced you to the art of past cultures?
2. Do you think it is important to keep these art forms alive? Why?
3. From all the research you have done, how does this project relate to past cultures?
176 Site-Specific Public Art
1. What is the purpose of drawing people to the site we have selected? Who cares, really?
2. How must artists who make art for the public consider the natural environment?
3. How must artists who make art for the public consider their audiences?
Leaving a Mark
1. What kinds of marks would you like to leave for future generations? How does your art
reflect this
2. David Orr is an environmental educator who works to educate people about how the
natural environment is in danger of being destroyed (plants, animals, water sources, air,
etc.). Please respond to his quote (either in words or images): “No generation has ever
had greater work to do, and none had more reason to rise to greatness.” David Orr
177 APPENDIX G
TIMELINE AND CASE STUDY PROTOCOL
178 179 APPENDIX H
INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD LETTER
180