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University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2021-01-16 School Wellness Action Research: from an Arts-Based Transformative Activist Stance Munroe, Karena Munroe, K. (2021). School Wellness Action Research: from an Arts-Based Transformative Activist Stance (Unpublished doctoral thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/113006 doctoral thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY School Wellness Action Research: from an Arts-Based Transformative Activist Stance by Karena Munroe A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF EDUCATION GRADUATE PROGRAM IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH CALGARY, ALBERTA JANUARY, 2021 © Karena Munroe 2021 2 Abstract This study explored educational change that privileges teachers to be co-authors and drivers of school wellness action activated through an arts-based focus on hopeful futures. The SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic added school lockdowns to the context resulting in modifications to the study, primarily the exclusion of student voice and face-to-face participation. Eight participants engaged in discussion and field-testing of virtual arts-lab activities aimed at enhancing school wellness rooted in their realities as educators. Two phases of an arts-based participatory approach to action research generated creative data. Data collection included educator and researcher reflections, arts-lab observations, and my descriptions of participant- created artwork. The results provided the basis for an arts-lab toolkit for educators and an animated video story for the broader community. This participatory arts-based approach to action research was grounded in an arts-lab created from a transformative activist stance (Stetsenko, 2017). It offered opportunities for participants to affirm their control and participation in action critical for change. Second, the arts-lab tool offers participants a means to actively engage in characterizing and exploring their personal values as opportunities for school wellness improvement. Educators endorsed a four- part arts-lab where art-pieces created at every session portray ideas and provide a centrepiece for deepened conversation. Third, arts processes provide opportunities to enable agentive creativity for artists while offering contributions to the school community-in-the-making that encourage connections between the art, the artists, and the audience. The collective development of an arts- lab encourages participants to contribute artifacts to the broader community’s conversation as artists and activists. Keywords: school, wellness, arts-based, action research, arts-lab, change- lab, social innovation lab, participatory, Transformative Activist Stance. 3 Preface The fieldwork reported in Chapters 4 and 5 was approved by the University of Calgary Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board Ethics ID REB19-1643 (approved March 06, 2020) and REB19-1643_MOD1 (approved on April 23, 2020), respectively. All images of artwork in Chapters 4 and 5 are reproduced with the permission of the participants. The multimodal toolkit in Appendix C entitled, “From Toolkit to Think Tank” belongs to the voice of Greene Friere collective— a group of artists-as-educators I admire, who participated in the process of contributing their art, stories, and experiences to school wellness activism in the wake of the collective adversity of the COVID-19 pandemic. Readers can locate the authors in the hearts of radical educators everywhere, who work to create the schools students need and refuse to settle for the schools they have. To learn more about the activities, or download the resources, readers can visit http://bit.ly/ARTSLABTHINKTANK or to watch the video visit http://hdl.handle.net/1880/112967. 4 Acknowledgments My sincerest gratitude and admiration to my mother, for her graceful examples of lifelong learning and tireless activism, her unreserved sympathy towards this research project, and her unconditional compassionate love in terms of my growth and learning throughout my life. Secondly, the participation and voices of the arts-lab research participants were admirable in their efficacy, invaluable to this study, and heroic in their commitment. I greatly admire the people in this group and their continued support for their ongoing practice of transformative school improvement that privileges arts, wellness, and youth. Thirdly, thank you to my grad school community. To my supervisor, Dr. Michele Jacobsen—it has been a gift to walk this journey alongside you. Your dedicated support for learner-centred research and your belief in the power of practitioner knowledge were empowering. And to my supervisory committee, Dr. Sharon Friesen, Dr. Miwa Takeuchi, and Dr. Jim Brandon, your encouragement and challenges helped me develop my research, both authentically and rigorously. And to my peers, both the leadership and learning science student cohorts, thank you for the discourse, support, and inspiration. Thank you to all the radical pracademics who fight against institutional injustice and for equality and freedom every day in classrooms, schools, and the world. May you feel goodwill and connection in the better future your life’s work honours. To Dawn Shields and students, teachers-learners all, I salute you. Lastly, thank you to Donna-Lee Wybert for your professional editing services, ongoing positive words, and thoughtful questions, which helped me clearly articulate these ideas. In solidarity, Karena. 5 Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 2 Preface............................................................................................................................................. 3 Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................... 4 Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ 5 List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. 8 List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. 8 Epigraph .......................................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter One: Introduction to the Study ........................................................................................ 10 Background ............................................................................................................................... 10 Research Problem and Questions.............................................................................................. 12 The Purpose of the Study .......................................................................................................... 13 Research Question ................................................................................................................ 14 Rationale and Significance of the Study ................................................................................... 15 Researcher Perspective and Assumptions ................................................................................. 17 Chapter Two: A Review of the Literature .................................................................................... 20 Student Learning and School Improvement ............................................................................. 21 Students and Policy ............................................................................................................... 21 The Potential of the Arts for Education Research ................................................................ 28 Wellness ................................................................................................................................ 37 The Transformative Activist Stance (TAS) and an Arts-Lab ................................................. 46 Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 54 Chapter Three: Methodology and Methods .................................................................................. 56 Explanation of Study Modifications ......................................................................................... 56 The Rationale for the Methodology .......................................................................................... 57 Description of Study Modifications .......................................................................................... 63 Reflection on My Response ................................................................................................... 63 Description of the Work with Educators .................................................................................