A Dialogue between Art, Education and Ecology: A/r/tography-Based Learning Experience

Abstract

This study examines the effects of using the a/r/tography method to support ecological sustainability in environmental art education. A/r/tography, an art-based educational research approach, was used to enable participants to express their experiences regarding environmental degradation through both written and visual forms of expression. The seven-week application process, conducted with ninth-grade students at Tatvan Science High School, consisted of observation and production activities carried out both inside and outside the school. Data were collected through participant journals, self-assessment texts, semi-structured interviews, and visual portfolios, and analyzed according to the Miles & Huberman model. The findings show that the a/r/tography method increased students' environmental awareness and brought about a cognitive transformation towards sustainability. Pedagogically, the method contributed to students' ability to relate their personal experiences to artistic production and to develop their reflective writing skills. The research reveals that a/r/tographic inquiry has the potential to produce creative, critical, and transformative responses to environmental problems. Overall, the study makes visible the holistic relationship between experience-based learning, artistic expression, and ecological awareness within the context of education.

Keywords

• A/r/tography
• Environmental Art Education
• Ecology
• Sustainability
• Experience

Sanat, Eğitim ve Ekoloji Arasında Bir Diyalog: A/r/tografi Temelli Öğrenme Deneyimi

Abstract

Bu çalışma, çevresel sanat eğitiminde ekolojik sürdürülebilirliği desteklemek amacıyla a/r/tografi yönteminin kullanımının etkilerini incelemektedir. Sanat temelli bir eğitim araştırması yaklaşımı olan a/r/tografi, katılımcıların çevresel bozulmaya ilişkin deneyimlerini hem yazılı hem de görsel ifade biçimleriyle ortaya koymalarını sağlamak için kullanılmıştır. Tatvan Fen Lisesi’nde dokuzuncu sınıf öğrencileriyle yürütülen yedi haftalık uygulama süreci, okul içinde ve dışında gerçekleştirilen gözlem ve üretim etkinliklerinden oluşmuştur. Araştırma kapsamında veriler; katılımcı günlükleri, öz değerlendirme metinleri, yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler ve görsel portfolyolar aracılığıyla toplanmış ve Miles & Huberman modeli doğrultusunda analiz edilmiştir. Elde edilen bulgular, a/r/tografi yönteminin öğrencilerin çevresel farkındalıklarını artırdığını ve sürdürülebilirliğe yönelik düşünsel bir dönüşüm sağladığını göstermektedir. Pedagojik açıdan yöntem, öğrencilerin kişisel deneyimlerini sanatsal üretimle ilişkilendirmelerine ve yansıtıcı yazma becerilerini geliştirmelerine katkı sağlamıştır. Araştırma, a/r/tografik sorgulamanın çevre sorunlarına yaratıcı, eleştirel ve dönüştürücü yanıtlar üretme potansiyeline sahip olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. Genel olarak çalışma, yaşantı temelli öğrenme, sanatsal ifade ve ekolojik bilinç arasındaki bütüncül ilişkiyi eğitim bağlamında görünür kılmaktadır.

Keywords

• A/r/tografi
• Çevresel Sanat Eğitimi
• Ekoloji
• Sürdürülebilirlik
• Deneyim

References

1. Alonso, C. (2015). Artistic practices, discursive contexts and environmental humanities in the age of Anthropocene. Artnodes, 15, 81-89. https://doi.org/10.7238/a.v0i15.2579
2. Anderson, T., & Suominan Guyas, A. (2012). Earth education, interbeing, and deep ecology. Studies in Art Education, 53(3), 223-245. https://doi.org/10.1080/00393541.2012.11518865
3. Archibald, M. M. (2022). Interweaving arts-based, qualitative and mixed methods research: Showcasing integration and knowledge translation through material and narrative reflection. International Review of Qualitative Research, 15(2), 168-198. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940844722109706
4. Baltacı, A. (2017). Nitel veri analizinde Miles-Huberman modeli. Ahi Evran Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 3(1), 1-15.
5. Barton, G. (2015). Arts-Based educational research in the early years. International Research in Early Childhood Education, 6(1), 62-78.
6. Berger, R. (2013). Now I see it, now I don’t: Researcher’s position and reflexivity in qualitative research. Qualitative Research, 15(2), 219-234. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794112468475
7. Bertling, J. G. (2015). The art of empathy: A mixed methods case study of a critical placed based art education program. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 16(13). http://www.ijea.org/v16n13/
8. Biesta, G. (2009). Good education in an age of measurement: On the need to reconnect with the question of purpose in education. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 21, 33-46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-008-9064-9

9. Biesta, G. (2018). Walking the museum: Art, artists and pedagogy reconsidered. In C. Naughton, G. Biesta & D. R. Cole (Eds), Art, Artists and Pedagogy (pp. 147-156). Routledge.
10. Bilici Öztürk, B. (2022). Güzel sanatlar lisesi resim atölye dersi öğrencilerinin yaratıcılık ve uygulama becerilerinin geliştirilmesinde a/r/tografi yönteminin rolü (Yayın No. 739063). [Doktora Tezi, Gazi Üniversitesi]. Ulusal Tez Merkezi.
11. Blandy, D., & Hoffman, E. (1993). Toward an art education of place. Studies in Art Education, 35(1), 6-13. https://doi.org/10.2307/1320835
12. Braidotti, R. (2006). The ethics of becoming imperceptible. In C. Boundas (Eds.), Deleuze and philosophy (pp. 133-159). Edinburgh University Press.
13. van Boeckel, J. (2014). At the heart of art and earth : An exploration of practices in arts-based environmental education (Publication Number. 978-952-60-5145-1). [Doctoral Dissertation, Aalto University]. Aaltodoc.
14. Carter, M., Beare, D., ve Irwin, R. L. (2011). A/r/tography as pedagogy: A promise without guarantee. Canadian Review of Art Education, 38, 17-32. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/A-r-tography-as-Pedagogy%3A-A-Promise-without-Carter-Beare/d060b26ac0d629cf8082f7813fedf97798c8c2ea
15. Carter, M. R., ve Irwin, R. L. (2014). Between signification and illumination: Unfolding understandings of an a/r/tographical turn on practicum. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 15(3), 1-20. http://www.ijea.org/v15n3/
16. Çaylı, E. (2020). İklimin estetiği: Antroposen sanatı ve mimarlığı üzerine denemeler. Everest Yayınları.
17. de Eça, T. T. (2019). Creating situations by learning through art. In G. Coutts, & T. de Eça (Eds.), Learning through art: Lessons for the 21st century (pp. 65-74). InSEA.
18. Garcia-Lazo, V. (2022). Dialogical pedagogies in visual arts education: A/r/tographical encounters in aotearoa New Zealand. The International Journal of Art & Design Education, 41(1), 6-22.
19. Golanska, D., & Kronenberg, A. K. (2020). Creative practice for sustainability: A new materialist perspective on artivist production of eco-sensitive knowledges. International Journal of education through art, 26(3), 303-318. https://doi.org/10.1386/eta_00035_1
20. Graham, M. A. (2007). Art, ecology and art education: Locating art education in a critical place-based pedagogy. Studies in Art Education A Journal of Issues and Research, 48(4), 375-391. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25475843
21. Güneş, N. (2018). Sanat eğitimcisi yetiştirmede alternatif bir yöntem: Resim atölye dersinde a/r/tografi (Yayın No. 523886). [Doktora Tezi, Gazi Üniversitesi]. Ulusal Tez Merkezi.
22. Güneş, N., Aksoy, Ş. ve Özsoy, V. (2022). Sanat temelli bir araştırma yöntemi: Yaşayan sorgulama olarak a/r/tografi. Hacettepe Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 37(1), 291-303. https://search.trdizin.gov.tr/en/yayin/detay/1120860/sanat-temelli-bir-arastirma-yontemi-yasayan-sorgulama-olarak-artograf
23. Heras, M., Galafassi, D., Oteros‐Rozas, E., Ravera, F., Berraquero‐Díaz, L., & Ruiz‐Mallén, I. (2021). Realising potentials for arts‐based sustainability science. Sustainability Science, 16, 1875–1889. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-01002-0
24. Hung, Y. S. (2013). The art-based teachers’ professional development in the a/r/tographic community. UNESCO Observatory Multi-Disciplinary Journal in the Arts, 3(1), 1-21.
25. Inwood, H. J. (2008). At he crossroads: Situating place-based art education. Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 13(1), 86-97.
26. Inwood, H. J., & Taylor, R. W. (2012). Creative approaches to environmental learning: Two perspectives on teaching environmental art education. International Electronic Journal of Environmental Education, 2(1), 65-75. https://dergipark.org.tr/en /pub/iejeegreen/issue/7906/104048
27. Illeris, H. (2012). Nordic contemporary art education and the environment: Constructing an epistemological platform for Art Education for Sustainable Development (AESD). InFormation - Nordic Journal of Art and Research, 1(2), 79-95. https://doi.org/10.7577/information.v1i2.221
28. Illeris, H. (2022). Ecological awareness with and through human and more-than-human efforts of embracing a former gravel pit. In B. C. Fredriksen & C. Groth (Eds.), Expanding environmental awareness in education through the arts: Crafting-with the environment (pp. 185-198). Springer.
29. Jónsdóttir, A. (2013). Art and place-based education for the sustainability. Education in the North [Special Issue], 20, 90-105.
30. Jónsdóttir, A. (2015). Teaching and learning for sustainability: An Icelandic practice-based research. International Journal of Education through Art, 11(3), 391-406. https://doi.org/10.1386/eta.11.3.391_1
31. Kind, S. C. (2006). Of stones and silences: Storying the trace of the other in the autobiographical and textile text of art/teaching, (Doctorate Dissertation). The University of British Columbia, The Faculty of Graduate Studies, https://open.library.ubc.ca/soa/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/831/items/1.0054667
32. Lee, N., Morimoto, K., Mosavarzadeh, M., & Irwin, R. (2019). Walking propositions: Coming to know a/r/tographically. iJADE, 38(3), 681-690. https://doi.org/10.1111/jade.12237
33. Leggo, C., Sinner, A., Irwin, R., Pantaleo, K., Gouzouasis, P., & Grauer, K. (2011). Lingering in liminal spaces: A/r/tography as living inquiry in a language arts class. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 24(2), 239-256. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518391003641908
34. Leggo, C., & Irwin, R. (2018). Ways of Attending: Art and poetry. Canadian Review of Art Education, 45(1), 50-76. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5353-6648
35. Locke, S., Russo, R., & Montoya, C. (2013). Environmental education and eco-literacy as tools of education for sustainable development. Journal of Sustainability Education, 4, 1-14.
36. Mantere, M. (1995). Tracking a course in the landscape of environmental education (M. Barron, Trans.). In M. Mantere (Eds.), Image of the earth : Writing on art-based environmental education (pp. 3-17). University of Art and Design.
37. Marín-Viadel, R., & Joaquín, R. (2012). Quality criteria in visual a/r/tography photo essays: European perspectives after Daumier's graphic ideas. Visual Arts Research, 38(2), 13-25. https://doi.org/10.5406/visuartsrese.38.2.0013
38. Muhr, M. M. (2020). Beyond words: The potential of arts-based research on human-nature connectedness. Ecosystems and People, 16(1), 249-257. https://doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2020.1811379
39. Nevanen, S., Juvonen, A., & Ruismaki, H. (2014). Kindergarten and school as a learning environment for art. International Journal of Education through Art, 10(1), 7-22. https://doi.org/10.1386/eta.10.1.7_1
40. Paulson, F. L., & Paulson, P. (1991a). The making of a portfolio. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED334251
41. Paulson, F. L., & Paulson, P. (1991b). Portfolios: stories of knowing. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED377209
42. Pentassuglia, M. (2017). “The art(ist) is present”: Arts-based research perspective in educational research. Cogent Education, 4, 2-12. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2017.1301011
43. Pröpper, M. H. (2017). Sustainability science as if the world mattered: Sketching an art contribution by comparison. Ecology and Society, 22((3):31. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09359-220331
44. Raatikainen, K. J., Juhola, K., Huhmarniemi, M., & Peña-Lagos, H. (2020). “Face the cow”: Reconnecting to nature and increasing capacities for pro-environmental agency. Ecosystems and People, 16(1), 273-289. https://doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2020.1817151
45. Richards, J., & Haberlin, S. (2019). Exploring critical events in an inaugural arts-based research class through ethnographic mapping and poetry-enriched narrative sketches. The Qualitative Report, 24(8), 1930-1945. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2019.3706
46. Rousell, D., Lasczik, A., Cook, P., & Irwin, R. (2018). Propositions for an environmental arts pedagogy: A/r/tographic experimentations with movement and materiality. In Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles, A., Malone, K. & Barratt Hacking, E. (Eds.), International handbook of childhoodnature: Assemblage of childhood and nature research (pp. 185-1840). Springer.
47. Sams, J., & Sams, D. (2017). Arts education as a vehicle for social change: An empirical study of eco arts in the k-12 classroom. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 33(2), 1-20. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26422961
48. Schenstein, A. R. (2012). The timelessness of arts-based research: Looking back upon a heuristic self-study and the arts-based reflexivity data analysis method. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, 12(1). https://voices.no/index.php/voices/article/view/2035/1779
49. Smithbell, P. (2010). Arts-based research in education: a review. The Qualitative Report, (6), 1597-1601. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2010.1363
50. Sinner, A., Leggo, C., Irwin, R., Gouzouasis, P., & Grauer, K. (2006). Arts-based educational research dissertations: Reviewing the practices of new scholars. Canadian Journal of Education, 29(4), 1223-1270. https://journals.sfu.ca/cje/index.php/cje-rce/article/view/2939
51. Sinner, A., & Irwin, R. (2022). Desire lines as artographic crafting: Learning-with wildlife in rural Canadian landscapes. In B. C. Fredriksen & C. Groth (Eds.), Expanding environmental awareness in education through the arts (pp. 171-184). Springer.
52. Skukauskaite, A., Yilmazli Trout, I., & Robinson, K. A. (2021). Deepening reflexivity through R art in learning qualitative research. Qualitative Research, 22(3), 403-420. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794120985676
53. Springgay, S., Irwin, R., & Kind, S. (2005). A/r/tography as living inquiry through art and text. Qualitative Inquiry, 11(6), 897-912. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800405280696
54. Tay, L. (2019). Sanat tarihi yazımında bilimsel araştırma teknikleri. Idil, 8(61), 1169–1186. https://doi.org/10.7816/idil-08-61-10
55. Trilling, B., & Fadel, C. (2009). 21st century skills / learning for life in our times. (1st ed.). Jossey-Bass.
56. Ulbricht, J. (1998). Changing concept of environmental art education: Toward a broader definition. Art education, 51(6), 1998, 22-24/33-34. https://doi.org/10.2307/3193748
57. Yıldırım, A. ve Şimşek, H. (2018). Sosyal bilimlerde nitel araştırma yöntemleri (11. baskı). Seçkin Yayınları.
58. Ylirisku, H. (2021). Reorienting environmental art education (Publication Number. 978-952-64-0245-1). [Doctoral Dissertation, Aalto University]. Aaltodoc.
59. Zizek, S. (2012). Antroposen’e hoşgeldiniz. (M. Budak, çev.). Encore.