Teaching for the Ambiguous, Creative, and Practical: Daring to be A/R/Tography

Abstract

This purpose of this inquiry is to explore how an a/r/tographic model of shared inquiry led to deeper insights about learner-centered pedagogy. Invited to teach and redesign a very large ‘Art & Society: Visual Arts’ course at a large university with a 21st century issues-based focus, together with my commitment as a constructivist, learner-centered teacher, the current phenomenological study was born. The phenomena studied was whether a large, lecture-style class taught from a more non-traditional, non-lecture, art-as-experience, learner-centered epistemology might affect students’ balanced thinking and perceptions about their learning. Students’ perceptions, along with the regulatory role of emotions, are critical factors in motivation and behavior; students’ self-beliefs about learning and their capabilities affect their behavior, resilience, and persistence in the face of challenge.