Becoming a Visually Reflective Practitioner

Kathy Marzilli Miraglia, Sheri R. Klein

Description

Professional practice is increasingly becoming more complex, demanding, dynamic and diverse. This important and original new book considers how self-study using arts-based methods can enable purposeful reflection toward understanding and envisioning professional practice. Ideally for visual arts practitioners on all levels, this book presents a self-study model grounded in compelling research that highlights arts-based methods for examining four areas of professional practice: professional identities, work cultures, change and transitions and envisioning new pathways.

Chapters address the components of the self-study model, artistic methods and materials, and strategies for interpreting self-study written and visual outcomes with the aim of goal setting. Each chapter includes visuals, references and end-of-chapter prompts to engage readers in critical and visual reflection. Appendices offer resources and guidelines for creating and assessing self-study outcomes.

The fluctuating nature of professional practice necessitates the pursuit of discernment and clarity that can be achieved through an ongoing reflective practice. Self-study is a systematic and flexible methodology for purposeful reflection on professional practice that embraces dialogic, interpretive, rhizomatic and visual inquiry. Self-study can occur at any level of practice and in the context of work-related professional development, formal study or as a self-initiated inquiry. An arts-based self-study model for visual arts practitioners is explored and focuses on four intersectional components shaping professional practice: professional identities, work cultures and communities, transition and change within professional practice and envisioning new pathways for professional practice.

The self-study model is grounded in contemporary theory, practice and compelling research, and embraces robust strategies for understanding the complexities of professional practice that can include dual, multiple, overlapping, hybrid and conflicting professional identities, tensions within work cultures and unexpected changes within professional practice. Each chapter focuses on a component of the self-study model and an area of professional practice, concluding with references and end-of-chapter prompts that are aimed to facilitate critical reflection-on-practice and the creation of written and visual responses.

With visual arts practitioners in mind, various arts-based methods for self-study are discussed that highlight visual journaling as a key method for engaging in self-study. Interpretive research methods are discussed to guide readers in understanding the phases and processes for interpreting written and visual self-study outcomes. Processes are outlined to help readers determine key insights, themes, issues and questions from their self-study outcomes, how to use them in formulating new questions and articulating new professional goals. Several levels for interpretation are presented to offer readers options relative to their professional needs and aims.

Throughout the text, charts and visuals serve to summarize and visualize key chapter points. Images by visual arts practitioners appear throughout the text and represent a wide range of artistic media, methods and approaches appropriate for self-study. The appendices provide additional resources for enhanced understanding of chapter concepts and key terms, guidelines and rubrics for writing reflections, creating visual responses and using a visual journal in the self-study process.

Primary readership will be visual arts practitioners at all levels. Ideal for university level graduate courses or as a guide for individuals and small groups of practitioners who seek to engage in arts-based self-study as professional development.

Introduction

1. Framework and Components of a Self-Study Model for Visual Arts Practitioners 

2. Overview of Arts-Based Media for Self-Study

3. Exploring the Complexity of Professional Identity Formation

4. Factors Shaping Professional Identity and Professional Practice in Work Cultures

5. Exploring Change within Professional Practice

6. Issues and Methods for Self-Study Artefact Interpretation

7. Envisioning Professional Practice

Conclusion

Appendices

Sujets

• Arts visuels
• Arts visuels
• ART
• General
• Health
• Creativity
• Self-help
• General officer

Informations

• Publié par: Intellect Books
• Date de parution: 02 juillet 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781789384888
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Becoming a Visually Reflective Practitioner

Becoming a Visually Reflective Practitioner
An Integrated Self-Study Model for Professional Practice
Sheri R. Klein and Kathy Marzilli Miraglia
First published in the UK in 2021 by
Intellect, The Mill, Parnall Road, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 3JG, UK
First published in the USA in 2021 by
Intellect, The University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th Street,
Chicago, IL 60637, USA
© Sheri R. Klein and Kathy Marzilli Miraglia 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover designer: Aleksandra Szumlas
Copy editor : Newgen
Cover image and frontispiece image: Sheri R. Klein
Production manager: Laura Christopher
Typesetting: Newgen
Print ISBN 978-1-78938-486-4
ePDF ISBN 978-1-78938-487-1
ePub ISBN 978-1-78938-488-8
Printed and bound by CPI.
To find out about all our publications, please visit www.intellectbooks.com There you can subscribe to our e-newsletter, browse or download our current catalogue, and buy any titles that are in print.
This is a peer-reviewed publication.
Contents
List of Figures
Introduction
1. Framework and Components of a Self-Study Model for Visual Arts Practitioners
2. Overview of Arts-Based Media for Self-Study
3. Exploring the Complexity of Professional Identity Formation
4. Factors Shaping Professional Identity and Professional Practice in Work Cultures
5. Exploring Change within Professional Practice
6. Issues and Methods for Self-Study Artefact Interpretation
7. Envisioning Professional Practice
Conclusion
Appendices
References
Index
Figures
I.1: Sheri R. Klein, Braided Stream Visual Metaphor for Self-Study Model , 2020. Ink on paper and digitally enhanced. Courtesy of artist.
1.1: Sheri R. Klein, Rhizomatic Collage of Self-Study Model, 2020. Collage of ink drawings. Courtesy of artist.
1.2: Sheri R. Klein, Tracings, 2020. Digitally enhanced collage. Courtesy of artist.
1.3: Kathy Marzilli Miraglia, Mind Map of a Visually Reflective Self-Study Process , 2020. Digitally enhanced drawing. Courtesy of artist.
2.1: Chase Stevens, Reflection, 2019. Color print. Courtesy of artist.
2.2: Annie Cox, Untitled, journal page, 2018. Mixed media collage. Courtesy of artist.
2.3: Karlisle Becker, Untitled, blackout poem, 2018. Mixed media. Courtesy of artist.
3.1: Sheri R. Klein, Overlaps, 2018. Ink on paper. Courtesy of artist.
3.2: John Howell White, Haunting , 2019. Oil on canvas. Courtesy of artist.
3.3: Lisa Kay, Rise /rīz/ 2019. Mixed media installation. Courtesy of artist.
4.1: Kathy Marzilli Miraglia, Untitled , 2017. Digital collage. Courtesy of artist.
4.2: Nicole Johnson, All things, All ways, All places , 2019. Mixed media on parchment paper. Courtesy of artist.
5.1: Kristi Oliver, Grounded: Mindful Pauses in Times of Change , 2019. Photomontage. Courtesy of artist.
5.2: Kathy Marzilli Miraglia, Untitled, 2019. Pencil and felt pen. Courtesy of artist.
5.3: Patricia RAIN Gianneschi, Journey to Carmona , 2019. Mixed media. Courtesy of artist.
7.1: Keri Schlageter, Untitled, journal page, 2019. Mixed media. Courtesy of artist.
Introduction
How do you identify as a professional? What are the experiences occurring in various components of your professional practice? How do you experience change within professional practice? What new pathways are envisioned as a result of self-study? These are some key questions that lie at the heart of a reflective professional practice. Responses to these kinds of questions will undoubtedly vary from individual to individual, and over the course of a professional life. Cultivating responses to these questions will also take time and require a variety of paths due to the diverse nature of professional roles and identities of visual arts practitioners.
Visual arts practitioners may be defined as professionals who have education, training, and/or work experiences in the visual arts; assume a role or position affiliated with the visual arts, such as studio artist, educator, researcher, writer, entrepreneur, therapist, community activist, curator, administrator; and typically juggle multiple and overlapping professional identities associated with the visual arts. The reality of having multiple, fluid, and entangled professional identities is common amongst visual arts practitioners (Daichendt 2010 , 2014 ; Thornton 2013 ) and often results in unresolved and conflicting attitudes toward professional practice (Kind et al. 2007 ; MacDonald 2017 ; Zwirn 2006 ). The often-blurred boundaries between personal and professional identities (Wenger 1998 ) require the reappraisal of professional practice (Hall 2010 : 103), particularly as professional identities continue to shift and emerge.
The concept of becoming is applicable to understanding professional identities and professional practice as a continuous process of forming, changing, and evolving. Professional practice can be likened to a cartographic space that is “connectable [,]‌ […] modifiable [,] […] has multiple entryways and exits” (Deleuze and Guatarri 1987 : 21) and is created through rhizomatic movements that defy “linear unity” (Deleuze and Guattari 1987 : 6). Rather, professional practice may be likened to “a stream without a beginning or end” (Deleuze and Guattari 1987 : 25). This stream (Figure I.1) is envisioned as a braided stream 1 that is highly dynamic, multichanneled, and “reformed continuously” (National Park Service n.d.)

Figure I.1: Sheri R. Klein, Braided Stream Visual Metaphor for Self-Study Model , 2020. Ink on paper and digitally enhanced. Courtesy of artist.
The braided stream as a metaphorical construct for professional identity and professional practice embraces the natural ebb and flow of professional practice that is inclusive of an ongoing practice of reflection. Extending John Dewey’s ( 1933 : 33) claim that reflection is “an important human activity in which people recapture their experience, [and] think about it” in ways that lead to inquiry, (Dewey 1933 : 7) supports reflective practice as: (1) “the capacity for self-evaluation and self-improvement through rigorous and systematic research and study of his or her [one’s own] practice” (McKernan 1996 : 46) and (2) a process in which reflection occurs within the context of one’s practice (Schön 1983 ). The practice of reflection with the aim of professional growth has evolved into what is known as self-study that may be understood as a research methodology and a sustained practice of reflection that is guided by questions related to professional practice (Korthagen and Kessels 1999 ).
Self-study
Self-study, also referred to as practitioner inquiry and self-inquiry, is characterized by “a means of a systematic methodology,” but is not limited to a “single or most correct way to carry out the research” (Ezer 2009 : 16). While self-study is often associated with the fields of education and teacher education (Ben-Yehoshua 2009 ; Brandenburg and McDonough 2019 ; Gallagher et al. 2011 ; Kitchen et al. 2020 ; Loughran et al. 2004 ; Lassonde et al. 2009 ; Ritter et al. 2018 ; Russell 2004 ), practitioners within and across many professional sectors and disciplines have embraced self-study to inform professional practice (Pinnegar and Hamilton 2009 ; Strom et al. 2018 ; Tidwell et al. 2009 ; Van Cleve 2008 ).
The self-study model in this text acknowledges that “the identity of the researcher is central to research work” (Ezer 2009 : 12) and that “professional development is dynamic and not static” (Ben-Yehoshua 2009 : ix). As professional practice is a relational, fluctuating, and a longitudinal process, self-study necessitates a balanced approach with a critical and appreciative eye toward professional practice (Cooperrider and Whitney 2005 ).
The theoretical considerations for the self-study model used in this text are highly networked and address the individual and collective nature of professional identity and practice, and the interstitial spaces of practice. In addition to drawing upon areas of reflective practice (Byers and Forinash 2004 ; Cooperrider and Whitney 2005 ; Duffy 2015 ; Klein 2008 ; Klein and Miraglia 2017 ; Palmer 2017 ; Schön 1983 ; Thorton 2005 ; Walker 2004 ) and self-study methodology (Brandenburg and McDonough 2019 ; Kitchen et al. 2020 ; Loughran et al. 2004; Pinnegar and Hamilton 2009 ; Russell 2004 ), we look to arts-based research (Barone and Eisner 2012 ; Cahnmann-Taylor and Siegesmund 2017; Chilton and Leavy 2014 ; Leavy 2017; Rolling 2013 ; Sinner et al. 2019 ; Sullivan 2009 ); identity theory development (Crenshaw 1991 ; Escobar 2008 ; Trede et al. 2012 ); career and professional development (Ben-Yehoshua 2009 ; Cooperrider and Whitney 2005 ; Steffy et al. 2000 ); and adult transformation learning theory and research (Dirkx 2012 ; Knowles et al. 2015 ; Merriam and Kim 2012 ; Mezirow 1991 ; Mezirow 2012 ). In addition, the exploration of rhizomatic principles (Deleuze and Guattari 1987) and network theory (de Landa 1997 ) illuminate understandings as to how individuals and communities of professional practice create identities, enact interests, and self-organize through networks (cyberspace, organizational, etc.) in ways that offer “movements of de-territorialization” that can allow for states of “becoming” (Escobar 2008 : 296).
Self-study model components . The theoretically grounded self-study model is composed of four salient areas of practice: identity, work cultures, change and envisioning. These areas emerge through a search of transdisciplinary literature as consistent components of the professional practices of visual arts practitioners. The questions for self-study were developed as general guiding questions th