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Thesis defences

PhD Oral Exam - Isabelle Guillard, Art Education

Un modèle d'enseignement collaboratif axé sur la pratique éco-art en éducation artistique au secondaire


Date & time
Tuesday, January 31, 2023
1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Cost

This event is free

Organization

School of Graduate Studies

Contact

Daniela Ferrer

Where

J.W. McConnell Building
1400 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W.
Room LB-362

Wheel chair accessible

Yes

When studying for a doctoral degree (PhD), candidates submit a thesis that provides a critical review of the current state of knowledge of the thesis subject as well as the student’s own contributions to the subject. The distinguishing criterion of doctoral graduate research is a significant and original contribution to knowledge.

Once accepted, the candidate presents the thesis orally. This oral exam is open to the public.

Abstract

This research aims to develop a collaborative teaching model focused on eco-art, a practice that connects arts education and environmental education in secondary school. It examines the advantages of a teaching method led by a team of experts: a teacher specializing in the visual arts, and a professional artist from the Culture in the Schools program. More specifically, this research is based on the experience and expertise of three teams made up of the aforementioned professionals when creating an eco-art project in the school environment through collaborative approaches. Following the five modeling phases, these teams worked on the preparation, planning, implementation, evaluation, and communication of three eco-art projects with six classes of students in two schools during the 2018-2019 school year.

Using an interpretative qualitative methodology, this study is based on the principles of collaborative action research. Through a cycle of dynamic actions, it contextualizes the learning community as an educational co-creation strategy to bring about improvements in personal practice, professional training, and the quality of the living environment. Its theoretical framework, derived from socio-constructivism, the project approach, and the new materialism, has made it possible to establish levels of interrelation that can ultimately lead to a true partnership process. It also fosters a closer relationship with the environment through the construction of a common identity calling for reflection and ethical dimensions in the production of eco-art works with the participation of students.

The results, obtained from semi-directed interviews, direct observations, focus groups, and journals, show that the complementarity of the role of the teacher and the artist contributes to enriching practice by sharing knowledge, know-how, and interpersonal skills from a sustainability perspective. Achieving these objectives suggests new forms of more responsible artistic expression that relate to the concerns of the contemporary art practice community. The proposed teaching model is situated between the scholarly knowledge of the formal curriculum and the experiential knowledge of the real curriculum as implemented in reality. Referring to the chain of didactic transposition, the author offers a practical and theoretical guide based on autobiographical methods of investigation, that can be combined with the fields of pedagogy, ecology of artistic education, and the visual arts.

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