Art Practice as Research in the Classroom: Creative Inquiry for Understanding Oneself and the World

Abstract

The article describes Art Practice (APR), an art pedagogy in which students independently investigate and interpret a theme of their choice. Based on the concept that art practice is a form of research, this approach blends inquiry and thinking skills associated with the natural and social sciences with interpretive and inventive methods linked to art. Inspired by the Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education, APR calls for a structured yet open-ended inquiry-based curriculum. Equally inspired by the International Baccalaureate Program in Art, it stresses in-depth, prolonged investigations by students using Research Workbooks as tools to develop and record their inquiry. In emphasizing critical inquiry, creative visual interpretation, and text-based reflection, two important goals are achieved. Students construct deep, personal, and fresh understandings of ideas and issues that are particularly significant to them, and also become acutely aware of their creative research processes. This is evidenced in the work of one typical student from Berkeley High School in Berkeley, California.