Sketching a Social/Teacher Practice Through Participation: An Imperfect Proposition for Teacher Practicum

Abstract

Although not new, participatory art practices are finding their way into art education theory; however, practices have yet to take hold in schools or teacher practicum. In this qualitative study, four teacher candidates’ efforts to implement two socially engaged art projects in a middle school are examined to better understand how participatory art can be utilized to engage teacher candidates more fully in the collective shaping of their teacher selves, curriculum, and schools. Data included teacher candidates’ written reflections and transcribed interviews and researcher field notes. Despite limitations related to quality of teacher and middle schooler participation, findings suggest that, while imperfect and emergent, the projects provided an opportunity for teacher candidates to sketch a social/teacher practice by activating shared spaces of participation, provoking contention in shared authorial spaces, and challenging conceptions of art.