4: Layered Analysis (Mary Elizabeth Meier)

Using Mary Elizabeth Meier’s posed questions, I went through the story constellation excerpts, noting documentation and shifts. While there are a few instances in shifts of how to use a particular item, such as a document camera, nearly every instance of shifts as a teacher relate to their approach to teaching. I subdivided these into shifts in the physical classroom, shifts in the lesson plans/course content, shifts in student expectations, and shifts in what their role as teacher should be. These shifts are tied to a greater shift in values and priorities in the art room, moving from teaching techniques to teaching dispositions.

The inquiry method, and comfort level with uncertainty, seemed to be driving both the discussion group and many of the changes in the classrooms. I circled each instance of uncertainty and marked the margin with a large question mark. Some examples are below:

Because I never knew where classroom I would be in that day (7)
Next year I will be even more uncertain because I am changing grade levels (8)
I feel like I am questioning myself about that (13)
This time was a little easier because I wasn’t alone, there were seven other people all searching for the answer to the same question (20)
Open response of inquiry and student led process (21)
It is not a clear line, but one that is full of possibilities (22)

Though some teachers specifically note their initial uneasiness with the format of the collaborative inquiry group and whether it would be effective, they have infused questioning into their classroom practice and are continuing to ask questions of themselves to refine their teaching. “What happened to me this year is what I am trying to do for my kids too” (9). They have seen, first hand, how their role as a learner is transformed through documented inquiry and are now finding ways to recreate this for their students.

The loosening of the parameters was initially unsettling, even scary, as they seemed to be losing control; there was no longer an example of the end product. At the same time, using the document camera to trace gave students confidence to explore even if it meant ruining the work because they could start again. The shifts in teacher approach were then seen in student behaviors as they sensed the freedom and took ownership of their artmaking, whether in secondary non-traditional materials, choosing to collaborate in sculptures, or drawing from other sources to inform their subject matter.

It is interesting how removing or reworking physical barriers and restrictions opens the mind for more possibilities. This is seen in the use of the document camera by the students, but it is also seen in the teachers who are reworking their classrooms, repurposing custodial equipment, and reinventing shared spaces to allow for inquiry. When the felt limitations are no longer an obstacle, no longer impeding their potential. I want to re-examine the excerpts to see both physical and mental removal of barriers and self-imposed limitations on what can be.

(I have recently been exploring self-imposed limitations and the freedom that comes when these barriers are identified and removed. It’s not surprising to me that in trying to understand the coding, through prose, I am drawn to this level of understanding.)

In this next layer of coding, I found more than 15 references to physical removal of barriers, more than 10 instances of mental removal of limitations, and at least three instances where it was impossible to code as one or the other. In those cases, the physical change directly removed mental barriers for the teacher or students. As noted earlier, using the document camera physically allows for restarting a project in a timely manner but it also removes the mental limitations on the students, giving them freedom to take risks, even if it will mean restarting. At the elementary level, the physical change of access to materials, such as the sculpture studio, removed the mental barrier of independent work, freeing students to work collaboratively. Then in another situation, the inability to overcome physical barriers (art on a cart) is still a major mental road-block to implementing centers.

While the recorded conversations were rich in discussion of physical and mental barriers, the blog posts supplied did not directly reflect the same ideas. Inquiry is discussed, though, and could be seen as a way to push through natural mental limitations. The use of open-ended questions, with students, with peers, and with themselves, expands possibilities. If possibilities were not seen as legitimate options previously, the questioning must be breaking through hidden barriers and invisible restrictions, even when participants have not directly stated from what they were shifting.

MENTAL – I don’t understand how this group will work/don’t understand inquiry
PHYSICAL – I am given these tools
MENTAL – I only understand one way to use these tools
MENTAL – I start to understand the inquiry process and how to use with students
MENTAL – I understand a new way to use these tools
PHYSICAL – I use these tools differently with my students
PHYSICAL – I design my lessons differently
PHYSICAL/MENTAL – My students have new opportunities and freedom
PHYSICAL – I don’t have a venue for thoughtful discussion and development with peers
PHYSICAL – I can use skype
MENTAL – I have new things to think about and I find value in searching out with these other people

I see two parallel lines of impact. Following one stream, I see the participants removing barriers for personal growth as an educator. Though all recorded comments show an initial uneasiness with the CIG, participants have been able to overcome years of mental and physical barriers to professional development through the CIG. After this first year, they place a high value on inquiry, documentation, and reflection, expressing a desire to continue as a group into the next school year. Though their colleagues don’t understand the format and resist “talking shop,” the CIG participants are now looking at ways to continue interactions when time and space will physically limit them (such as a group Skype during school-required in-service days).

The concurrent line of change comes about in the classroom. The participants are given technology and exposed to the inquiry method. At first, understanding is shallow and use of the tools is limited. As the year progresses, the participants learn new ways to use the tools and deepen their understanding of inquiry. The more the participants see the results of inquiry in the CIG, the more they value and infuse the process into their classroom. They replicate their experience for their students. “What happened to me this year is what I am trying to do for my kids too.” Rachel (9)