I am an art teacher researcher with an interest in developing art teaching methods through transformative art learning, interpretive strategies, and hands-on art activities to educate young adults. As a constructivist art educator, I believe in assisting students to create meaning for them through art via artworks, art appreciation, and art analysis. In my past teacher research, I applied transformative learning theory as one of the main theoretical frameworks. I believe that if students can transform their “frame of references” (Mezirow, 2012, p. 84), such as fixed habits of mind, existing assumptions, and cultural backgrounds, etc., they will expand their mindset to become more creative and critical thinkers. When students have open minds, they will not only accept different perspectives more easily, but also try to resolve challenges utilizing a variety of options. By developing creativity and critical thinking, students will become adaptive learners who solve problems in a fast-changing world. 

 

My dissertation Transforming University Non-Art Major Students’ Learning through Informal Learning Strategies is my new start of research, which led me to a deeper direction in terms of discovering arts-based learning, transformative and reflexive learning, and critical and deconstructive thinking. In my dissertation, I created a constructivist art classroom, facilitated transformative learning, applied informal learning theories, and analyzed it through Derrida’s lens of deconstruction. Most importantly, I applied critical arts-based reflection to reflect my role as an artist, educator, and researcher in this study. The study and research process made me understand that we art educator would never be the "best," but we could improve ourselves to be "better" if we consistently reflected on our "historical components" (Derrida & Montefiore, 1992/2005, p. 178) because it helped us to deconstruct our existing thoughts and/or existing assumption. The deconstructive thoughts would lead us to a new perspective to look at our teaching and assist us to find more options for teaching. 

 

References:

• Mezirow, J. (2012). Learning to think like an adult: Core concepts of transformation theory. In E. W. Taylor & P. Cranton (Eds.). The handbook of transformative learning: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 73-95). San Francisco, CA: Jossey- Bass.

• Derrida, J., & Montefiore, A. (1992/2005). “Talking liberties” Jacques Derrida’s interview with Alan Montefiore (Original published in 1992). In G. J. J. Biesta & D. Egéa-Kuehne (Eds.) Derrida & education [Kindle] (pp. 174-184). Retrieved from Amazon.com (First published in print 2001). ​