Students’ experience of the sketchbook/journal model in art education

• Main Author: Froslev, Dorte Anne
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/5270

The problem of this study was to investigate the extent to which largely self directed, individualized work in student sketchbooks constitutes valid art experience in terms of current guidelines for art education (CSEA, B.C. Ministry of Education, DBAE, various authors). The research questions were: 1) What does the sketchbook content consist of? 2) What is the experience of the participants in regard to a) content, b) context, and c) process? 3) When students are directing their own learning within the structure of this model, what do they say they are learning? 4) To what extent does the work constitute valid content and experience, and provide intellectual development while serving the diverse interests and ability levels of high school art students? The research consisted of the analysis of video taped interviews with a purposive sample of six high school students. The interviews were transcribed and correlated to photocopies of the sketchbook pages for analysis. The data was analyzed using the Macintosh computer program HyperRESEARCH. It is concluded that the sketchbook is a versatile and engaging medium for meaningful, contextual learning and a viable means for evaluating progress and achievement. It is both an adjunct and a driver of studio work. It is frequently the most travelled book in a student’s school bag and the last one to be put away at night. Where clientele is the most diverse, in multi-grade, multi-course split classes, where disabilities and weak language skills demand special attention, the sketchbook is invaluable in tracking progress and in accommodating individual goals, interests and rates of learning. If it is to provide intellectual development and experience, as recommended by current guidelines, the sketchbook needs to be more than a book for sketching in. Clear goals and criteria need to be in place along with classroom support and enabling skills. Teaching strategies may then make provisions for individualized curricula in a process that encourages the development of a depth and breadth of knowledge, awareness of multiple cultural values, participation in the traditions of the history of art, critical thinking and the development of lifelong learning skills.