Methods of Research

After reading Chapters 21-24 of J Gary Knowles and Ardra L. Cole's book, "Handbook of the Art in Qualitative Research I learn some interesting methods of research. Probably the method I found to be the most useful to me was in Chapter 22 about the use of collage as inquiry, particularly the process of "memoing." When I was working with my after school art club, Hempstead Community Based Art Group, I found that what the students discussions and interactions were very interesting to watch. The group was set up to help build better communication and quality of living and learning in the Hempstead community. The students wanted to take art into action by dealing with bulling, name calling, discrimination, racism, etc. It was through our discussions I felt that the students were actually moving further backwards then forwards though. I found that the same group of students who were trying to improve the culture in our school also were becoming more of the problem. I think if I would have had the students create a collage about their school it may helped them realize their own perspectives about their school. DANG IT. I really wish I would have thought about that a few years ago. I will defiantly do that next time.

I need to apologize to you all about my lack of blogging. I have always been terrible at emailing and my blogging habits are not any better. THIS BLOG WAS SUPPOSE TO BE ENTERED ON THE WEEK OF FEB 10th.

Curiosity? I am curious about a great deal of many things. I am always curious on how I can improve myself, my health, my job, the school I teach at, the environment, my community, and how to better help others. Although I feel I haven't really done much to help accomplish anything. Another curiosity that always sticks in my head is how technology is constantly changing the habits of communication around us and what old methods of communication will be lost. How will communication change our culture in the future.

What first drove me to this interest is not only my inability to communicate well through technology, but the methods in which I enjoy communicating are become less practiced. This curiosity started when I started teaching High School. Everyday I like to stand out in the halls between classes and listen and watch the students communicate to each other. I think I get this trait from my father, who's only reason to go to the mall with my mother was so he could watch all the other people walk, communicate, shop, etc. Yeah my dad was a mall watcher. I never really understood it at first but now I am starting to. The only difference between me and my dad is that dad never intended to step into these peoples lives and try to effect it the way I hope to.

I think another reason I became interested in this topic is because I am also curious what the future holds for these very technological driven students, who will later live and work in a very advanced technological culture. Will they be able to talk to people face to face without the interference of technology. Yesterday I counted how many students have ear buds or headphones on as they walk from class to class. I said hello to fifteen of them as they walked by, but only three or four could hear me to say hello back. Currently in the coffee shop I am typing this blog entry at is a couple sitting next to me. The girlfriend is trying to talk to her boyfriend while he is listening to music really loud in one ear. I can hear it from fifteen feet away. It is no wonder we need online dating services theses days, because people are having trouble meeting and communicating to each other face to face.
Twitter, Face book, and My Space all bring similar curiousness about how we communicate. I can say I currently do not have an account on either. I did try twittering once though. I found it to be a very dull experience. Their are benefits to these types of online communication, such as the ability to keep in contact with friends from college that live in other places around the globe. The things I find are missing from these services is the ability to read peoples body language, the environment they are currently in, the smells and tastes that are around them. The use of these communication devices doesn't help appeal to all of the senses.
I have not done much to fulfill my curiosity on this topic. Perhaps I should get a face book account to truly see what it is like. If anyone has any ideas on books to read about this topic I would love to take time to read them.

A year ago , I started talking to a fellow co-worker of mine in the FHAC's department (Family, Home, and Consumer Sciences) about teen pregnancy in our school. At the time there seemed to be an overabundance of pregnant students at Hempstead this year. We had and interesting talk about, "how it didn't seem so taboo to be pregnant in High School anymore. She was explaining to me how some girls were looking forward to having a child. She explained to me that some of them felt that it was, "no big deal." We soon began talking about the sex education lessons taught in the school and how they are more directed toward the women and not the men. We discussed about what lessons are being taught to the males about teen pregnancy? How could they prevent teen pregnancy? We were curious about the male students and what their feelings were on being a parent at such a young age. So many questions we had for these students. So many fears we have for their future and the future of their babies. So I proposed to that teacher that sometime we should do a corroborative art project together based on this subject. Her "Parenting Class" and my "Advance 3-D Class". I told her about the projection projects by Wodiczko that I found so interesting. I even showed her the episode of Art 21 in which he was featured. She thought it would be neat to have the classes do something creative like this.
Through this project I not only hope we have our questions as the teachers answered, but also the questions created by the students, and the participants.
Teacher Questions:
- Why do some students want to get pregnant at such a young age?
- Do the students understand the costs of having a child?
- How does a young teenager, still in school plan to provide for a child at such a young age?
- Are they happy with their decision?
- What are the teen father’s feelings on being a parent at such a young age?
- How many of these pregnancies are planned/ unplanned?
- How many of these are the result of rape?
- How many are the result of drugs or alcohol?
- How many of these pregnancies are the result of unprotected/ protected sex?
- How are we teachers supposed to react to a student who tells us she is pregnant?
- How many of these pregnancies are the results of a female being pressured in having sex, directly or indirectly?
- What will happen to that child down the road? What are the statistics?
- How can the males take a bigger role in preventing teen pregnancy?
- How many of these student couples get married? How many end in divorce or separation?
- How many result in abusive behaviors?
- How many end in abortion... adoption... or keep their baby(s).
- How many of these families end up below the poverty line?
- Are we as teachers being to judgmental?
- Are there better methods for us teachers today to help prevent teenage pregnancy?
.... and many more?
Then we need to see what other questions are raised by the parents, students, and other faculty members.
I feel the students need to have more then just statistical data to look at. They need the truth not by numbers, but by the stories of those who have been there. I think they need to hear first hand the stories of those students who have gone through a teen pregnancy. I thought it would be best to present this in a format that was creative but effective. Through the use of interactions, role play, performance, video, and sound.

Hallway Sounds

In my attempt to develop a portrait of Hempstead. I decided to roam around the halls during the morning, after school, and sometimes in between classes. While I wondered around the various hallways and corridors I recorded the mixture of sounds. My plan is to some how make these sounds into a visual portrait of Hempstead High School.

What projects would I like to explore and research?

I am constantly observant of the people and places that I interact with in my life, but no group of people or place influences my art more then my students and the school I teach at. I can see some of the great things that make up my school, but I can also see some of the things that could help improve it. There are always consistent problems that I feel need attention. A few years ago I decided to approach some of these problems by starting an after school art group called, "The Hempstead Community Art Group." This was a group of 8 to 9 students that met once a week to discuss the issues of bulling, discrimination, and harassment within our Hempstead community. It was through this I started to realize that there were other themes that I needed to research further. Through our discussions we talked about the existence of cliques at Hempstead High School. It was this discussion the got me thinking about my own high school experience. Did I belong to any cliques? Through this reflection I found out that I was more of a nomad. I didn't really belong to a specific group, but intermingled between groups. I hung out with some jocks, drama and speech students, nerds, popular, smart kids, band geeks, hicks, art students (although there wasn't very many), and other nomads like me. I didn't really hangout too much with the motor heads although I kind of wish I did. It was when I compared the cliques at my high school to the one I teach at that I saw some differences. There are some of the same cliques, but there are some new ones. Some mix with others. Some despise others. Some are created because the school has made them that way. There are nomads. But there are also some students who are disconnected and don't belong to any clique. This is where I wish to start my research. I want to try to create a portrait of my school by identifying the different cliques. It is through this research I hope that I can solve any connection issues that this cliques have. I also hope that it can help our school come together better as a community and a family. I would hope that it would create more school pride. This is another thing I feel our school is truly missing. PRIDE. I listen to our pep-rallies, sporting events, and other school functions. When a student or group of students make a great achievement it is barley noticed. I believe if I can some how bring these cliques together, then some how mustang pride will grow.

How is what I do research? How does research create my art?

My methods of research in art can and sometimes moves in two different directions. When creating my art sometimes I feel it is necessary to dive right into the material. It is through the process of manipulation, construction, addition, subtraction and multiplication that helps me learn to understand the material I am working with. I refer to this as research through the material, but there is another road of research that I take. Sometimes the idea comes from a specific need that is still unsatisfied. It is through journals, blogging, and web-searching, socializing, observing, theorizing, and teaching that some of my ideas develop further. Whichever method of research I work with, I have discovered that there really is no end to that research, nor to that artistic idea, but it only provides the next step in my research and creation of art.