From Deli Girl to Teacher of Artists: A Visual Curriculum Beyond the Script.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This work came out of a desire to showcase the learning of science via the use of multimodal formats and interventions. It was conceived as an attempt to highlight iconistic means of communication as a possible tool in the learning and teaching of science in the classroom. But as the pages were written, another theme emerged: the importance of telling the story of my life, especially as it pertains to my search for a life along the path of education as opposed to the well-worn path already laid out for me. These two themes, 1) the realization that education is an important and valuable pursuit no matter the obstructions, and 2) how one can possibly utilize the arts/aesthetics to understand science, were approached using a three-prong theoretical framework. I utilized the ideas that reflection can be a basis of research, that the Arts hold grounding in this research, and that engagement with life <italic>is</italic> curriculum.
My method of pursuing these themes involved a personal recount of my life. And as I moved between writing, reflecting, and experiencing all that had “composed” my life, as Bateson (1989) so eloquently puts it, I realized that this piece of writing was a gift. These words would be special, for they would tell the story of a young girl attempting to make a life of worth and value in a very dark place; this would be the story of the curriculum of a life, <italic>my life</italic>, and how it flourished against great odds. An even greater realization was that this story is universal, as all human beings are scampering to find worth and meaning for their existence sandwiched somewhere between the cradle and the grave. Thus, even as I wrote about my own past, present, and future hopes, I would also bring into this story the lives of my students through fictionalized structures; together we are each searching for our own unique path to learning.
This dissertation follows my life from the time I first found the courage to enroll in college, against all expectations, through the many years I spent attaining an associate degree, my Bachelor's, and finally, my Master's. This journey would take me many places; sometimes I traveled alone, sometimes I was aided by important individuals who helped show me the way. My life in this way demonstrates Dewey's (1916) idea of transmission and reconstruction of knowledge for future generations. This was not merely transmission for the sake of the “social continuing of life” (p. 2); instead it was a call to realize who I could possibly be. This was reconstruction of the ways of becoming a college student, of what it <italic>means</italic> to be a college student, and what it could bring to the future.
As well, this dissertation notes the great breadth of curriculum that informs a life. My life was intertwined with running, music, positive thinking, and other curricula not considered the norm or part of traditional education. But these would foster my growth in college and are surely no different than the types of curricula my own students engage with. Over my years of schooling, I was as much involved in these particular curricula as I was with the chemistry I learned in the classroom. Bits of these unique curricula are interwoven throughout this narrative, enforcing the many Schubertian (1981, 2009) ideas on curriculum.
Lastly, this dissertation brings into focus a unique engagement with the teaching and learning of chemistry—via the visual domain. The visual is paramount in how I learned. Pictures, images, graphs, tables, and so many other iconistic avenues offered me a means to build my understanding of science concepts. Many of the visuals that directed my path in the learning of chemistry concepts are included here, as are the images of actual work by myself and some of the students I have engaged with in my years as a teacher of artists. What I <italic>see</italic>, what my students <italic>see</italic>, are communication snapshots; they express what our knowledge of science is at a particular moment in time. Just as Kress and van Leeuwen (1996, 1998, 2001) suggest, the visual is a language, complete with its own grammar and syntax.
The goal of this dissertation is to advocate for <italic>allowance.</italic> I try to illustrate the need to allow students to find their own paths (curricula) to learn and grow. This is a respectful cry for the integration of means to showcase knowledge of science constructs in the many divergent forms that exist. This is evidenced in my story and highlights Eisner's (1998) idea of the best possible truth that I can uncover with the enlightened eye. I offer hope for the removal of limitations on thinking, learning, and knowing by proposing an allowance for the visual icon to be a part of our teaching and learning experiences, intertwined with the mode of text.