Assessing the Authentic Knower Through Contemplative Arts-Based Pedagogies In Qualitative Inquiry

Authors

  • Kakali Bhattacharya Kansas State University
  • Meaghan Cochrane Kansas State University

Keywords:

Arts-based, qualitative, privileges, social justice

Abstract

In this paper the authors explore the role of contemplative, arts-based practices and pedagogies in a doctoral level qualitative research class to create an understanding of self, self in relation to others, and understanding social structures of oppression as manifested through un/earned privileges. The intent of the class was to activate the authentic inquirer within and to frame a deep awareness of researcher positionality in qualitative inquiry. The authors (instructor and student in the class) discuss how creating a self-portrait and engaging in a duoethnography project cultivated the authentic inquirer. Using differentiated, formative, developmental, and honor-based assessment practices, the authors explore how interrelatedness of being became the key cornerstone of the learning experiences which were extended beyond the classroom.

Author Biographies

Kakali Bhattacharya, Kansas State University

Kakali Bhattacharya is an associate professor, of qualitative research, at Kansas State University. Housed in the department of Educational Leadership, her research interests are transnational race, class, gender, nationality issues in higher education in the U.S., technology-integrated learning and social spaces, and contemplative approaches to qualitative inquiry. Specifically, she is interested in arts-based approaches to qualitative inquiry, which integrates various contemplative practices. 

Meaghan Cochrane, Kansas State University

Meaghan Cochrane is a doctoral student in Curriculum and Instruction at Kansas State University. Her research interests include rural place attachment; homelessness; and socioeconomic and anti-poverty issues within K-12 rural classroom environments. Her doctoral research focuses primarily on the effects of homelessness among students in rural communities.

References

Airasian, P., & Walsh, M. (1997). Cautions for the classroom constructivist. Education Digest, 62(8).

Barbezat, D., & Bush, M. (2014). Contemplative practices in higher education: Powerful methods to transform teaching and learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Barone, T., & Eisner, E. (2006). Arts-based educational research. In J. Green & G. Camilli (Eds.), Handbook of Complementary Methods in Education (pp. 93-107). New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Barone, T., & Eisner, E. W. (2012). Arts-based research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Bergman, C. (2015). Call for papers: Special issue on intention, method, and evaluation. Retrieved June 23, 2015, from http://www.contemplativemind.org/journal

Bhattacharya, K. (2009). Othering research, researching the Other: De/colonizing approaches to qualitative inquiry. In J. Smart (Ed.), Higher Education:Handbook of Theory and Research (Vol. XXIV, pp. 105-150). Dordect, The Netherlands: Springer.

Bhattacharya, K. (2013). Voices, silences, and telling secrets: The role of qualitative methods in arts-based research. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 6(4), 604-627.

Bhattacharya, K., & Han, S. (2001). Piaget and cognitive development. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Athens, GA: University of Georgia.

Cannella, G. S., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2004). Dangerous discourses II: Comprehending and countering the redeployment of discourses (and resources) in the generation of liberatory inquiry. Qualitative Inquiry, 10(2), 165-174.

Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y., S. (2000). Introduction: The discipline and practice of qualitative research Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 1-129). Thousand Oaks: CA: Sage Publications.

Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.). (2002). The Qualitative Inquiry Reader. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.

Dottin, E. S. (1999). Teaching for Social Justice: A Democracy and Education Reader. The Journal of Negro Education, 68(2), 236-237.

Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. New York, NY: Anchor Books.

Goffman, E. (1997). The Goffman reader. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Gunnlaugson, O., Sarath, E. W., Scott, C., & Bai, H. (Eds.). (2014). Contemplative learing and inquiry across disciplines. New York, NY: SUNY.

LeCompte, M. D. (2000). Analyzing qualitative data. Theory Into Practice, 39(3), 146-154.

McIntyre, A. (1997). Making meaning of whiteness: Exploring racial identity with white teachers. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Mohanty, C. T. (2004). Feminism without borders: Decolonizing theory, practicing solidarity. Durham: Duke University Press.

Mutua, K., & Swadener, B. B. (Eds.). (2004). Decolonizing research in cross-cultural contexts. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Norris, J., Sawyer, R. D., & Lund, D. (Eds.). (2012). Duoethnography: Dialogic methods for social, health, and educational research. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.

Palmer, P., & Zajonc, A. (2010). The heart of higher education: A call to renewal. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Patton, M. Q. (1987a). How to use qualitative methods in education. Newbury Park, California: Sage Publications.

Patton, M. Q. (1987b). When to use qualitative methods How to use qualitative methods in evaluation (pp. 23-43). Newbury Park: Sage Publications, Inc.

Piaget, J. (1985). The equilibrium of cognitive structures: The central problem of intellectual development. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Prawat, R. S., & Flodden, R. E. (1994). Philosophical perspectives on constructivist views of learning. Educational Psychology, 29(1), 37-48.

Smith, L. T. (1999/2012). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples (Second ed.). London, United Kingdom: Zed books.

Tang, Y. Y., Hölzel, B. K., & Posner, M. I. (2015). The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 16, 213-225.

Wolcott, H. F. (2008). Ethnography: A way of seeing. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.

Zajonc, A. (2009). Meditation as contemplative inquiry: When knowing becomes love. Barrington, MA: Lindisfarne Books.

Building Just Communities: JOCI Vol. 4, No. 1, 2017

Downloads

Published

2017-09-12

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 1 (2017): Building Just Communities

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal sign a publishing agreement after their paper has been accepted. Through the agreement, authors transfer copyright to CMind, the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, the publisher of JOCI. Authors may enter into additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of their work (e.g., to publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. Authors are also permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website), with acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal and retaining the formatting as published in JOCI.