Dialogues and inter -facings: Spirituality and arts -based educational research

• Main Author: Northcott, Victoria Dale
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01.01.2005
• Subjects: Art education; Curriculum development; Educational Environment; Educational Research; Educational Researchers; Educational Theories; Primary Education; Spirituality; Teacher Educators
• ISBN: 9780494397008; 0494397004

This thesis takes the form of a qualitative inquiry into the lived experiences of five female educators seeking greater self-awareness and an understanding of spirituality in education. Holistic and aesthetic approaches shared through group dialogue enabled us to explore emerging aspects such as consciousness, identity, and self. Reflecting on the arts-based pursuit of wholeness, relationship and self-knowledge helped us to develop an imaginative version of spirituality in which the feminine in education was nurtured and celebrated. We used heuristic phenomenological methods to become midwives to our own transformative growth. Four questions guided this inquiry. (1) What is the nature and role of spirituality in our learning and teaching? (2) How does participation in arts-based approaches influence an inquiry into spirituality? (3) What factors impede and support my participants as they question the notions of spirituality in their development? (4) What is the nature of our lived experience of this inquiry? I layered the connecting insights from educational theory, philosophy, and literature into the dialogues, using arts-based re-presentations. Five essential themes emerged following the interpretation of the dialogues: a desire for integrated connections in life; the necessity of trusting and caring environments; a consciousness that conflict challenges and creates capability and compassion; an awareness that creativity engenders integration; and the realization that these emergent practices provided new motivation for new learning and teaching. During the inquiry and upon reflection, we realized that dialogic and arts-based modes enhanced our intuitive modes of knowing. They contributed to self-knowledge, and led to greater integration of self. Aesthetic experiences contributed to the cultivation of communal growth and spiritual transformation. These experiences created a desire to cultivate spiritual consciousness also within our respective educational communities. We found that dialogic and reflective environments created and sustained our consciousness of spirituality. Using story, journal writing, art, and poetry created connections that fostered a greater sense of integration of the inner and outer self. These experiences and modes of expression promoted our growth and a sense of new purpose, including the desire to connect with the imagination of others. From our materialization and evocations they too may be able to co-construct their own versions of spirituality in education.