A/r/tographic Inquiry for The Transformation of Pre-Service Art Teachers' Concept of Social Justice

Abstract

This study seeks to enable sophomore-level students in the Department of Art Teaching to make inquiries about their environment and to critically interpret some visuals through a/r/tographic practices. Therefore, it draws on a/r/tographic inquiry, which is one of the art-based research methods. The participants of the study are 13 sophomore-level students (6 female, 7 male students). The data were obtained from reflective diaries, semi-structured interviews and document analysis, and analysed through content analysis. The researcher organized 5 different travel plans for the students in Erzincan, a city located in the Eastern Anatolia of Turkey. The focus trips were made to a shopping mall, a market, a local bazaar, a modern street and an old settlement. The students completed their trips within a period of 10 weeks. The findings of this study showed that the students were able to make critical inquiries about the environment they live in, gained awareness about social issues thanks to the auditory or visual experiences they had in daily life and reflected this awareness to their artistic works.

Keywords

• visual culture
• social justice
• a/r/tographic inquiry
• pre-service art teachers' education
• a/r/tographer