Place-based critical art education: An action research

Place-based critical art education (PBCAE) aims to encourage individuals to produce art based on interpretations and consequently, their experiences, involving creative thinking; the search for solutions to personal, environmental and social problems; and nature and society. Visual arts teachers can reveal the significant characteristics of a place to their students in PBCAE, which can be implemented in both rural and urban settings. PBCAE should therefore be considered highly significant in the education of teachers. This study aims to improve the skills of prospective teachers in artistic expression, and to demonstrate how PBCAE can be implemented by prospective teachers based on their own experiences. Following a qualitative research-based approach and incorporating an action-based research approach, the participants of the study were six candidate teachers who took part in the 2015–2016 main art workshop-III course, selected by way of a maximum variety sampling method. The data-collection tools included observation, semi-structured interviews, and participant and researcher diaries, and the obtained data was analyzed by way of an inductive analysis technique using the NVivo 11 qualitative data analysis program. The study encouraged the participants to experience places through art by taking part in activities that involved interactions with the natural environment and the local community. The participants were found to associate these experiences with their personal lives, to experiment with different ways of expression by examining various art practices, and to develop creative and critical means of expression by questioning style and content, and searching for meaning. The personal and social relationships developed with a place were found to be experienced in an integrated manner in natural, cultural, aesthetic and critical terms, and these experiences were associated with daily life and reflected in the developed works of art. It was concluded that dialogue-based communication that involved interaction and cooperation contributed to the development critical thinking skills among the prospective teacher, allowing them to form connections between art, place and education.