At the intersection of art and research : the teaching of poetry/the poetry of teaching

251 Pages·1996·4.6 MB·English

by  Sullivan, Anne McCrary

ATTHEINTERSECTIONOFARTANDRESEARCH:
THETEACHINGOFPOETRY/THEPOETRYOFTEACHING
By
ANNEMCCRARYSULLIVAN
ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL
OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT
OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF
DOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA
1996
UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDALIBRARIES
Copyright1996
by
AnneMcCrarySullivan
TABLEOFCONTENTS
page
ABSTRACT V
CHAPTERS
1 ATTHEINTERSECTIONOFARTANDRESEARCH 1
Prologue 1
AestheticVision 2
TheAutobiographicalContext 4
AReviewoftheTheoreticalLiterature 8
RedefiningCognition 8
MovingBeyondPositivism 11
WhatCountsAsResearch? 13
AStatementoftheProblem IB
Purpose, Methodology, andModeofRepresentation . 17
2 EVOCATIVEREPRESENTATIONS: THEFIRSTEXEMPLAR . . 20
Prologue 20
TheContextandtheProblem 20
NotesaboutMethod 22
ConstructionoftheScript 25
AnEthicalConcern/TheIssueofVoiceand
Ownership 29
ThePurposeoftheStudy 30
PPoeertsornyalainzdinPgasasinodnIninteTrenaaclhiezrinEgduKcnaotwiloend:ge .... 32
IntheBeginning 32
ThePracticum 41
GrowingDeeper 54
TheNCTEConventioninOrlando 59
TheHandbook 62
TheEndoftheSemester 67
Epilogue 70
ReflectionsontheScript 70
ImplicationsforFutureResearch 73
3 EVOCATIVEREPRESENTATIONS: THESECONDEXEMPLAR . . 75
Prologue 75
FollowingUp 75
TheInternship 76
:
Methodology 77
EthicalConcerns 78
ThePurposesoftheStudy 81
ConstructionoftheEvocativeText 81
SaturaPtreodlowguiethPoetry: FirstDraftofaTeacher . 8833
TheInternship 86
Post-Internship 203
4 FINALCONSIDERATIONS 214
TheTeachingofPoetry 214
PoetryinCrisis/TheBroaderContext
AReviewoftheLiterature 214
ThePoetryofTeaching 225
TheDynamicFormofTeaching 225
DevelopingTeachersAsArtists 227
TheArtofResearch 229
AErvtoicsattivaesMRoedseesarcasherI/nRteesreparrecthaetrioansArtist . . 222391
FinalWords: ThePoliticsofMethod 232
REFERENCES 235
BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 242
AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchool
oftheUniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillmentofthe
RequirementsfortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy
ATTHEINTERSECTIONOFARTANDRESEARCH:
THETEACHINGOFPOETRY/THEPOETRYOFTEACHING
By
AnneMcCrarySullivan
August1996
MCahajiorr:DepBaerntmFe.ntN:elmsInstructionandCurriculum
Theprimarypurposeofthisdissertationistoexplore
andexemplify, simultaneously, whatcanhappenatthe
intersectionsofartandresearch, artandteaching.
Maintainingthatteachingisanartfullofcomplexityand
nuanceandthat, forexaminingandunderstandingthe
teachingact, weneedprocessesthatengagewithcomplexity
andnuance, itunderlinesthepotentialofartisticvision
fortransformingresearchaboutartisticteaching,
particularlyinthesecondaryEnglishclassroom, andcalls
formodesofrepresentationthathavethepowerto
communicatetherichnessoflivedexperience.
Withinatheoreticalandpersonalframework, this
dissertationpresentstwoexemplarsofstudiesconducted
withartisticvisionandreportedthroughevocative
representation. Thefirst, "PoetryandPassioninTeacher
v
"
Education: PersonalizingandInternalizingKnowledge,
examinestheexperiencesoftwelvepreserviceteachersina
fifth-yearmaster'sprograminEnglisheducation. It
followstheirgrowth, examinestheissuesthatbecame
centraltotheirenterprise, andwitnessestheirbuildingof
community. Thisresearchisreportedintheformofa
reader'stheaterscriptconstructedfromparticipants'
journalsandpoems. Thesecondstudy, "Saturatedwith
Poetry: FirstDraftofaTeacher," followsoneofthese
preserviceteachersthroughhisinternshipinaninth-grade
Englishclassroom, focusingonhowhisartisticconcerns
manifestedthemselvesinhisemergentteachingstyle. The
nonchronologicalnarrativereportreliesheavilyuponpoetic
techniqueandpoeticstrategy.
Methodologically, thetwostudiesborrowfromdifferent
qualitativestrategies; theymayboth, nevertheless, besaid
tofallunderthebroadrubricofpersonal experience
methods. Personalexperiencemethods, asdefinedbyJeanD.
ClandeninandF. MichaelConnelly, focusontheexperiential
whole, whichisbothtemporalandstoried. Theyacknowledge
thecentralityoftheresearchers' ownexperienceandthe
criticalroleoftherelationshipbetweentheresearcherand
participants. Theyrelyuponfieldtextsasdata.
Ineducationalresearch, howdoweavoidtheerrorof
excessiveabstraction? Howdowestayconnectedtothe
humanpurposesofresearch? Thisstudyisconcernedwith
thesequestionsandwithpossibilitiesformodesof
representationthathelpusretainthehumandimensionin
knowledgeacquiredaboutteachingthroughresearch.
.
CHAPTER1
ATTHEINTERSECTIONOFARTANDRESEARCH
Prologue
Thisisnotaconventionaldissertation. Itisa
dissertationthatreflectsitsmoment. Morespecifically,
itmarksamomentintheevolutionoftheacademy. Welive
inatimewhenmysteriesofthehumanbrain, afewata
time, arebeingunlocked. Weknowthingsnowaboutthe
natureoflearningthatwesimplydidnotknow, couldnot
know, atmidcentury. Schoolsofeducationhavebeenatthe
forefrontinapplyingtohumanconcernsnewknowledgeabout
thinkingandlearning. Inrecentyears, preserviceteachers
havebeenactivelyengagedwithconceptsofmultiple
intelligences, withexpandedunderstandingsofwhatitmeans
toknowandtodemonstrateknowledge, andwithresultant
revisionsofwhatitmeanstoassessknowledge.
Now, withintheirowninstitutions, collegesof
educationarebeginningtoenactrevisedunderstandingsof
what itmeanstoknowandexpandedpossibilitiesfor
reportingresearch. Thisdissertationrepresentssomeof
thoserevisedunderstandingsandexplorespedagogicalissues
withintherealmofthoseexpandedpossibilities
.
Oneofthewaysthisdissertationdiffersfromits
traditionalprecedentsisinitsembraceofmultiplicity.
Thereareanumberofthings "goingon"here. Withina
conceptualframework, whichisboththeoreticaland
personal, thereareembeddedtwostudies, whichfocuson
pedagogy. Eachoftheseisconcernedwiththedelicate
interrelationsofart, poetry, teaching, andteacher
education, tosuchanextentthattheyconvergeasstagesof
aunifiedinquiry.
Inthisdissertation, thethreadsofmultipleissues
arespunintoaweboflargerconcern: artisticwaysof
knowingandofrepresentingknowledge. Thisisacentral
concernforme. Myownmultipleidentities--teacher, poet,
researcher--areboundtogetherbyaestheticperceptionand
byapenchanttocreateform. Theformofmyteachinghas
alwaysbeencriticaltoitsmission, andtheformofthis
dissertationispartofitscontent.
AestheticVision
Aestheticvisionsuggestsahighlevelofconsciousness
aboutwhatonesees. Itsuggestsanalertness, a "wide-
awakeness" thatMaxineGreenehasurgededucatorsand
researcherstolearnfromartists (1987b, 1987c, 1994)
Aestheticvisionengagesasensitivitytosuggestion,
topattern, tothatwhichisbeneaththesurfaceaswellas
tothesurfaceitself. Itrequiresafineattentionto
detailandform--theperceptionofrelations (tensionsand
. ,.
3
harmonies), theperceptionofnuance (colorsofmeaning)
andtheperceptionofchange (shiftsandsubtlemotions)
Aestheticvisionadjuststheflowoftime. Itmay
seizeamomentinordertostareatitandseemorefully,
moredeeply; butaestheticvisiondoesnotassumethatwhat
oneseesinthemomentiswhatonewillalwayssee. It
perceivesthepotentialfortransformationwithinany
apparentfixity, whetherthatfixityisablockofwood, a
pieceofclay, ajumbleofwords, ortheconfigurationofa
classroom, thebehaviorofanindividualchild.
Aestheticvisionisalwaysfromaspecificpointof
view, filteredbyaspecificconsciousness. Itispersonal
andsituational. Itincludesemotion, imagination, and
paradox. Itembracescomplexity.
Teacherswhofunctionwithaestheticvisionperceive
thedynamicnatureofwhatisunfoldinginfrontofthem.
Theyknowhowto "read" students, respondquickly, and
reshapetheflowofevents. Theyconstructpersonal
frameworksfortheirownunderstandings. Theydonotaccept
thatwhattheyseeisimmutable. Theyhaveafinelytuned
senseofhowtomovetowardnewconfigurations
Researcherswithaestheticvision, too, perceivethe
dynamicsofasituationandknowhowto "read" it. They
lookatdetailswithintheircontexts, perceiverelations
amongthepartsandbetweenthepartsandthewhole. They
lookforpatternwithindisorderandforunitybeneath