A primer in Action Research
Professor of Art Education Mirja Hiltunen notes that action research is not considered a research method as such but rather as a research strategy or attituge, where the research process is used to develop activity. The purpose is to inquire into social reality in order that one might change it and change reality, in order to research it. It is a communal and self-reflective approach to research with which members of a social community strive to develop the practices of their community to be more just and equal and founded in knowledge. (Hiltunen 2009, 78 – 79.) In the introductory remarks to the Sage Handbook of Action Research, Professor Hilary Brad-bury summarises to say that “action researchers nearly always start with a question such as ‘How can we improve this situation’?” (Bradbury 2015, 1). This was the starting point in the design of the workshops. The initial factor which I sought to improve was to simply enable people to get to know eachother before the activities with the migrants started. I figured that this would make our work together easier.
In his book titled Artist, Researcher, Teacher, artist Alan Thornton outlines some of the charac-teristics of action research:
1. The action researcher strives to improve their practice as a direct result of the research.
2. The research tends to be autonomous and is evaluated from the researcher’s or the client’s perspective.
3. Mostly it is autonomous, but it may be undertaken by a group in collaboration in a particular workplace or environment.
4. Improvement in the immediate context of the research is a major driver of the research.
(adapted from Thornton 2013, 123.)
Much along the lines of thinking explicated by Alan Thornton, my intention with this project was to set forth change in our local volunteer community. The action which I implemented was aimed at improving the interpersonal relationships amongst the group of volunteers as well as fostering a process of self-reflection. My intention was to try to create a culture of asking questions and getting to know eachother.
From Action Research to Art-Based Action Research
Art-based action research is a research strategy developed at the University of Lapland. In her doctoral dissertation in Art Education, Mirja Hiltunen employed artistic action research to de-velop models for community-based art education and more importantly, pedagogical models and tools for guiding students of art education through these community-based processes. Accord-ing to Hiltunen, there are many similarities between the approaches in community art and those in action research. In both approaches the goals are activistic and involve the participation of a community or an audience. Action research focuses on activism and change whereas commu-nity art is more about creating a moment. Again, both approaches strive towards an increased understanding of self and the world. (Hiltunen 2009, 79.)
Professors Timo Jokela, Mirja Hiltunen and Lecturer Elina H¨ark¨onen discuss the art-based ac-tion research model in an article published in 2015. The authors contend that while acac-tion research as such is nothing new in the field of educational research, in comparison to the teacher-as-a-researcher movement, the theories of critical and participatory action research are more em-phasized in art-based action research due to the issues of community and contextuality within contemporary art. (Jokela, Hiltunen, H¨ark¨onen 2015, 439.)
Participatory action research, which has its roots in critical pedagogy developed by Paulo Freire, emphasizes the participation of the memebers of the studied community and understands the cre-ation of new knowledge as a process of social constructionism. Following this line of thinking, the goal of community art, environmental art and communal art education is the empowermen of the participants, even if at the end of the process a concrete art product is created. (Jokela, Hiltunen, H¨ark¨onen 2015, 439.) The product of a community-based art education project can be a minute change in attitudes or the beginnign of a new process (Hiltunen 2009, 72).
The target of study in artistic action research are the communal, social and participatory di-mensions of art as well as the process of learning which happens over the course of a project.
Because art plays such a central role in the methodology, the research method was re-named to be art-based action research. The methodolody is predominantly action research, yet the means and object of action is art. (Jokela, Hiltunen, H¨ark¨onen 2015, 440.)
For the research projects conducted at the University of Lapland, the cycles of action research are understood to happen over the course of the project as a whole, where a single student thesis will take part in one of the cycles of research. Thus, culminating over time, the joint research effort constitute the cycles of the action research. (Jokela, Hiltunen and H¨ark¨onen 2015, 442.) Therefore it is questionable whether artistic action research has taken place in the
case of the Give Me a Reason -project, since only three workshops were held. Alternately, one could say that the Give Me a Reason -project has produced some results which could inform further development of similar projects and further cycles of action.
Maria Huhmarniemi D.Arts demarcates the terminology developed at the University of Lapland.
Arts-based action research relates to working practices of environmental and community arts as well as to the project nature of contemporary art practice as well as community-based art education. Arts-based action research is informed by social pedagogy, in particular sosiocultural animation and critical pedagogy. Arts-based action research shares some qualities with design-based research. (Huhmarniemi 2016, 43.)
Pulling together the writings and theories of Borgdorff, Irwin, Jokela and Hiltunen, Huhmarniemi summarises art-based action research as a research approach which aims at developing art-based processes and working methods for finding solutions and future visions to problems identified in various communitites and environments. Artistic action research is thus initiated with a research problem or task which is relevant in terms of art education, applied arts or for the environment and communities in question. (Huhmarniemi 2016, 44.)
The research is cyclical, incorporating cycles of planning, theoretical research work, artistic work or other such interventions, reflective observation, theorisation and the specification of goals. The research process and results are documented. The material for the analysis of the process are the artworks as well as the observation of the action and experiences. The research results are published both in the scientific community as well as the art world and to the greater public. Importantly, the research is evaluated in terms of its functionality and impact. (Huh-marniemi 2016, 44 – 45.)
Building on the theories of Jokela, Hiltunen notes that community-based art education can touch upon the knowledge of contemporary art by developing forms of artistic activity which enable, or further, require collaboration (Hiltunen 2009, 74). Although a concrete art product may be created, art-based action research driven by community-based art education assigns a perfor-mative function to the art. The process of action or performance itself is an intentional and cumulative process informed by the principles of action research. (Jokela, Hiltunen, H¨ark¨onen 2015, 440.) Bailey and Desai also note that community-based art practices are more concerned with the nature of the artistic process than only with the art product (Bailey and Desai 2005, 40).