Critical Inquiry in Art Education Critical Inquiry in Art Education | Page 26

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CRITICAL INQUIRY
IN ART EDUCATION
Inspiration
A presentation by art educators Karly Kulpa and
Christina Hamer from Edmonton, Canada, at the
2017 NAEA convention titled “Distorted Self-
Portraits: Embracing Filter Apps in the Art Studio”
piqued my curiosity in using image manipulation
applications (apps) on mobile devices in the
art classroom. Kulpa and Hamer believed that
with the advent of technology and the thriving
use of social media, it would only be natural for
our students to use these readily available and
oftentimes free image processing or editing
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ABOUT THE ART TASK
Students in both classes were asked to create expressionist self-portraits. They were encouraged to use
the Elements of Art to enhance emotional quality in describing themselves visually.
apps on mobile devices to create artworks. They
challenged art teachers to embrace the mobile
app technology in the teaching and learning of
art. Used thoughtfully, it could be a powerful tool
in engaging students to tell their stories through art.
Having heard from the two art educators, my
belief in introducing digital technologies in my art
classroom was reinforced. I was eager to find out
how common technology that students already
used in their everyday lives could be a creative
stepping stone to self-expression in art making.
*Interestingly, about 70% of the students from both classes preferred not to draw themselves because
they believed they neither had the ability nor the talent to create a realistic version of themselves. A
few of them continued to grumble and complain even when I reassured them that the focus was on
expressionistic qualities and less on realism.
CLASS 1A
PHASE 1
CLASS 1B
Discussion on “What is a self-portrait?”
Learned about 20th century art movement “Expressionism”
Created 2 pencil sketches of self-portraits, one using traditional
observation approaches and the other using ideas and techniques learned
from Expressionism
PHASE 2
Created black-and-white portrait photography focused on expression
and composition
From the portrait photography, created expressionistic self-portrait focused
on using expressive lines
METHODOLOGY
PARTICIPANTS DURATION
39 students from 2 Secondary 1
Express Classes 4 2-hour sessions per class
19 students from Class 1A and 20
students from Class 1B DATA COLLECTED
1. Students’ artworks
2. Observation notes