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Current Research
Professor Rita Irwin, Associate Dean, Teacher Education is
leading a 3 year SSHRC Research Creation Project (2004-2007)
entitled The City of Rich Gate: Research and Creation
within Community-Engaged Arts Practices. Rita Irwin’s
research team for this project includes Gu Xiong (UBC Visual
Arts), Ruth Beer (Emily Carr Institute for Art and Design),
Kit Grauer (UBC) and Stephanie Springgay (Penn State University).
This study is uniquely situated in the City of Richmond,
B.C., a city that has recently come to represent east meeting
west, the Pacific Rim meeting Canada, farm land meeting urban
landscapes. The ‘City of Rich Gate’ is a Chinese
translation for the name of the city of Richmond and for many
Chinese immigrants this city represents the promise of a better
homeland. For the Chinese-Canadian community within the ‘City
of Rich Gate’ having access to community-engaged arts
practices addressing issues of identity, place and community
linking cultures, geographies and socio-cultural backgrounds
presents opportunities for personal and cultural transformation.
The study offers an opportunity for research-creation to occur
around these themes while also refining an arts-based research
methodology called a/r/tography. By employing a/r/tography
the artist/educators are able to access an artistic-research
methodology that renders research inquiries through artistic
means rather than, or in addition to, conducting research
about an artistic project or phenomena. A/r/tography is a
methodology that speaks to the connections made between artists,
researchers, and educators and shifts the boundaries of what
it means to conduct, create, and render research and creative
production. The artistic and pedagogical significance of this
study resides in the community-engaged processes implemented
by the artist/educator team with participating Richmond-based
families, as well as the artistic/research products created
with, and for, the community at large. Moreover, as the research-creation
continues over the next couple of years, the research team
and the participating families will be able to narrate significant
stories of personal and cultural transformation that may inform
those who work in formal and informal educational settings.
In June 2005, Gu Xiong, Ruth Beer, Kit Grauer and Rita Irwin
traveled to China to share their research-creation work with
several universities and communities. They presented the results
of the first year of their community-engaged arts practices
through art exhibitions at two universities: Southwest Normal
University in Chongqing and Beijing Normal University in Beijing.
They also visited Sachuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing
and the Shanxi Normal University in Xi’an, and gave
lectures at all four universities. They also extended their
research by interviewing members of the Richmond families
participating in their study. In addition to the exhibitions,
lectures, and interviews, the research team visited elementary,
middle and high schools in urban and rural areas of China
including a remote area near Qufu, the hometown of Confucius,
a famous Chinese educator and philosopher.
In addition to this SSHRC funded project, Rita Irwin is also
leading another SSHRC project entitled “Investigating
Curriculum Integration, the Arts and Diverse Learning Environments”
(2004-2007). The research team for this study includes Carl
Leggo (LLED), Peter Gouzouasis (CUST) and Kit Grauer (CUST)
who are working with arts practitioners in several lower mainland
schools.
The purpose of this study is to investigate teachers’
beliefs and practices within several different, yet popular,
arts programming learning environments designed to teach the
arts and use the arts as an integrative tool for holistic
learning in an effort to understand how teachers and students
conceptualize arts integration in their quest for knowledge
creation. Furthermore, the research team is using action research
and a/r/tography with teachers and students in an effort to
study how to increase the efficacy of arts instruction. Although
recent research has detailed connections between arts instruction
and academic achievement as well as connections between long-term
personally relevant professional development for teachers
and the implementation of arts curricula, research studies
have not examined how educators conceptualize arts integration
across a variety of arts programming models, nor how these
conceptualizations might change through ongoing teacher research
that is inherently based in arts informed research. Integration,
or interdisciplinary curriculum, is promoted and often assumed
to take place, yet is seldom assessed across elementary and
high school levels of instruction. If the arts are capable
of enhancing academic achievement and teachers are committed
to integrating the arts in an effort to enhance learning,
then it behooves us to understand how teachers and learners
alike conceptualize integration through ongoing inquiry dedicated
to strengthening or enhancing instruction. This is particularly
important as educators attempt to create teacher development
programs capable of nurturing stronger pedagogical practices.
Rita Irwin is also a co-investigator on a Hampton Research
funded project (2004-2006) lead by Carl Leggo (LLED) and includes
fellow co-investigators Kit Grauer (CUST) and Peter Gouzouasis
(CUST). This study is entitled “Arts-based Research
in Education: Contentious Compromise or Creative Collaboration?”
During the past ten years, scholar-artists and their
graduate students in the Faculty of Education have pushed
the boundaries of educational research inquiry to create forms
of arts-based research that have not only been accepted nationally
but also internationally. This work parallels and/or extends
the work of arts-based educational researchers at other institutions,
but more importantly, it has served as fertile ground for
many UBC graduate students to push the boundaries of educational
scholarship. As arts-based researchers incorporate visual,
performative, poetic, musical, and narrative forms of inquiry
in their innovative research projects, they expand the limits
of social science research practices, and investigate how
these arts-based forms of inquiry can be utilized, represented,
and published for academic, professional, and public audiences.
Although significant work has already occurred at UBC, ongoing
critical challenges for this emerging field of research methodology
suggest that a) arts-based research is under-theorized, naïve,
and narcissistic; b) arts-based research is neither good research
nor good art; c) arts-based researchers do not make enough
connections with the pure disciplines; and d) arts-based researchers
do not adequately communicate their research results.
This project has two phases. The first seeks to systematically
a) identify, describe, and document the practice of arts-based
educational research during the past decade in the Faculty
of Education at UBC, and b) interview scholars in Faculties
of Education in Canadian and American universities where arts-based
research is promoted. The second phase emphasizes a unique
reporting of the results through collaboratively created exhibitions,
installations and performances of visual, musical and verbal
texts interrogating the methodological, epistemological and
ontological practices of arts-based educational research.
Having completed the first year of the study, documentation
of the research conducted in the Faculty of Education is nearly
complete and a number of interviews with senior scholars in
the field have been conducted. The research team plans to
begin phase two of the project in the coming year in an effort
to address the ongoing challenges mentioned earlier.
For more information about these research projects, please
visit http://m1.cust.educ.ubc.ca/Artography/
and for specific information on the Richgate Project please
visit http://m1.cust.educ.ubc.ca/Artography/richgate.pdf.
You may also contact Professor Rita Irwin at rita.irwin@ubc.ca.
Philosophy of Teaching
"Art pedagogues become involved in their own continuous
learning while recognizing the personal knowledge, interests,
experience of the students in their care. Pedagogues wish
to nurture the growth of their students' emotional, intellectual,
spiritual and intuitive powers in a cooperative learning environment.
Learning for the sake of learning is not enough. Importance
must be placed upon translating understanding into action,
empowering students to be active creators and potential transformers
of their material and cultural world. I would have no other
career. Being an art pedagogue combines the teaching of art
with the art of teaching, nurturing the artist within me.
I hope that others are so lucky."
For me, pedagogy is a concept that draws attention to the
process through which knowledge is produced. Pedagogues consciously
create learning experiences that organize and disorganize
understandings of the world in particular ways in order to
involve others in knowledge creation. To do this requires
a particular stance that evokes a relational significance.
As such, I believe that pedagogy as relationship embodies
respect, thoughtfulness, caring, concern, connection, and
nurturance. The relationship between learner and pedagogue
therefore becomes the unifying element for a caring community
of learners. Borrowing from Nel Noddings notions of care.
I also believe that a caring relationship is built upon modeling,
dialogue, practice, and confirmation. I learned many years
ago through personal experience that the most profound and
lasting learning occurs as a result of role modeling. Much
of my pedagogy today is a result of learning from several
exemplary role models. Reflecting upon my potent learning
experiences, I have also come to understand the learning power
of dialogue. Shared dialogue among learners, including the
pedagogue, nurtures open-ended, genuine, emphatic, appreciative,
and questioning learning spaces. Through dialogue, we learn
about our own beliefs, create knowledge, and find confidence
to theory. In the professional practice of pedagogy students
learn through practicing. Practice is about learning to care,
learning to make pedagogical decisions and judgments, and
learning the necessary technical methods and skills. Confirmation
contextually brings all of these features together by affirming
and encouraging the best in others. To me, this is the power
of pedagogy.
Research Activity
During my academic career, I have established several streams
of research activity. The first is in the area of First Nations'
art, culture and pedagogy, the second is in the area of arts
teacher in-service education and educational change, and the
third is in the area of community cultural development.
Although the fields of research differ in many ways, I have
employed similar methodological approaches: participatory
community-based oral histories, collaborative action research
and arts-based inquiry. Most recently I have been working
with graduate students and colleagues in exploring and developing
a form of arts based educational research called a/r/tography.
Allow me to give you a sense of my work over time.
First Nations' Art, Culture and Pedagogy
Since coming to UBC, I secured two SSHRC grants and nine other
grants (internal and external) to support my research program
in the area of First Nations' art, culture and pedagogy. During
this time, I followed two main threads. The first thread identified
several communities in Canada and Australia in which my research
collaborators, Dr. Tony Rogers (University of South Australia),
Ruby Farrell (Lakehead University), and I worked in a community-based
participatory manner. That is, we worked with community members
to design and conduct oral histories of elders, artists, and
other community members, in an effort to record cultural memories
and stories. We were especially interested in understanding
the effects of colonization on notions of art and craft. The
results varied from community to community and have been detailed
in various publications. The results of this first thread
were further supported in a research study conducted last
year with Aboriginal peoples in Taiwan. My collaborators in
this research were Dr. Tony Rogers (University of South Australia)
and Dr. Yuh Yao Wan (National Changhua University of Education,
Taiwan). Again, for each site, differences exist, but an overarching
understanding gained from this research has been on the notion
of art, not as art, but rather as cultural performance understood
through cultural memory and cultural translation. Cultural
memory is the need to return to the oral histories and stories
passed on from generation to generation, while cultural translation
is the need for all of us to involve ourselves in dialogue
with others, in an effort to understand one another. Although
we will never completely understand one another, we need to
participate in the act of dialogue if we are to translate
our cultures for one another.
The second thread occurring in this area of research stems
from the first. As a result of video-conferencing with indigenous
elders and artists in Canada and Australia in the first stream,
Dr. Rogers and I decided to pursue a related study concerning
contemporary indigenous artists. The first stream gave us
valuable understandings of community-based concerns; however,
it also raised concerns for young people attempting to bridge
tradition and innovation. Thus, the second thread involved
contemporary indigenous artists from Canada and Australia
meeting through video-conferencing to discuss controversial
issues facing them in their art production. Since each artist
saw herself or himself as a cultural educator, the issues
inevitably related to education as well. The most surprising,
but rewarding outcome of this research was the organization
and implementation of an international indigenous art exhibition,
Four Circles/Soaring Visions launched at the Tandanya National
Aboriginal Art Institute in February 1998. As part of the
research, we were able to document the collaborative processes
of the artists, curators, programmers, and researchers, working
together through video-conferencing and on site as they created
a collaborative installation piece. The exhibition itself
was widely received, with five Australian galleries and four
Canadian galleries exhibiting the work.
Arts Teacher Education and Educational Change
My second stream of research activity has been in the area
of educational change within arts education classrooms with
a particular emphasis upon working with teachers. The first
study along this vein dealt with gender issues in art and
art teacher education and change. One project funded by two
grants, was a collaborative action research project with local
women artist-educators. Over five years, I worked with five
women who independently, and collaboratively, examined particular
gender issues. Since the nature of the project was so idiosyncratic,
it is difficult to summarize the results. Overall, artist-teacher
change occurred as a result of sustained involvement over
a period of five years. It also occurred as a result of involving
artist-teachers in their art production as they worked through
understanding specific issues. To date, this group of field-based
practitioners and I collaborated on four published papers
and two art exhibitions. Given the use of action research,
the most significant result in my mind is that professional
educators can choose to systematically examine their practices,
beliefs and values, in an effort to improve practice. In so
doing, by examining gender issues (among others) we can reimagine
public school education.
A smaller yet reoccurring theme within my arts teacher education
and change stream, has been in the area of leadership. Stemming
from my dissertation study, in which I looked at the practical
knowledge of a fine arts supervisor, and another related study,
I wrote a book entitled A Circle of Empowerment: Women,
Education and Leadership. Since then, I have reflected
upon my own leadership responsibilities through action research
cycles and have written autobiographically and used a/r/tography
to create art and write about my curriculum/leadership ideas.
Although one can read my work on the matter, I believe pedagogy
is really an act of "teaching leadership," or stated
another way, leadership is a pedagogical act.
My most recent research in art teacher education and change
involves Learning through the Arts, a program sponsored
by the Royal Conservatory of Music in which an arts-infused
curriculum gradually permeates a school curriculum over a
three-year period. My involvement in this study was twofold:
a national study and a regional study. The national study
investigated the effects of an arts-infused curriculum on
children's interest in the arts as well as on their performance
in reading, writing, and mathematics. The national study also
documented attitudinal changes in teachers' and administrators'
practices as a result of arts-infused curricula, and builds
upon an earlier study (Wilkinson 1996, 1997-1998) initiated
by the RCM. The regional study was SSHRC funded (I was the
Principal Investigator while Kit Grauer was the Co-Investigator)
and examined changes in teacher’s and artist’s
beliefs and practices as the result of the program. The national
study results are documented on the Royal Conservatory of
Music website through the final report written by Rena Upitis
and Kathryn Smithrim (principal investigators). As a teaser
though I will add that the study found the arts had a statistically
significant effect on mathematics achievement at the grade
six level. Most importantly, we learned that more mathematics
does not necessarily yield higher math scores, but a holistic
curriculum can significantly effect math scores. In addition
to the national study drawing to a close, the regional study
recently completed and documented the need for a holistic
curriculum that unites the mind, body, spirit and emotions.
The arts naturally do this, and by integrating the arts throughout
the curriculum, teachers are better able to meet the holistic
needs of learners.
In 2004, Carl Leggo, Peter Gouzouasis and Kit Grauer and
I secured a standard SSHRC grant to investigate the use of
integrative arts strategies within diverse learning environments.
This work is taking us into elementary and secondary art,
music and English classrooms as we endeavour to work with
teachers and students to learn how we might develop more robust
knowledge over time. The study employs a/r/tographical research
methods that include a variety of qualitative research data
collection strategies and forms of analysis.
Community Cultural Development
Also in 2004, Co-Investigators Ruth Beer (Emily Carr Institute
of Art and Design), Kit Grauer, Gu Xiong (UBC Dept. of Art,
Theory and Art History), Stephanie Springgay (Penn State University),
and I as the Principal Investigator secured a strategic research/creation
SSHRC grant entitled: The “City of Rich Gate:”
Research and Creation into Community-Engaged Arts Practices.
This SSHRC study unites artistic production, education and
artistic/research investigations with issues of identity,
place and community in the City of Richmond where the population
has dramatically shifted toward a Chinese-Canadian base. The
artistic and pedagogical significance for this study resides
in exploring this geographically and culturally hybrid site
as a site for creating community.
A/r/tography
My last and most exciting line of inquiry has become what
I am now calling a/r/tography. This refers to an inquiry process
similar to action research that combines art and writing,
literally and artistically, theoretically and through practice.
It also recognizes the need for inquirers to work from the
identities of artist, researcher and teacher, as we move through
inquiry-laden processes. To date, three dissertations have
been completed using this methodology while another 5 are
in the works. At least two MA theses have been completed using
this methodology and more are following. I sustain study groups
around this new area. It is from these study groups that numerous
conference presentations have been made, at least 10 publications
are created, and a number of art shows exhibited. In the spring
of 2004 I was successful as a Principal Investigator in securing
one standard SSHRC grant and one research/creation strategic
SSHRC using this methodology as a primary mode of inquiry.
In addition to these two studies, I was instrumental (Co-Investigator)
in securing a UBC Hampton Grant (with Carl Leggo PI and Co-Investigators
Kit Grauer and Peter Gouzouasis) that seeks to archive all
of the arts-based research work that has occurred, or is occurring,
in the Faculty of Education at UBC, while also attempting
to further develop the methodology of a/r/tography in greater
depth (across the arts). I am excited by all of these projects!
For further information of the A/r/tography projects please
see our a/r/tography
website
For immediate information on our Research/Creation SSHRC
project, please see the brochure accompanying our art exhibitions
in Chongqing and Beijing China in June 2005: http://m1.cust.educ.ubc.ca/Artography/richgate.pdf
Authored Books
Irwin, Rita L. & Retallack-Lambert, Nancy. (2000). Repertoire
Mondial des Collections et des Fonds D’Archives de L’Art
des Enfants (2e edition). London, Ontario: Canadian Society
for Education through Art (235 pgs). (this is the French version
of the English collection listed below).
Irwin, Rita L. & Retallack-Lambert, Nancy. (2000). A
world directory of children’s art collections (second
edition). London, Ontario: Canadian Society for Education
through Art (220 pgs).
Irwin, Rita L. (1995). A circle of empowerment: Women,
education and leadership. New York, NY: State University
of New York Press (206 pgs).
Edited Books
Pinar, William F. & Irwin, Rita L. (2005). Curriculum
in a new key: The collected works of Ted T. Aoki. Mahwah,
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. (473 pgs).
Grauer, K. & Irwin, R. L. (Eds.). (2004). StARTing
with… Kingston, ONT: Canadian Society for Education
through Art. (112 pgs).
Irwin, Rita L. & de Cosson, Alex. (Eds.). (2004).
A/r/tography: Rendering self through arts-based living inquiry.
Vancouver, BC: Pacific Educational Press. (220 pages).
Grauer, Kit, Irwin, Rita L., & Zimmerman, Enid (Eds.).
(2003). Women art educators V: Conversations across time;
remembering, revisioning, reconsidering. Vancouver, BC:
Canadian Society for Education through Art and the National
Art Education Association. (272 pgs).
Irwin, Rita L. & Grauer, Kit. (Eds). (2001). Readings
in Canadian art teacher education (second edition). London,
Ontario: Canadian Society for Education through Art (268 pgs).
Irwin, Rita L., & Kindler, Anna M. (Eds). (1999).
Beyond the school: Community and institutional partnerships
in art education. Reston, VA: National Art Education
Association (96 pgs).
Irwin, Rita L. & Grauer, Kit. (Eds). (1997). Readings
in Canadian art teacher education. Boucherville, Quebec:
Canadian Society for Education through Art (256 pgs).
Irwin, Rita L. (Ed.). (1997). The CSEA national policy
and supporting perspectives for practice guidelines.
Boucherville, Quebec: Canadian Society for Education through
Art (54 pgs).
Chapters in Books
Springgay, Stephanie, Irwin, Rita L. & de Cosson, Alex
(in press). Artist-researcher-teachers collaborating in the
liminal (s)p(l)aces of writing and creating artful dissertations.
In Gary Knowles & Ardra Cole (Eds.). Creating Scholartistry:
Imagining the Arts-Informed Thesis or Dissertation. Halifax,
NS: Backalong Books.
de Cosson, Alex, Irwin, Rita L., Kind, Sylvia, & Springgay,
Stephanie. (in press). Walking in wonder. In Gary Knowles,
Ardra Cole, and Teresa Luciani (Eds.). The art of visual
inquiry. Halifax, NS: Backalong Books.
Irwin, Rita L., Wilson Kind, S., Grauer, K., de Cosson,
A. (in press). Integration as embodied knowing. In Mary Stokrocki
(Ed.). Interdisciplinary art education builds bridges
to connect disciplines & cultures (pp. 44-59). Reston,
VA: National Art Education Association.
Irwin, Rita L., Wilson, S., Grauer, K., deCosson, A. (in
press). Integration as embodied knowing. In Mary Stokrocki
(Ed.). Interdisciplinary Art Education. Reston, VA:
National Art Education Association.
Irwin, Rita L. (2005). Preface. In William F. Pinar &
Rita L. Irwin (Eds.). Curriculum in a new key: The collected
works of Ted T. Aoki. (xviiii –xxii). Mahweh, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum.
Irwin, Rita L. (2004). An artful curriculum/ A curriculum
full of life. In Kevin D. Vinson & E. Wayne Ross (Eds.).
Defending public schools. Volume Three: Curriculum continuity
and change in the 21st century (pp. 3-15). Westport,
CT: Praeger.
Irwin, Rita L. (2004). A/r/tography: A metonymic métissage.
In Rita L. Irwin & Alex deCosson (Eds). A/r/tography:
Rendering self through arts-based living inquiry (pp.
27-40). Vancouver, BC: Pacific Educational Press.
Flood, Adele, Grauer, Kit, Irwin, Rita L., & Zimmerman,
Enid. (2004). Art education road show: How collecting stuff
can enhance art education practice. In Deborah Smith-Shank
(Ed.). Art Education and Semiotics (pp. 15-24). Reston,
VA: National Art Education Association.
Irwin, Rita L. (2005). Preface. In William F. Pinar &
Rita L. Irwin (Eds.). Curriculum in a new key: The collected
works of Ted T. Aoki. (xviiii –xxii). Mahweh, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum.
Springgay, S. & Irwin, Rita L. (2004). Women making
art: Aesthetic inquiry as a political performance. In Knowles,
G., Neilsen, L., Cole, A., & Luciani, T. (Eds). Provoked
by art: Theorizing arts-informed inquiry (pgs. 71-83).
Halifax, NS: Backalong Books.
Grauer, Kit & Irwin, Rita L. (2004). Introduction. In
Grauer, K. & Irwin, R. L. (Eds.). StARTing with…
(pp. vi-viii). Kingston, ONT: Canadian Society for Education
through Art.
Irwin, Rita L. (2004). Learning in, through and from art.
In Rita L. Irwin & Kit Grauer (Eds.), StARTing with…
(pgs. 1-6), Kingston, ONT: Canadian Society for Education
through Art.
Grauer, Kit, Irwin, Rita L., & Zimmerman, Enid. (2003).
Introduction. Women art educators V: Conversations across
time; Remembering, revisioning, and reconsidering. In Grauer,
Kit, Irwin, Rita L., & Zimmerman, Enid. (Eds.). Women
art educators V: Conversations across time; Remembering, revisioning,
and reconsidering (pgs. 3-4). Vancouver, BC: Canadian
Society for Education through Art and the National Art Education
Association.
Irwin, R. L., Chalmers, F. G., Grauer, K., Kindler, A. M.,
& MacGregor, R. N.. (1999). Art Education Policy in Canada,
In Betty Hanley (Ed.), Leadership, Advocacy, Communication:
A Vision for Arts Education in Canada. Victoria, BC:
National Symposium on Arts Education. pp. 231-249. (Reprinted
from Arts Education Policy Review).
Irwin, Rita L., Rogers, Tony, & Farrell, Ruby (1999).
The irrelevancy of multiculturalism to the realities of Aboriginal
artists. In Doug Boughton and Rachel Mason. (Eds.), Beyond
Multicultural Art Education: International Perspectives (pp.
49-64). European Studies in Education Series, Volume 12 (Christoph
Wulf, Series Editor). Waxmann Münster, NY & München,
Berlin.
Kindler, Anna M. & Irwin, Rita L. (1999). Art education
outside school boundaries: Identifying resources, exploring
possibilities. Irwin, Rita L., & Kindler, Anna M. (Eds).
Beyond the school: Community and institutional partnerships
in art education (pp. 1-4). Reston, VA: National Art
Education Association.
Irwin, Rita L., Stephenson, Wendy, Neale, Aileen, Robertson,
Helen, Mastri, Rosa, and Crawford, Nancy. (1998). Quiltmaking
as a metaphor: Creating feminist political consciousness for
art pedagogues. In Elizabeth Sacca & Enid Zimmerman (Eds),
Women art educators IV: Herstories, our stories, future
stories. (pp. 100-111). Boucherville, Que: CSEA.
Irwin, Rita L. (1997). Pedagogy for a gender sensitive art
practice. In Rita L. Irwin & Kit Grauer (Eds.), Readings
in Canadian art teacher education (pp. 247-252). Boucherville,
Quebec: Canadian Society for Education through Art. A reprinted
article from INSEA News, 3(2), 8-10.
Irwin, Rita L., & Farrell, Ruby (1996). The framing
of aboriginal art. In David A. Long & Olive Dickason (Eds.).
Visions of the heart: Contemporary Aboriginal issues in
socio-historical perspective (pp. 57-92). Toronto: Harcourt,
Brace, and Company.
Rogers, Tony., & Irwin, Rita L. (1995). A 3D view of
global education: Difference, diversity, and distance in art
education. In Ronald N. MacGregor (Ed.). Thinking globally
about the arts in education (pg. 1-10), Vancouver, BC:
Research and Development in Global Studies, Centre for Curriculum
and Instruction, University of British Columbia.
Irwin, Rita L. (1993). The dialectical nature of supervisory
practical knowledge: An ethical dilemma. In Ted Riecken and
Debra Court (Eds.), Dilemmas in educational change
(pp. 25-30). Calgary, Alberta: Detselig.
Refereed Journals
Kind, Sylvia, Irwin, Rita L., Grauer, Kit, & de Cosson,
Alex. (in press). Medicine wheel imag(in)ings: Exploring holistic
curriculum perspectives. Art Education
Springgay, Stephanie, Irwin, Rita L. & Wilson, Sylvia.
(in press). A/r/tography as living inquiry through art and
text. Qualitative Inquiry.
Irwin, Rita L. (2004). Unfolding aesthetic in/sights between
curriculum and pedagogy. Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy
1(2), 43-48.
Irwin, Rita L. (2003). In a New Key: Ted T. Aoki Educational
Insights, 8(2). [Available: http://ccfi.educ.ubc.ca/publication/insights/v08n02/celebrate/irwin.html]
Irwin, Rita L. (2003). Towards an aesthetic of unfolding
in/sights through curriculum. Journal of the Canadian
Association for Curriculum Studies, 1(2), 63-78 Available
at: http://www.csse.ca/CACS/JCACS/PDF%20Content/07._Irwin.pdf
16 pgs.
Irwin, Rita L., Stephenson, Wendy, Robertson, Helen, Reynolds,
J. Karen (2001). Passionate creativity, compassionate community.
Canadian Review of Art Education, 28(2), 15-34.
Grauer, Kit, Irwin Rita L., deCosson, Alex, Wilson, Sylvia.
(2001). Images for Understanding: Snapshots of Learning through
the Arts. International Journal of Education & the
Arts, http://ijea.asu.edu/v2n9/,
18 pgs.
Irwin, Rita. L., Rogers, Tony, & Reynolds, J. Karen.
(2000). In the spirit of gathering. Canadian Review of
Art Education, 27(2), 51-72.
Irwin, Rita L., Mastri, Rosa, & Robertson, Helen. (2000).
Pausing to reflect: Moments in feminist collaborative action
research. Journal of Gender Issues in Art Education, 1,
43-56.
Irwin, Rita L. (1999-2000). Facing oneself: An embodied
pedagogy. Arts and Learning Research, 16(1), 82-86.
Irwin, Rita L. (1999). Art education across Canada in the
1990s. Journal of the Canadian Society for Education through
Art, 30(1), 29-31 (editorial).
Irwin, Rita L., Rogers, Tony & Wan, Yuh-Yao. (1999).
Making connections through cultural memory, cultural performance
and cultural translation. Studies in Art Education, 40(3),
198-212.
Irwin, Rita L. (1999). Listening to the shapes of collaborative
artmaking. Art Education, 52(2), 35-40.
Irwin, Rita L. (1998-1999). Going back to come forward.
Arts and Learning, 15(1), 161-163.
Irwin, Rita L., Rogers, Tony., & Wan, Yuh-Yao. (1998).
Life stories of Aboriginal artists. Journal of Multicultural
and Cross-cultural Research in Art Education, 16, 77-91.
Rogers, Tony, & Irwin, Rita L. (1998). Art and indigenous
cultures - a comparison with the Canadian experience. Australian
Art Education, 21(2), 36-43.
Irwin, Rita L., Rogers, Tony., & Wan, Yuh-Yao. (1998).
Reclamation, reconcilation and reconstruction: Art practices
of contemporary Aboriginal artists from Canada, Australia
and Taiwan. Journal of Multicultural and Cross-cultural
Research in Art Education, 16, 93-101.
Irwin, Rita L. (1998). Roots/routes as arterial connections
for art educators advocating for aboriginal cultures. Journal
of Social Theory in Art Education, 18, 29-48.
Irwin, Rita L. (1998). Leadership metaphors: Cycles of carnations
and reincarnations. Art Education, 51(4), 47-54.
Irwin, Rita L. & Miller, Lorrie. (1997). Oral history
as community-based participatory research: Learning from First
Nations women artists. Journal of Multicultural and Cross-cultural
Research in Art Education, 15, 10-23.
Irwin, Rita L., Rogers, Tony, & Wan, Yuh-Yao. (1997).
Belonging to the land: Understanding Aboriginal art and culture.
Journal of Art and Design Education, 16, 315-318.
Irwin, Rita L. & Rogers, Tony. (1997). The Irrelevance
of multiculturalism. Kaurna Higher Education Journal,
6, 43-48.
Rogers, Tony & Irwin, Rita L. (1997). Video-conferencing
for collaborative educational inquiry. Art Education,
49(5), 57-62.
Rogers, Tony & Irwin, Rita L. (1997). Language and indigenous
cultures: A key to understanding. Canadian Review of Art
Education, 24(1), 19-32.
Irwin, Rita L., Crawford, Nancy, Mastri, Rosa, Aileen Neale,
Robertson, Helen, & Stephenson, Wendy. (1997). Collaborative
action research: A journey of six women artist-pedagogues.
Collaborative Inquiry in a Postmodern Era: A Cat's Cradle,
2(2), 21-40.
Irwin, Rita L., Rogers, Tony & Farrell, Ruby. (1997).
The politics of culture and the work of contemporary Aboriginal
artists. Journal of the Canadian Society for Education
through Art, 28(1), 17-22.
Smith-Shank, Deborah L., Diket, Read M., Duncum, Paul, Grauer,
Kit, Irwin, Rita L., Jeffers, Carol S., Myers, Sally, Koos,
Marybeth, Wyrick, Mary. (1996). Signs of art in American cultures:
Art education meets semiotics, Part 2. Arts and Learning,
13(1), 111-134.
Irwin, R.L., Chalmers, F.G., Grauer, K., Kindler, A.M.,
& MacGregor, R.N. (1996). Art education policy in Canada.
Arts Education Policy Review, 97(6), 15-22.
Irwin, Rita L., & Farrell, Ruby. (1995). A cross-cultural
view of art and creativity: Implications for school partnerships.
Arts and Learning, 12(1), 132-146.
Smith-Shank, Deborah L., Diket, Read M., Grauer, Kit, Irwin,
Rita L., Jeffers, Carol S., & Myers, Sally. (1995). Semiotics
and art education in American cultures. Arts and Learning,
12(1), 33-50.
Irwin, Rita L., & Reynolds, J. Karen. (1995). Integration
as a strategy for teaching the arts as disciplines. Arts
Education Policy Review, 96(4), 13-19.
Rogers, Tony & Irwin, Rita L., (1995). A 3D view of
art in global education: Difference, diversity, and distance.
The CSEA Journal, 26(1), 15-21.
Irwin, Rita L., & Reynolds, J. Karen. (1994). Ojibwa
perceptions of creativity. Journal of Multicultural and
Cross-cultural Research in Art Education, 12, 34-49.
Irwin, Rita L. (1994). Revisiting CSEA art education policy
statements. Canadian Review of Art Education, 21(1),
40-51.
Irwin, Rita L. (1993). The four principles of art advocacy:
Public awareness, professional development, policy-making
and patronage. Art Education, 46(1), 71-77.
Irwin, Rita L., & Reynolds, J. Karen. (1993). Coming
full circle: A student and teacher reflect upon the meaning
of educational research to art teacher education. Journal
of the Ontario Society for Education through Art, 22,
56-65.
Irwin, Rita L. (1993). Charismatic and transformational
leadership within a community of women arts educators. Canadian
Review of Art Education, 20(2), 80-98.
Irwin, Rita L. (1993). Art as discipline and art as integration.
The CSEA Journal, 24(1), 24-27.
Irwin, Rita L. (1992). Weaving the threads of creative expression.
Journal of the Ontario Society for Education Through Art,
21, 24-34
Irwin, Rita L. (1992). Reflections on the '80s and insight
for the '90s: Art education across Canada. The CSEA Journal,
23(1), 44-47.
Irwin, Rita L. & Reynolds, J. Karen. (1992). Creativity
in a cultural context. Canadian Journal of Native Education,
19(1), 90-95.
Irwin, Rita L. (1992). A profile of an arts supervisor:
A political image. Studies in Art Education, 33(2),
110-121.
Irwin, Rita L. (1992). A look at New Brunswick art education
from the 1980s into the 1990s. The CSEA Journal, 23(1),
35-37.
Irwin, Rita L. (1991). Translating the essence of the arts
through three curriculum perspectives. Journal of the
Ontario Society for Education through Art, 20, 50-57.
Irwin, Rita L. (1991). Art education curriculum documents
in transition: The shifting currents of change. Canadian
Review of Art Education, 18(1), 33-44.
Irwin, Rita L. (1990-1991). Lowenfeld's legacy: Standing
the test of time? Trends, 18, 6-11.
Irwin, Rita L. (1989). Visual journals as an integration
among drawing, art appreciation, and the writing process.
The CSEA Journal, 20(1), 20-22.
Irwin, Rita L. (1989) A fine arts supervisor's practical
knowledge: A case study. Visual Arts Research, 15(1),
21-35.
Irwin, Rita L. (1987). "Just waiting to be noticed."
A sharing of tried ideas for environmental education. The
CSEA Journal, 18 (1), 22-23.
Refereed Conference Proceedings
de Cosson, A., Wilson, S., Irwin, R.L., Adu Poku, S., Pente,
P., Stephenson, W., & Springgay, S. (2003). The pedagogy
of performative liberation: A multilectic inter/intrastanding.
In Sahasrabudhe, P. (Ed.). The 31st InSEA World Congress
Proceedings, 2002, International Conversations through Art,
New York, August 19-24. (cd rom) 21 pgs.
Irwin, R.L. & de Cosson, A. (2003). A/R/T as metonymic
metissage. In Sahasrabudhe, P. (Ed.). The 31st InSEA World
Congress Proceedings, 2002, International Conversations through
Art, New York, August 19-24. (cd rom) 18 pgs.
Wilson, S., Stephenson, W., Springgay, S., Irwin, R.L.,
de Cosson, A. & Adu Poku, S. (2002). Performative liberation:
A multilectic inter/intrastanding of pedagogy. In T. Poetter,
C. Haerr, M. Hayes, C. Higgins & K. Wilson Baptist (Eds.).
In(Ex)clusion (Re)Visioning the Democratic Ideal (Papers
from the 2nd Curriculum and Pedagogy Group's Annual Conference,
University of Victoria, BC, October 2001. (13 webpages).
Troy, NY: Educator's International Press. See:
http://education.wsu.edu/journal
Irwin, Rita L. (1989). A look at the practical knowledge
"images" of a fine arts supervisor. Public Policy
and Arts Administration: National Art Education Association
Affiliate (Papers from Annual Conferences 1988 and 1989).
David B. Pankratz (Ed.). Issue Number 3, 31-36.
Book Reviews in Refereed Journals
Irwin, Rita L. (2004). Book Review of: Bolin, P., Blandy,
D., & Congdon, K. G. (Eds.). (2000). Remembering others:
Making visible histories of art education visible. Reston,
Virginia: National Art Education Association. Studies
in Art Education, 45(2), 170-173.
Irwin, Rita L. (2003). Book Review of “The Arts and
the Creation of Mind” by Elliot Eisner. New Haven, CT:
Yale University Press, (2002). Journal of Critical Inquiry
into Curriculum and Instruction, 5(2), 38-39.
Irwin, Rita L. (1995). Book Review of Jenny Aland &
Max Darby (1992). Art connections. Port Melbourne, Victoria,
Australia: Heinemann Educational Publishers, Australia. Canadian
Review of Art Education, 21(2), 132-134.
Irwin, Rita L. (1991). Book Review of Donald Herberholz
& Barbara Herberholz (1990). Artworks for elementary teachers:
Developing artistic and perceptual awareness. Canadian
Review of Art Education, 18(2), 161-163.
Website Publications
Irwin, Rita L. (2003). Caring for the Aesthetics of Curriculum/leadership
and/or Caring for how we Perceive Walking/Guiding the Course.
An invited lecture (and paper) for the Curriculum and Pedagogy
Institute (CPIn) in the Department of Secondary Education
of University of Alberta. April 14. http://www.quasar.ualberta.ca/cpin/main.htm
ARTISTIC WORKS
Although it is difficult to maintain creative involvement
in art production, I have endeavored to be actively involved
in my own art making, and whenever possible, work toward group
or solo exhibitions. The following outlines my ongoing commitment.
Solo Exhibitions (juried)
2003 Within the Forest. Gateway Theatre (and the
Richmond Art Gallery). February 20 to April 1, 2003
Group Exhibitions (juried)
2004
Across the Nation 2: Art Educators from Canada’s
Leading Universities and Colleges (juried), MacPherson
Library Gallery in cooperation with Department of Curriculum
and Instruction and the Maltwood Art Museum and Gallery,
University of Victoria, May 4-21.
2001
UBC Downtown Campus, Robson Square, Grand Opening,
Nov 30-Dec 2.
Looking Forward, Looking Back. 2nd Tri University
and Colleges Juried Art Educator’s Exhibition, MacPherson
Library Gallery, University of Victoria, Dec. 4, 2001 –
January 18, 2002.
1998
Ambrosia for the Soul. Fort Langley Museum and
National Exhibition Centre. February 26 - March 22.
1997
Canadian Post Secondary Art Educators' Exhibition.
Maltwood Gallery, University of Victoria (juried). October
15-November 17.
1996
Looking Forward, Looking Back: Tri-University and Colleges
Art Exhibition. Maltwood Gallery, University of Victoria.
November 5-25.
1986
Teachers' Show, June 5-25, Bowman Arts Gallery,
Lethbridge, Alberta.
1985
Graduation Show, July 25-August 15, A. Wilfrid
Johns Gallery, University of Victoria, B.C
Solo Exhibitions (non-juried)
2003 Forest Meditations Edibles Gallery, University
of British Columbia, July-August.
Group Exhibitions (non-juried)
2005
The City of Richgate. Beijing Normal University, Beijing,
China June 17-21. Collaboration with Ruth Beer, Kit Grauer,
Gu Xiong and Rita Irwin and our research families.
The City of Richgate. Southwest Normal University, Chongqing,
China June 4-10. Collaboration with Ruth Beer, Kit Grauer,
Gu Xiong and Rita Irwin and our research families.
1995 Driven to it.... It's all in how you see it.
AMS Gallery, UBC. Nov. 5-10
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