Department of Visual Arts

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Agency through art: exploring self-efficacy in grade ten to twelve art learners at a private school in the Free State
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-04) Lagendyk, Mieke; Alexander, Neeske; Costandius, Elmarie; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Visual Arts.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research explored results pertaining to adolescents’ agency over their artistic practice. After working with grade ten to twelve art learners in a private education setting, I noticed insecurity with the learners through their increased reliance on educators for both creative and procedural directions. This paper explores the internal and external aspects that influence the development of the learners' self-efficacy. The study investigated the possible change of self-efficacy over three weeks after integrating self-compassion, self-reflection, and affirmation into the grade lessons. The researcher collected data through open-ended questionnaires, colouring and collaging activities, an in-depth interview with the art educator, feeling cards, and class observations. The data collected from the pre-study reflective questionnaire and the educator interview confirmed that learners had negative emotions about their artistic practice and capabilities. However, the other data collected through the post-study reflective questionnaire, the affirmation activities, the class observations, and the feeling cards, demonstrated that by creating a classroom environment that incorporates mindful colouring, affirming collaging, and reflective writing, learners’ self-efficacy might be affected and in turn, learners’ agency over their artistic practice was influenced.
Examining how integrating digital technology with traditional media impacts the process of Artmaking in the art classroom : a case study of Grade 6 class in an independent girls school in Gauteng
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-03) Motake, Siphesihle; Alexander, Neeske; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Visual Arts.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The 21st-century classroom is experiencing global changes that require digital technology to be integrated in the curriculum of each subject offered in schools. Digital technology is shaping and forming identities, accelerating information transfer, communication and development of school curriculums in the foundation, primary and high school phases. This research study was aimed at examining how integrating digital technology with traditional media impacts the process of artmaking in the art classroom, in a grade 6 class in an independent girls’ school. Art, as a subject that deals with topics of identity, society and belonging, seeks to find ways in which it can reflect the direction young global citizens are navigating through the spaces of their everyday lives. The noted ‘digital divide’ in South African schools requires the art teacher to embrace the use of digital technology in the most advantageous and ideal manner without drifting away from traditional mediums that have grounded the practice for many centuries. This research study was designed to use both qualitative and quantitative data collection tools. As a case study, it also used an art-based and an interpretive approach. The Grade 6 learners from the specific independent school had to create a collage using traditional mediums such as paint, charcoal, pencil and pasting strips torn from newspapers and magazines. They then had to make use of digital technology such as offered through Apple MacBook and iPads to enhance their collages in order to present complete artworks to be printed out. The use of digital technology was found to affect the learners’ ability to create quality artworks. The learners’ perceptions and understanding of art after having used digital technology did not change drastically, but they came to understand that art can be created with the use of different mediums including technology. Learners were able to identify the role digital technology could play in making art and how using digital technology furthered the representation of work created in traditional mediums. The conclusion was that many learners demonstrate a positive attitude towards using digital technology to enhance their artworks. Using digital technology had the effect of making learners’ artwork seem to be of better quality than the original works. The learners gained a solid understanding of what art is. Young female Grade 6 learners were able to grapple with issues of identity construction through the making of collages using both traditional and digital media. The learners were able to engage with both mediums in a critical, experiential manner. Active learning took place while using both traditional and digital technology and learners were enabled to embrace creating artworks in environments other than the art classroom. Their high engagement with both digital and traditional mediums demonstrated the usefulness of both media in the art classroom to Grade 6 learners.
Examining the flipped classroom approach to teaching in a creative development setting in higher education in South Africa.
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-04) Viviers, Marita; Alexander, Neeske; Costandius, Elmarie; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Visual Arts.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In a traditional classroom setting teachers tend to teach their class with little interaction with their students. The ‘flipped’ classroom approach has received attention for its potential as a new educational method that is better supported by current collaborative constructivist educational practice. In flipped classroom teaching, I acted as a facilitator, directing students in conversation and higher-level problem-based learning activities. An in-depth exploration was undertaken of the application and results of a flipped classroom in a creative tertiary educational context. For this study, two classroom groups of students, enrolled for the same module, were used. In both of the two classrooms the flipped classroom approach was employed, and identical assignments were given to both classes of students. Lecturer observations as well as student questionnaire data were gathered, and inductive content analysis was performed. From all the data gathered, a couple of important subjects or topics were often found during data analysis. Knowledge gained, peer recognition and lecturer involvement were some of the topics that were perceived as positive by the students as well as the researcher, with the exception of workload distribution that was not perceived as equally divided. Thus, it appears as if positive perception, experience and knowledge gain were achieved by implementing the flipped classroom teaching style. One of the aspects that stood out was that some of these students perceived that they could achieve more in a group setting, as a result of the knowledge transfer and differing skills of each student. These students also interacted in a social community setting by providing feedback and discussing whole class input.
An investigation of affect responses drawn from South African tertiary level visual communication students by means of illustrating the corporeal feminine through comic book art.
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04) Hunter, Katherine; Alexander, Neeske; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Visual Arts.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Sequential narratives, generally referred to as comics, which directly address the nature of the female body and its flows, have both been censured and praised. These comics have resulted in affecting their readers in different ways, leading to feelings of excitement, interest, repulsion or even intense anger. The intention of this research was to investigate the way in which corporeal feminism may generate affect responses through the comic book, Shapes of flow. The case of corporeal feminism has been seen by feminists from both a positive and a negative perspective, depending on whether feminists view biological sex as an empowering or marginalising force. Many aspects of this topic are viewed as taboo subjects in a socio-cultural environment, which has further strengthened the hesitation to theorise the female body. Affect theory ties well into this debate, as it can be employed as a tool to investigate human reactions toward disputed topics. The theoretical themes that were analysed also included difference feminism and South African feminism. Elizabeth Grosz (1994:xii) suggested the image of a Mobius strip to approach ‘dualist pairs’ that are believed to result in essentialism and marginalisation, such as sex/gender and self/other. The Mobius strip concept has potential to bridge these gaps. Another powerful feminist theory that emerged from the research, is Bracha Etinger’s matrixial borderspace (Ettinger 2006:220). A case study was employed to collect qualitative data from eleven tertiary level students, who study Visual Communication at a design institution in the Western Cape region. A naturalistic research paradigm was utilised to collect qualitative data by means of semi-structured interviews, field observations and a group discussion. An interpretive and inductive approach was employed to analyse the collected data. The study found that there still seems to be discomfort amongst both men and women to discuss the body and issues relating to it. The discomfort was especially significant in response to matters concerning menstruation. Several of the participants recalled personal experiences in which they felt ashamed or embarrassed as a result of the natural functions of their bodies. Similarly, the corporeal feminine has been suppressed and silenced in discourse for a long time, even in feminist discussions. The comic that was presented to the participants was able to introduce silenced ‘taboo’ topics into everyday discussions. In addition, affect is formed within a cultural framework. This means that affect can be utilised to enforce dominant power regimes, but it can also be used to dismantle them.
Kaaps : exploring the power of language as lived experience and its formative role in knowledge production and self-understanding within an art gallery in the South African context
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-03) Ingham, Chelsea Robin; Alexander, Neeske; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Visual Arts.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: During my undergrad education in the Visual Arts Department at Stellenbosch University, as a working-class ‘coloured’1, I was immersed in a white Afrikaans culture for the first time. It allowed me to see that the Kaaps variety (a non-standard variety of Afrikaans) reflected a deep-rooted colonial and apartheid ideology around the ‘coloured’ experience and language purity. The effects of this are troublesome in a post-apartheid South Africa, with nonstandard varieties like Kaaps still being marginalised by race hierarchies. The nonrecognition of specific language use persists in influencing people’s ideas about themselves and others. This case study is an exploration of Kaaps speakers' lived experiences and attitudes toward the Kaaps variety through dialogue and visual representation within an art gallery. This was done in order to promote the potential educational capacity of the art gallery to renegotiate more just recognitions and representation of oppressed narratives and racial identities outside of the classroom setting. The theoretical perspectives of critical theory and pedagogy, indigenous knowledge, and social justice were employed to inform the research. As research design a case study was used. Probability sampling and qualitative methods were used to collect data. Individuals participated in the research through interactive dialogue and interview processes concerning lived experiences and attitudes toward Kaaps within a specific art gallery and exhibition space in Cape Town. To understand the data collected, inductive content analysis was used. It was found that participants recognised the education system as a significant roleplayer in how they perceived their racial identity through language, due to standard language ideology. Any association with the Kaaps variety is personal and practical and their preference for the ‘master’ language of English is for ‘successful’ social integration and economic or political reasons. The difficulty in properly integrating or acknowledging individuals' actual (multilingual) language in their learning environments, as well as recognition of cultural difference, was problematised by the participants and they responded with recommendations. Implications from the findings and conclusions involve integrating more creative and critical engagement around marginalised narratives. The context significance of non-standard varieties in the personal and social environments of learners must be more effectively considered, and must be engaged through identity texts for just recognition, representation, and dialogue. This implies that the art gallery’s educational capacity should be realised to renegotiate dominant ideology through critical processes of creativity that help better articulate the lived experiences of marginalised communities, as well as the potential to evoke responsive meanings for social justice.
Tactile revelations: investigating adult critical citizenship education in an informal art class context
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-03) McDonald, Sharne; Costandius, Elmarie; Alexander, Neeske; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Visual Arts.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In formal education, more emphasis is being placed on presented facts and perceived performance than on critical, lateral thinking, the creative application of knowledge and materials, and making mistakes as a learning activity. What I am suggesting is that we have become out of practice with imagining new realities through the manipulation of tangible media like graphite, paint, clay and paper. Informal art education provides a space for the creative manipulation of materials without the pressure of achieving high marks. Critical citizenship education is concerned with creating new social realities that are more inclusive and equitable in a globalising world. The research presented in this thesis investigates the potential relationship between informal art classes and critical citizenship education for broadening people’s perceptions of the world. This study attempted to answer the research question: How do adult participants experience critical citizenship education in an informal art class context? I elaborate on some of the core concepts in critical citizenship education, namely transformation and pluralism, and discuss educational theories on motivation and confidence to learn, adult (or lifelong) learning and transformative learning. Perspectives of drawing, painting, clay sculpture and origami illustrate the value of informal art lessons in teaching pluralism. The research design is a case study centred around informal art classes facilitated on Saturdays that attracted a range of informal learners who had their own motivations for attending art classes. The classes covered fundamental lessons in drawing, painting, clay sculpture and origami and participants were asked to answer three questions after each lesson as self-reflection exercises. The participants’ responses, together with visual artworks produced at the classes and in-depth structured interviews, provided data for investigating the potential relationship between critical citizenship principles and art education. Participants’ experiences varied, but a common thread was observed: the adult learners who participated in this study recognised the value of interacting with and learning from others and the applicability of art techniques to principles of everyday life. Participants faced uncomfortable situations, experienced personal growth and were further motivated by feelings of accomplishment. The research and art curriculum that was developed from this study has the potential to contribute further to the study of practical applications of critical citizenship education, specifically in informal art class environments. Its application is potentially revolutionary, as formal art education can only reach certain demographic groups at school or tertiary-level education, whereas informal learning has a much broader reach. This is especially important in the current South African context where transformation strategies have not been as successful as hoped in formal education. The curriculum that I developed may also be used by teachers as an aid to supplement or enrich current art curricula (with further development).
Three high school educators’ views on the influence of play on learners, with a focus on the current shift to online learning – a case study in the Western Cape of South Africa
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-04) Botha, Nicla; Costandius, Elmarie; Alexander, Neeske; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Visual Arts.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: I recognised the value of ‘play’ in my own art practice, while studying towards a Fine Art undergraduate degree. Approaching the making process with play allowed an exploratory process instead of a pressured environment of production. I realised that high school art learners could possibly also benefit from such an approach to their art projects. Therefore this study considered the presence of play in high school art education in order to determine the influence of play on the learners and what is needed for such play to be additionally included in high school art. This was achieved by investigating three high school art educators’ perspectives on play in South African art education; also highlighting the increase of online learning due to the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions. This is an empirical research study as the experiences, observations and interpretations of educators are central to the study in this research. A case study research design was undertaken for conducting qualitative research by means of individual interviews and a group play workshop with the three participants. The participants were selected using non-probability sampling. Meaning was derived from their individual points of view, therefore an interpretivist paradigm was required. Inductive content analysis was used to draw themes from the discussions in the interviews and workshop. The study found that play could have a beneficial influence on high school art learners. Yet there are factors that hinder play; especially time, fear of failure and the pressure of achieving high marks. Art educators however have a unique opportunity to foster a safe environment where making mistakes is acceptable, to explore and to discover through play.
Time to think: fostering critical and creative thinking through a practice-based investigation of the effects of time and space in the field of art education
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-04) Bester, Lourens Petrus; Alexander, Neeske; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Visual Arts.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: my own experience as an artist, I have found the relations between time, space, matter and self to be fascinating subjects. The effort of understanding the impact these notions have on our behaviours led me to think of these influences in a manner that enables critical and creative thinking within the context of art and art education. My research investigated the cognitive effects of time and space to explore new ways of understanding and viewing, using observation and awareness as a means of adopting critical and creative thoughts embodied in visual creations. We occupy space and time, and understand these notions through personal relations, but we do not always understand the impact they have on our behaviours and emotions. To some degree, we are all products of our environment. During the course of my postgraduate studies in Art Education, I was introduced to qualitative and post-qualitative research methods situated around a materialist perspective of being. With the use of these mixed methods I conducted research that aimed at discovering the possibilities of becoming aware of the intra-active agencies between human and non-human entities, and to reflect on the processes and happenings throughout. The research was conducted through a case study during the course of three weeks at a high school situated in the Western Cape with 21 Grade 11 learners. The aim of the research was to explore how the act of creating art can be used as a medium for critical, creative and reflective thinking. My focus was on shifting the understanding of art beyond the ‘realistic’, direct copying of life method of creating art that is commonly found in school curricula. From a materialist perspective, our current education system fails to recognise the impact of our own experiences and lived realities on understanding and developing new ways of knowing. By allowing learners to become part of a materialist perspective of mind, body and matter through art, I explored the possibilities of how they were able to become more aware of these interrelations and, in turn, develop a better sense of self. The conclusions of the findings suggest that high school learners have the critical and creative means to think of and with mind, body and matter to develop a greater understanding of themselves in relation to their surroundings. They also suggest the importance of art as a medium for learning to help develop the necessary critical, creative and reflective thinking processes for acquiring a better understanding of a given phenomenon. Art creates moments for self-discovery, self-reflection and self-inquiry that help individuals grow. Not only can learners achieve personal development through the act of creating, but they are also able to better understand the dynamics of instances that surround them.

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Browsing Department of Visual Arts by browse.metadata.advisor "Alexander, Neeske"

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