Dr. Janice Rahn on the value of collaboration in art research and education

darcy.tamayose — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 22:44:56 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Faculty of Education professor Dr. Janice Rahn researches as an artist and writer. She works between the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Fine Arts to question how art practice informs curriculum theory in project-based inquiry. Rahn often collaborates with partner, Michael Campbell (Faculty of Fine Arts).

Legacy sat down with her to speak about her research.

Legacy: When did your collaboration begin?

Dr. Janice Rahn sees her art practice as a continual exploration of new materials and ideas.

JR: We met in 1992 while doing our MFA programs at Concordia ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in Montreal. We created a museum-like exhibition that changed daily as we worked on-site transforming materials we gathered from the Laurentians, Quebec.

Legacy: How many collaborative works have you produced?
JR: We collaborate every day in our conversations about teaching, in discussing ideas for art projects, and in actually building large audio/video sculptural installations.

Legacy: Do you have your individual practice as well?
JR: Yes, we both feel a need to produce and show our own work, especially after working intensely together on a collaborative project.

Legacy: You said that you collaborate in your teaching as well as your art practice?
JR: We talk about teaching all the time and we are always building project assignments together. Video Sketchbook (Michael’s class) was my favorite course to build and to be part of. I wrote a chapter about it in my recent book Viewfindings. I also enjoy co-teaching his printmaking classes, especially the critiques, though it is not part of my teaching load. We define project-based learning as being clearly designed by the instructor with parameters in the sequential introduction of new materials and problems, while inviting students to develop their own ideas. We show a wide range of carefully selected examples to inspire students to explore possibilities in working with materials in relation to concepts.

Legacy: You work as an artist and you have published extensively. Is there any link between these two forms of research?
JR: When I was doing my PhD I saw a need for curriculum theory based on art practice. As a teacher in the Arctic, I had elders making art in my classroom. In Montreal, I did my PhD researching street art. I started making videos as a way to document and analyze my artist in the school projects. My art practice is a continual exploration of new materials and ideas. This gives me the resources to help individual students achieve success in different contexts. It also informs my belief in problem solving through project-based learning and the critique process as formative assessment.

Legacy: What are you working on at the moment?
JR: In 2012 we built a 65 foot-long sculpture out of bamboo, with other related pieces including a video, during a month-long residency at the International Triennial in Kathmandu. We just exhibited a video at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. In Dec. 2014, we are building a site-specific sculpture in an 18th century public exotic garden estate in the South of France. We have been re-invited to exhibit in Kathmandu in 2015. We choose to constantly explore new materials, to travel and to make art together.

Legacy: What has been your main research focus in art education?
JR: Identity development in young people, peer influence, learning communities, performing/communicating in public space, the rigor of creating and the effects of the critique on thinking. Art in education is often viewed as a frill. Art Education values each person’s diverse development, invites empathy, and the provocation to change entrenched assumptions. For example my work with new media and visual literacy compares intent in art that questions, with the closed agenda of propaganda.

Dr. Janice Rahn was named Board of Governors ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Scholar in 2012, a program that recognizes the excellence of faculty members in the areas of research, scholarship and creative performance.
As an artist, Rahn has been working on a series of female arbor forms, in porcelain, bamboo and willow. She has created charcoal/ink drawings, and monoprints showing them at her gallery The Vidourle Prix in Sauve, France. She also makes documentary videos and audio video installations, most recently shown at the Kulteren der Welt in Berlin. For more on her work, visit her website.

Master's degree positions Moroz for a role in school leadership

trevor.kenney — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 16:58:36 +0000

After teaching in Calgary for more than 20 years, Darren Moroz (MEd ’14) decided it was time to reverse roles and become a student again.

Darren Moroz focused his Capstone Thesis on how leadership percolates from school administrators to teachers and from teachers to students.

With his eye on becoming a school administrator, adding a master’s degree to his credentials was one of his first steps. He already knew the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge by its strong reputation, so he didn’t hesitate to sign up for the Master of Education (Educational Leadership) program as soon as he learned it would be offered in Calgary.

“The 12-course program, including the Capstone Thesis, was exactly what I was looking for and I could not have been happier with the program,” says Moroz.

Delivered through a combination of online and in-class courses, the master’s program fit with his responsibilities as an elementary school teacher in the Calgary Catholic School District and as a husband and father.

“I had a phenomenal experience,” he says. “From the beginning, we were exposed to educational leadership models and practices and thrust into developing our leadership skills.”

Because he was a little nervous about being a student again, he took a sabbatical from teaching and honed his studying skills by completing a religious education program at St. Mary’s ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ College, a private Catholic liberal arts institution in Calgary.

“That was a stepping stone to the confidence I needed to pursue further education,” he says.

He was one of 17 others who enrolled in the program and they became a tight-knit group over the two years. In fact, they reserved an entire restaurant for themselves and their friends and family to get together and celebrate their graduation.

Moroz had a particular interest in elementary school leadership and focused his Capstone Thesis on how leadership percolates from school administrators to teachers and from teachers to students. Through his thesis project, teachers facilitated more than 20 student leadership groups that did everything from running hot lunch, intramurals and an in-school bank to recycling and litterless lunch programs.

Positive leadership models weren’t hard to find when Moroz was a child growing up in Porcupine Plain, Sask. He was surrounded by educators, including his mother, an aunt and an uncle, who demonstrated community involvement.

“I always had aspirations of being a teacher. I had great experiences growing up. I had my first male teacher in Grade 4 and he later became my Air Cadet instructor. He taught me a lot about discipline and leadership,” says Moroz.

After graduating from high school, Moroz studied education at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Saskatchewan and had a teaching contract in his pocket three months before he graduated.

He moved to Calgary and joined the Calgary Catholic School District. He says he learned the most about what it means to be a teacher in that first year, thanks to all the great mentoring he received. He has since taught at two other schools in the district.

“This ismy 25th year of teaching and I could not be happier. I’ve had a fantastic career and I work in an amazing school,” he says.

Moroz, with his master’s degree in hand, says he will apply to become an assistant principal next year. He welcomes the opportunity to be involved in a leadership role within his school district where he can mentor others, just as others mentored him.

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Dr. Janice Rahn on the value of collaboration in art research and education

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Master's degree positions Moroz for a role in school leadership

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