Sarah Key - BFA MFA PGCE

Department: Graduate School of Education

Project Summary

Aspects of professionalism and our understanding of our own professional identities is a key area of interest for the development of this research.  This work also builds on the development of a previous paper titled ‘Acting In-between: The Professional Identity of an Art Educator’ (presented at the University of Stirling, 2012) that focused on my own journey as an educator and how personal perceptions were aligned with two dominant discourses (the entrepreneur and the activist) as highlighted by Sachs (2003). 

The theoretical approach for this project is linked with the post-structural writing of Deleuze and Guattari.  Their approach explores the notion of the ‘rhizome’ and its association with ‘images of thought’.  In addition, ideas are drawn from the work of: Dewey and Biesta with reference to democratic education; Greene as she outlines the importance of creativity and artistic development within democratic communities; and Semetsky who draws together the ideas of Dewey and Deleuze.

Research in to the identity of art educators has focused on both historical accounts of educators as well as the development of identity at the early stages of one’s career.  Much of the literature and research is associated with opinions and ideas gathered from pre-service teachers (i.e. Räsänen, 2005),  this project focuses on mid-career teachers who are engaged in self-discovery as a means of fostering professional awareness and furthering their development as art educators.

Supervisory Team

Primary Supervisor - Emese Hall; Secondary Supervisor - Alexandra Allan