LANDSCAPES OF MEANING: FROM CHILDHOOD ART TO GEOGRAPHIES OF SELF - AS ARTIST/RESEARCHER/TEACHER (un périple visuel /a video script)

Oct 15, 2026

A visual journey reframes childhood artworks as an entry point for inquiry into identity and place, told through the intersecting geographies of self as artist, researcher, and teacher. Using an arts-based, feminist methodological framework, the work treats childhood art as both subject and object, grounding analysis in memory, reflection, and interpretation. Drawing on a collection of 200+ artworks, it examines how mundane childhood reveries shape professional practice, inform curriculum development, and unset meanings shaped by social-historical contexts.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Sharing Inquiry

Modes of Inquiry

With / In Data

Geographies of Self

As Artist

As Researcher

LANDSCAPES OF MEANING: FROM CHILDHOOD ART TO GEOGRAPHIES OF SELF AS ARTIST/RESEARCHER/TEACHER (un périple visuel /a video script) Anita Sinner University of British Columbia This visual journey, which revisits childhood art as an entry point to inquiry centredon my landscapes of meaning as an educator, represents a self portrait about identity and place that is told from the multiple subjective geographies of self. My collection of childhood artwork offers a different lens to understand historical conditioning and socially constructed perspectives. Although these works reflect common motifs, the thematic trends warrant further consideration, including themes that contribute to ways of being as an artist, researcher, and teacher today. Keywords: childhood art, arts‐based research, feminist research, identity and place, curriculum development Ce périple visuel, qui revisite des créations artistiques de l’enfance comme point dedépart d’une recherche centrée sur les paysages d’une enseignante, constitue un autoportrait axé sur l’identité et le lieu à partir de plusieurs géographies du moi. Cette collection d’œuvres remontant à mon enfance offre un prisme différent pour comprendre le conditionnement historique et les points de vue structurés par la société . Bien que ces œuvres reflètent des motifs courants, certains axes thématiquesméritent de faire l’objet d’une analyse plus fouillée, notamment ceux qui contribuent aux façons d’être de l’auteure en tant qu’artiste, chercheuse et enseignante aujourd’hui. Mots clés : créations artistiques de l’enfance, recherche axée sur les arts ________________________ CANADIAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION 31, 1 (2008): 255‐262 SHARING INQUIRY This visual journey1 revisits childhood art as an entry point to inquiry, centred on my landscapes of meaning as an educator, and represents a self portrait about identity and place that is told from the multiple subjective geographies of artist, researcher, and teacher.2 According to Philo (2003),“researchers can and should take advantage of the fact that all adult researchers have once been children” and as educators, we need to “take more seriously . . . the mundane reveries of childhood, those contained in . . . jottings, drawings, [and play . . . as](and play . . . as) a source for future inquiries”(p. 7) . I present a very personal picture of my early learning experiences, and reflect on childhood art from an “epistemology of insiderness,” a position Reinharz (1992) refers to as “the starting point for feminist research”(p. 260) . By drawing attention to memory, reflection, and interpretation, I question: How does the experience of engaging with childhood artworks influence professional practice? Do childhood artworks reflect concepts of identity and place in adulthood? Are there implications for curriculum development? MODES OF INQUIRY Given the unique parameters of this inquiry and the questions I pose, I have chosen a blended approach of arts‐based methods and a feminist perspective to provide the methodological framework for this explora‐ tion.3 Because childhood art is both the subject and object of this inquiry, Iexplore these works, as Sullivan (2006) suggests, to “enhance the direc‐ tion and breadth of data representation” and in so doing, seek ways to“deal with complex realities [of] educational research”(p. 23) . I engage in childhood renderings to inform my understandings about art and art making. From this standpoint, I “document the artworks in a systematic fashion” (Reinharz, 1992, p. 260), while at the same time, recall and continually reassess possibilities of the past. In this case, childhood art is a repository that guides my inquiry into geographies of the self. WITH / IN DATA I foreground myself by stating I am working from“subject posi‐ tions” and “social historical contexts” that are “neither fixed nor static”(Norquay, 1990, p. 291) . There are multiple interpretations possible of this body of childhood

FAQs

How does engaging with childhood artworks influence professional practice?

The inquiry proposes that childhood artworks shape professional practice through memory, reflection, and interpretation, offering insight into identity and place that informs roles as artist, researcher, and teacher.

What methodological approach guides the research?

The work uses a blended approach combining arts-based methods with a feminist perspective to create a methodological framework for the inquiry.

What data source is used in the project?

The project draws on a collection of over 200 childhood artworks made during primary school years, including pencil/ink line drawings, coloring-pencil/crayon depictions, and classroom art projects with materials such as construction paper and paint.

Oct 15, 2026

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