Arts-Based Inquiry Methodology Use for Indigenous Students' Voice and Perspective

• In Event: 49.032 - Indigenous Issues in Education and Research

Abstract

While a growing body of research explores the historical and present day struggle over, and conceptualization of Indigenous spaces within and outside of formal education, there is a limited body of research that explores how space and place informs the educational experiences of Native American students, through their own eyes, and in their own words in the context of higher education (Biolsi, 2005; Rickard, 1999, Smith, 1999). In this study, we explore the question: How do Native American college students interpret space, place, and community at a large Southwestern higher education institution, utilizing arts-based research, and counternarratives of space and place. Using photovoice, we provide sixteen undergraduate Native American college students with digital cameras to capture their daily experiences in the various educational spaces they occupy, while using their photos to generate narratives that highlight the structures that both inhibit and enhance their college experience, sense of belonging, and community. While federal data sets and quantitative data generated by the institution provide a comprehensive understanding of college access and retention for Native American students, this approach provides a more nuanced understanding of how Native American students make meaning of their college experience. Through arts-based inquiry, photovoice, and counternarrative, Native American students are positioned as both researcher and subject, toward the end of generating input on how policies and practices can be more adequately tailored to the needs of their communities on and off campus, while promoting social justice. The students in this study represent the Navajo Nation, several pueblos, and other tribes, and represent several majors, and levels of involvement on campus.

For the purpose of this study, emphasis was placed on the informal and formal spaces at the University of New Mexico’s Main, Gallup and Taos campuses, including public spaces and spaces specifically designed for use by Native American students. Providing insight into participants’ perceptions of such spaces, emphasis is placed on 1) examining the factors that shape their experience and sense of belonging at the University of New Mexico; as well as 2) their perspectives on the manner in which their identities can be expressed, and how they experience community within these spaces.

The findings and results from this study indicate that Native American students appreciated photovoice and the construction of counternarratives as they serve to center their perspective and lived experiences. In addition these methods provided a deeper understanding of each student’s experiences including how space, place and community impact their collective college experience. Results also indicated that existing and additional support programs are needed to more adequately support Native college students in their journey through higher education.

In conclusion, emphasizing arts-based inquiry, this project has the potential to provide critical insight into the methodological value of such approaches as they situate the subject as researcher, centering the experiences and perspective of Native American populations, whose voices are often omitted in some of the more traditional methodological approaches utilized in educational research.

Authors

• Robin Starr Minthorn, The University of New Mexico

• Tyson E.J. Marsh, University of New Mexico