Since completing my investigation into arts-based forms of inquiry for my term paper, I have been thinking about what it means to write and who defines writing and how. I’ve also been wondering about to what degree we embrace multimodality and multiliteracies in our lives. Are they simply “nice” things to talk about in theory and pronounce that it is needed in the 21st century? Are they just something to be used in classroom activities for students? Are they embraced at all levels of the academy why and why not?
For me, multimodal thinking and doing are something greater. They are ways of positioning one’s self in the world and ways of constructing meaning in, with, and from that world. One of the promises I made myself after investigating arts-based education research was that I will no longer tiptoe around my artist-self. So, in the spirit of arts-based modes of experiencing the world, I am going to use this blog space for a piece of creative writing. I organized this piece from letters my mother wrote me when I was about 3. Each time I reread these letters I am given the honor to glimpse not just my childhood but also my semiotic construction of the world through words. The letters illustrate how in just a few simple words I began to sort, define, and construct my expeirence of the world.
A Mother’s Notes to Her Daught
At times the things that you come up with surprise me.
About 3 weeks ago you learned that your name was Jenny. (Before this you called yourself, Baby)
You pointed to Daddy and said Daddy.
You pointed to Mommy and said Mommy.
You pointed to Yourself and said Jenny.
You still like cats really well all the animals, really.
You pointed to Yourself and said Jenny.
You come to me and ask me for a pencil so you can write and you can say “write.”
You like Mommy and Daddy to write with you.
You ask us to draw things like cats for you.
You still like cats really well all the animals, really.
You know what mailboxes are sometimes when we drive by them
You say “Bye Bye Mailboxes.”
I really think we are communicating now.
You say “Bye Bye Mailboxes.”
I really think we are communicating now.
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ReplyDeleteJen, glad you're embracing the artist in you - sometimes its like banging your head against the brick wall, yes, but worth it's in the end. If youre an artist, it's in your soul and must be let out.
ReplyDeleteI can sort of relate - I've been writing a huge 'academic' paper for 3 days solid and it was miserable. I keep telling myself that I'm a writer and I'm meant to enjoy this, but let's face it, this isn't the sort of writing I foresaw myself doing. Perhaps if I embraced the creative writer in me more, the academic stuff would come more easily...well I know it would.
Also, you and I had a conversation last week about Arts-based education, and I'm thinking that while it might be tough to see where it's going now and where it really fits into the academy, in 10 years, who knows?! I mean, would anyone 20 years ago have thought qualitative research would be the staple diet of most young educational researchers? There is hope! : )
Jen, your reflections are beautiful and inspirational. I appreciate the creative self that you are tapping. I, too, like all of us, struggle with these scholarly requirements. I much prefer, and think I'm better at, the creative bend on writing. I'm glad that you will no longer suppress your artistic self. You have a lot of talent!
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