| This dissertation drew upon the researcher's personal experiences in the elementary artroom supported by readings in education to suggest that teachers often have too much control over student talk. The study focused on the role of organized chaos, a pedagogical device, during children's discussions, or "Visual Conversations," about art without teacher interference. The study examined organized chaos in the experience of twelve K--5 art classes from an affluent suburban community in Connecticut. The students organized their own learning about a painting by Farida Kahlo during a Visual Conversation session.; The methods for collecting data were practitioner research and narrative inquiry. The computer program Inspiration was used for content analysis. The units of analysis were turns in the students' discourse. Three categories, Reflecting On And Connecting To Experience, Organizing The Talk, Strategy, and Turn Taking, and Agreeing With, Disagreeing With and Questioning, framed the analysis. Embedded within these categories were an Increase Of Volume, Overlapping & Latching Speech, Adding On To Further Meaning And Understanding, Taking On The Teacher Role, Taking On Multiple Views, Drama And Play, and Profound Insights . Additional categories which were specific to the Kahlo painting were Understanding Gender, Symbols, and Naming Things Which They Did Not Understand.; The findings indicated that when students are challenged to organize their own learning about art in the absence of the teacher, they are able to maintain organized chaos or spontaneous problem solving over multiple turns in their discourse. By working as a community of learners, the students were able have a unique aesthetic experience without a transfer of knowledge from the teacher.; The students related to the work of art through their own experiences and developmental levels. These experiences, fused together in inquiry, guided the students in their co-construction of knowledge about art and the surrounding world, therefore, benefiting their arts literacy. The teacher-researcher was able to become a better listener of student voices by using their questions and interests for the creation of child-centered lessons, therefore, using practitioner research for positive pedagogical change. |
