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Artivist Childhoods

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Title: Artivist Childhoods
Language: English
Authors: Tahlia Lasczik, Alexandra Lasczik (ORCID 0000-0001-7013-2090), Amy Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles
Source: International Journal of Art & Design Education. 2025 44(2):462-478.
Availability: Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 17
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Secondary Education
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Secondary School Students, Student Projects, Student Research, Studio Art, Data Collection, Data Analysis, Activism, Social Justice, Art Activities, Student Empowerment, Learner Engagement, Transformative Learning
Geographic Terms: Australia
DOI: 10.1111/jade.12562
ISSN: 1476-8062
1476-8070
Abstract: The rise in the number of young people disengaged from mainstream schooling is reaching critical proportions. This paper explores a child-framed participatory inquiry known as The Walking A/r/tography Project, which sought to challenge, empower and engage youth at risk in one Special Assistance Secondary School in Southeast Queensland through a/r/tographic mappings of place and subsequent critical and creative experiences in the classroom studio. The young people were invited to the project as researchers, who collected, generated and analysed data, resulting in agentic activist positionings. Extensive literature supports the benefits of an Arts-rich environment, which can enable impactful social justice learnings and a deep awareness of social and political activism, particularly when they are experienced through contemporary artworks and artmaking practices. Such experiences and knowings can tie learning in, through and with the Arts directly to educational activism, where student voice and agency are foregrounded for the purposes of empowerment and disruptive, transformational learning. The findings of this study assert that young people at risk can co-create and reimagine their educational experiences to engage in schooling more positively as Artivists.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: EJ1474784
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0186111003;q0t01may.25;2025Jun25.05:53;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0186111003-1">Artivist Childhoods </title> <p>The rise in the number of young people disengaged from mainstream schooling is reaching critical proportions. This paper explores a child‐framed participatory inquiry known as The Walking A/r/tography Project, which sought to challenge, empower and engage youth at risk in one Special Assistance Secondary School in Southeast Queensland through a/r/tographic mappings of place and subsequent critical and creative experiences in the classroom studio. The young people were invited to the project as researchers, who collected, generated and analysed data, resulting in agentic activist positionings. Extensive literature supports the benefits of an Arts‐rich environment, which can enable impactful social justice learnings and a deep awareness of social and political activism, particularly when they are experienced through contemporary artworks and artmaking practices. Such experiences and knowings can tie learning in, through and with the Arts directly to educational activism, where student voice and agency are foregrounded for the purposes of empowerment and disruptive, transformational learning. The findings of this study assert that young people at risk can co‐create and reimagine their educational experiences to engage in schooling more positively as Artivists.</p> <p>Keywords: A/r/tography; artivism; Arts‐based research; childhood studies; participatory research with young people</p> <hd id="AN0186111003-2">Introduction</hd> <p>The <emph>Mapping A/r/tography Project</emph> builds upon and extends an international community of practice by establishing seven sites for the study of historic‐contemporary cultural routes of significance. These are Canada's Trans Canada Trail (three sites), China's Silk Road, Japan's Kumano Kodo Trail, Spain's Camino de Santiago, and Australia's Gondwana Subtropical Rainforests.[<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref1">1</reflink>] The Australian branch of the inquiry, known as <emph>The Walking A/r/tography Project</emph>,[<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref2">2</reflink>] was the only site of inquiry that focused on childhoods. By childhoods, we hold the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child's Article 1 definition of childhood, which is anyone under the age of 18. Whilst we understand that many adolescents would not consider themselves children, for the purposes of our argument and the framing of this paper, we hold to this definition and use the signifier 'young people' or 'youth' at times to mitigate this tension.</p> <p>As career educators, the research team sought to inquire <emph>with</emph> young people, rather than simply engaging the young people as objects of inquiry. Specifically, we sought to inquire with youth at risk, in one Special Assistance School (SAS) in Southeast Queensland. Atlantis College[<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref3">3</reflink>] caters specifically for disengaged young people who have detached from mainstream schooling for various reasons. The research team sought to engage a child‐framed, a/r/tographic, participatory research framework, inviting the young people to reimagine their education through a deep mapping of connections, ecologies and experiences of the world heritage listed Gondwana Rainforest site through the languages of Environmental Education, Art and creativity. Through this process, the young people experienced multiple complex becomings, including their agentic position as <emph>Artivists</emph> (Bunda <emph>et al</emph>. [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref4">4</reflink>]; Lasczik <emph>et al</emph>. [<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref5">38</reflink>]). Therefore, the driving question of the study and this paper is, <emph>How might engaging in a/r/tography empower artivist childhoods?</emph></p> <p>We begin by exploring the theoretical underpinnings and cartographies of practice that emerged from the doings of <emph>The Walking A/r/tography Project</emph>. The paper begins with a background to the study, anchoring it in the pertinent literature as well as defining youth at risk and the benefits of Arts‐rich learnings. This is followed by the theoretical foundations of this project that begin to build a conceptual framework for <emph>Artivist Childhoods</emph>, which is then explored through the fieldwork and analysis of the data creations in the project, which in turn create cartographies of artivism.</p> <hd id="AN0186111003-3">Background to the study</hd> <p>The site for this study is a SAS, which is an independent school[<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref6">4</reflink>] that specifically caters to such young people who have disengaged from mainstream schooling. Atlantis College is a co‐educational secondary school that caters for a diverse range of student needs; enrolment requirements stipulate that there must be evidence that the student has disengaged from mainstream schooling. There is a variety of types of disengagement from mainstream schooling, which can include but are not limited to, low level academic achievement, mental health issues, low attendance, low socio‐economic background, behavioural issues and significant time away from school.</p> <p>Mental health issues and mental disorders in young people are a major concern within all school settings globally and in Australia are particularly prevalent in secondary schools (Olfson <emph>et al</emph>. [<reflink idref="bib47" id="ref7">47</reflink>]). Over the past decade, Mission Australia has been tracking the mental health status of Australian young people so that they can determine evidence‐based trends in order to inform programs and legislation that can support children and young people. Alarmingly, 41% of young people in 2018 reported mental health issues, which doubled in just 2 years. Translated into school settings, this means that around 12 children in a regular classroom of 30 students are impacted; an enormous and distressing figure for educators in schools and for society at large. In addition, one of the top concerns identified by young people was coping with school‐related stress. This finding echoes a study conducted by Martin <emph>et al</emph>. ([<reflink idref="bib42" id="ref8">42</reflink>]), who found that anxiety and depression are the two most dominant and frequently comorbid mental health disorders witnessed in Australian schools, stemming from the pressures on academic success and social acceptance; two very distinctive yet contrasting measures faced by adolescents on a daily basis. Such figures are more than reflected in the enrolments of Atlantis College who cater specifically for young people at risk.</p> <hd id="AN0186111003-4">Defining youth at risk</hd> <p>There is extensive literature to date attempting to describe and define the term 'youth at risk.' The popular consensus is that young people have difficulties functioning within their age‐specific social and educational settings, which eventually leads to their withdrawal from educational and future employment (Etzion & Romi [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref9">18</reflink>]). Zyngier ([<reflink idref="bib53" id="ref10">53</reflink>]) argues that the term 'youth at risk' has been identified as a deficit‐laden term and prefers to use the term disenfranchised young people, as it recognises the realities of the communities at potential, rather than focusing on a deficit typology. As such, it should be considered that other research has identified factors that contribute to this risk, such as family circumstances, rather than focusing on the personal attributes of the young person (Riele [<reflink idref="bib49" id="ref11">49</reflink>]). Etzion & Romi ([<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref12">18</reflink>]) argue that misclassifications of these young people have led to heterogenous therapeutic groupings, often hindering effective interventions. The many labels given to these young people (for example, thugs, delinquents, disenfranchised) are also reflective of social and organisational perspectives as well as the perceived problems of attempting to diagnose and analyse the groups (Etzion & Romi [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref13">18</reflink>]). Furthermore, researchers have often used risk factors that describe attitudes and behaviours that differ from accepted social norms, which can be argued lack adjustments and are subjective (Resnick & Burt [<reflink idref="bib48" id="ref14">48</reflink>]; Janosz <emph>et al</emph>. [<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref15">33</reflink>]; Jimenez <emph>et al</emph>. [<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref16">34</reflink>]). Despite the seemingly broad concept of young people at risk, it could be considered that all adolescents, given the inherent biological, physical and developmental shifts during this period, are at risk of one kind or another, and being at risk surpasses social class, ethnicity and gender (Glenn & Nelson [<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref17">21</reflink>]). The period of adolescence is coupled with significant developmental changes and furthermore has been associated with increased risk for anxiety disorders (Martin <emph>et al</emph>. [<reflink idref="bib42" id="ref18">42</reflink>]), as noted previously.</p> <p>Therefore, for the operational purposes of this paper, the term 'youth at risk,' is defined as young people who are in mental, physical or spiritual peril of disengaging from current education, which therefore impacts future employment (Etzion & Romi [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref19">18</reflink>]). This definition is tempered by, as is suggested in the literature, the acknowledgement that proposed groupings and broad definitions are problematic when seeking appropriate interventions.</p> <p>There is no single solution to this educational problem. However, the literature suggests that engaging the Arts as a way for students to access other curricula areas, as well as learning in the Arts for their own sake (Fiske [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref20">20</reflink>]; Ewing [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref21">19</reflink>]; Cutcher [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref22">8</reflink>]), could potentially be an effective way to reengage disengaged young people. Various studies have been conducted globally asserting a positive link between the Arts and engagement; indeed, when young people are involved in the Arts, positive changes occur within all areas of their lives (Fiske [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref23">20</reflink>]). A seminal publication by Ewing in [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref24">19</reflink>] highlighted the need for educational reform within Australia, emphasising the potential of learning in and through the Arts; however, little research in the field in Australia has been completed since. In addition, minimal research has been conducted to explore the potential of the Arts as a platform for learning through other discipline areas, focusing on at‐risk young people who engage in precarious behaviours, including disengaging from schooling (Sanders <emph>et al</emph>. [<reflink idref="bib50" id="ref25">50</reflink>]). Thus, this study sought to explore the potential benefits of the Arts within a secondary school for young people at risk, by implementing pedagogical strategies through a participatory a/r/tographic inquiry, incorporating student agency that seeks re‐engagement, but more importantly, empowerment.</p> <hd id="AN0186111003-5">Arts‐based learnings and young people at risk</hd> <p>More recent literature suggests that Australia's most vulnerable young people are better engaged in schooling through targeted pedagogy that fosters creativity and expression (Ewing [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref26">19</reflink>]). One way to do this is in, with and through the Arts (Cutcher [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref27">8</reflink>]) since Arts classrooms offer a soft landing for students with complex emotional, social and/or challenging behavioural issues (Kay & Wolf [<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref28">36</reflink>]).</p> <p>The relationship between mental health treatment and the Arts is well established in the literature, and Arts‐based interventions are used to treat a variety of mental health issues (Harker Martin [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref29">22</reflink>]). Kaimal <emph>et al</emph>. ([<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref30">35</reflink>]) suggest that artistic expression seems to lower stress in numerous health settings for both patients and caregivers. In addition, recent studies have established that mindfulness, an Arts‐based approach, can assist young people not only to make Art but also facilitate increased understandings and promote new ways of picturing problems. For young people with anger‐management issues, visualisation and artmaking approaches can assist in a therapeutic process (Clawson & Coolbaugh [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref31">6</reflink>]; Collados [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref32">7</reflink>]). Evidence suggests that youth at risk/marginalised/disenfranchised young people benefit from exposure to learning through, in and with the Arts (Kay & Wolf [<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref33">36</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0186111003-6">Theoretical framing</hd> <p>The theoretical framing of this chapter adopts a métissage of theoretical assertions to weave the complexities of artivist childhoods together as a robust yet porous fabric of ideas. These include A/r/tography (Irwin [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref34">27</reflink>]) as a theoro‐methodology (Hotko [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref35">24</reflink>]), in further dialogue with Deleuze & Guattari's ([<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref36">12</reflink>]) notions of the rhizome and influenced by the rich foundations of the new sociology of childhood (Cutter‐Mackenzie‐Knowles [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref37">10</reflink>]). This tapestry of concepts is entangled as it seeks to explore how a/r/tographic inquiry can empower artivist childhoods, a concept more fully unpacked below.</p> <p>In this study, ontology and epistemology are intrinsically linked and implicate relationality as inseparable concepts (Barad [<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref38">1</reflink>]) as <emph>onto‐epistemo‐relationality</emph>. These concepts operate as an entangled machinic assemblage (Deleuze & Guattari [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref39">13</reflink>]) that drives the theoretical framing of this study, where childhood and children's agency are the specific focus and <emph>onto‐epistemo‐relationality</emph> is an ecology of being, becoming, knowing and relating.</p> <p>Leggo ([<reflink idref="bib40" id="ref40">40</reflink>]) eloquently asserts that a/r/tography's potential for creating new forms of thought will continue the work of theoretical antecedents, and thus, new theoretical perspectives emerge, thereby reinventing theoretical speculations and possibilities. Such reinvention, through theory and practice, leads to new ways of being and becoming (Leggo [<reflink idref="bib40" id="ref41">40</reflink>]). The theoretical assertions, taken up more fully in the discussion below, are as follows. We argue that:</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> Young people are agentic and capable;</item> <p></p> <item> High‐quality, social justice‐oriented arts experiences enable young people to become artivists;</item> <p></p> <item> Arts‐rich learnings empower young people;</item> <p></p> <item> The Arts activate young people's becomings through process and experience.</item> </ulist> <hd id="AN0186111003-7">The participatory doings of this study: Walking A/r/tography</hd> <p>Arts‐based methodologies seek to nurture opportunities and address questions differently than standard scientific methods will allow (Leavy [<reflink idref="bib39" id="ref42">39</reflink>]). As previously noted, the Arts are indeed integral to the development of young people and can act as vehicles for them to express their feelings, emotions and thoughts through creative practice and critical thinking (Barton [<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref43">2</reflink>]). Thus, engaging the Arts with young people offers a rich potentiality for outcomes to emerge through various art forms that expression through language alone may not (Barton [<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref44">2</reflink>]). A singular arts‐based methodology is a/r/tography.</p> <hd id="AN0186111003-8">A/r/tography: a methodology, practice and process</hd> <p>A/r/tography was the first of its kind with a focus on art <emph>as</emph> research in educational inquiry (Sullivan [<reflink idref="bib52" id="ref45">52</reflink>]; Irwin & Springgay [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref46">26</reflink>]). The term a/r/tography was established through the seminal work of Irwin and de Cosson initially, and its methodology in the early years focused on the interrelated characteristics of artist, teacher and researcher (the a/r/t) (Irwin & de Cosson [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref47">28</reflink>]). A/r/tography reconnoitres the interplay with and between these identities through active artistic practice and writing, which informs research through a continuous feedback loop that allows the research to succumb to the multifaceted nature of the artmaking, research, and teaching. Often in a/r/tography, all parties involved are viewed as researchers rather than as participants, in constant states of being and becoming that never come to an endpoint in the research and are always in flux (Irwin [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref48">25</reflink>]). Further, a/r/tographic researchers reflect on lived experiences as they work through the Arts to question and theorise new concepts and possibilities.</p> <p>A/r/tography is grounded in qualitative research traditions. However, a/r/tography is always conceptualised idiosyncratically but universally based on living inquiry; it is a methodology of potentials (Lasczik Cutcher & Irwin [<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref49">37</reflink>]). In many ways, the processes of a/r/tography are rhizomatic. Theory is no longer an abstract concept, but rather alive, an interstitial space for creating, teaching, learning and inquiring, moving in‐between spaces in a constant state of becoming (Irwin <emph>et al</emph>. [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref50">30</reflink>]). Therefore, products and processes are seen as relational (Irwin & Springgay [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref51">29</reflink>]), in keeping with the onto‐epistemo‐relationality of this study.</p> <p>As an a/r/tographer engages the inquiry with a reflexive and reflective stance, the research is rigorous (Irwin & Springgay [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref52">26</reflink>]). Actions taken by a/r/tographers cannot be separated from the self but are integral to the very essence of the act of research. In addition, as Springgay & Irwin ([<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref53">31</reflink>]) suggest, concepts are intersubjective, flexible locations, to which close analysis will create the potential for new opportunities, understandings and meanings. Thus, artists weave connections between their ideas, cognition, data and lived experiences as they employ their senses to construct and deconstruct meaning (Irwin & Springgay [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref54">26</reflink>]). Since its inception, the method of a/r/tography has informed research in a variety of ways, shapes and forms, particularly relevant to educational reform (Ewing [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref55">19</reflink>]; Irwin [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref56">25</reflink>]; Sasso [<reflink idref="bib51" id="ref57">51</reflink>]). In this study, the a/r/tography is authentically participatory in that the young people at the Atlantis School were the team of researchers who conducted the initial fieldwork and analyses.</p> <hd id="AN0186111003-9">Walking A/r/tography</hd> <p>In assembling the fieldwork for the study, the young people attended a research training workshop (Cutter‐Mackenzie‐Knowles & Rousell [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref58">11</reflink>]) to prepare them for the data collection phases to happen onsite in the Gondwana Rainforest and subsequently in the studio classroom. The research training workshops had several protocols that oriented them to the project and the fieldwork site. Briefly, they were:</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> Acknowledgement of Country and orientation to Country by an Aboriginal Elder (Aunty Joyce);</item> <p></p> <item> Further cultural and geographic orientation to the fieldwork site;</item> <p></p> <item> Orientation to the project and its aims;</item> <p></p> <item> Orientation to the methodology of a/r/tography, including mapping and walking practices;</item> <p></p> <item> Walking and mapping experiments with devices and visual diaries;</item> <p></p> <item> Drawing and mark‐making experiments;</item> <p></p> <item> Reflections and evaluations.</item> </ulist> <p>The research training workshops produced a suite of activities that engaged the young people in artmaking practices and gave them experience with materials that could be used onsite during the fieldwork. They were supplied with various drawing and painting materials, tools and surfaces, a visual diary, and a tablet for photography and video.[<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref59">5</reflink>] It was important that the art materials and surfaces were of high quality, and we invested much of our budget to this end. As experienced educators, we understand that artmaking can be hindered when the materialities of the resources underwhelm, given that materials influence outcomes. Thus, it was essential that watercolours, charcoal, pastels, graphite pencils, paint, brushes, mediums, surfaces and other technologies were portable and able to sustain both layered and spontaneous investigations onsite and in the studio.</p> <p>The research training workshop also enabled the young people to come to know that for many of them, their presence on Country was as guests and that it was essential that Indigenous protocols were observed. These protocols were presented to them by Aboriginal Elder Aunty Joyce, who also shared stories of geography, flora and Aboriginal history. The social justice element of this project was always foregrounded – at the research training workshop, whilst on site and then also back in the studio.</p> <p>Once onsite, the young people walked and mapped the site through photography and video, created sketches in their visual diaries, completed collaborative and individual, large works on paper and canvas and collaborative and individual seismic drawings (Figure 1). The youth researchers collectively designed a suite of propositions through which they could work. They included:</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> Look upwards, downwards and through;</item> <p></p> <item> Map your movements;</item> <p></p> <item> Create on your own and with others.</item> </ulist> <p> <img src="https://imageserver.ebscohost.com/img/embimages/rdk/Q0T/01may25/jade12562-fig-0001.jpg?ephost1=dGJyMNXb4kSepq84yOvqOLCmsE6epq5Srqa4SK6WxWXS" alt="jade12562-fig-0001.jpg" title="1 Young People Walking and Mapping the Gondwana Rainforest in Southeast Queensland, Australia, Through Seismic Drawing, Photography, and Video." /> </p> <p></p> <p>The researchers could engage any, all or none of the propositions. In subsequent weeks, the work was assembled at school for scrutiny, review, analysis and curating. These studio days were scheduled to allow for layered analyses of the corpus of data and to generate further data as well as for having rich discussions about the social justice elements of the work around Aboriginal land rights and climate change in particular (Figure 2).</p> <p> <img src="https://imageserver.ebscohost.com/img/embimages/rdk/Q0T/01may25/jade12562-fig-0002.jpg?ephost1=dGJyMNXb4kSepq84yOvqOLCmsE6epq5Srqa4SK6WxWXS" alt="jade12562-fig-0002.jpg" title="2 Students Collecting and Creating Data Onsite." /> </p> <p></p> <p>For the purposes of describing the unfoldings of this study, and in keeping with the processes and experiences of the project, the following project narrative is almost entirely image‐based to allow for a close and slow reading. The following visual essay thus details the walkings, mappings and doings onsite by the young researchers prior to the final discussions and theoretical assertions are tied to the visual evidence to further assemble the fabric of artivist childhoods (Figure 3).</p> <p> <img src="https://imageserver.ebscohost.com/img/embimages/rdk/Q0T/01may25/jade12562-fig-0003.jpg?ephost1=dGJyMNXb4kSepq84yOvqOLCmsE6epq5Srqa4SK6WxWXS" alt="jade12562-fig-0003.jpg" title="3 Rubbings of the Rainforest Floor to Create Artwork Backgrounds. However, the Students Decided They Were Complete, Resolved Artworks as They Were." /> </p> <p></p> <hd id="AN0186111003-13">Artivist analyses</hd> <p>In threading theory into practice, it became apparent through the course of this study that the youth researchers took on the challenge of the fieldwork with energy and gusto. They engaged in the processes onsite and back in their studio classroom over a period of several months. In coming to the analyses, they conducted an initial rhizoanalysis of the entire data set, which was no small feat. Rhizoanalysis is a method of non‐hierarchical investigation and critical exploration developed by Deleuze & Guattari ([<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref60">12</reflink>]), which allows for the creation of multiplicity and conceptions through assemblages and affect (Martin [<reflink idref="bib41" id="ref61">41</reflink>], p. 23) (Figure 4).</p> <p> <img src="https://imageserver.ebscohost.com/img/embimages/rdk/Q0T/01may25/jade12562-fig-0004.jpg?ephost1=dGJyMNXb4kSepq84yOvqOLCmsE6epq5Srqa4SK6WxWXS" alt="jade12562-fig-0004.jpg" title="4 Studio Analyses: Further Mappings." /> </p> <p></p> <p>Given the vast and complex data creations, the academic researchers decided to engage a scaffold to initiate the readings of the data. The rhizoanalysis began with a thinking routine[<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref62">6</reflink>] that enabled the youth researchers to read and map across and through the data in its entirety before responding analytically by creating further data. This data included video installations, large‐scale drawings and paintings, poetry, and speculative fiction. These analyses were collective and individual as the youth researchers worked at their own pace, driven by their own interests and compulsions, and generated further mappings rhizomatically. The process was, as Masny ([<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref63">43</reflink>], p. 3) argues, "cartographies relate to mappings, and mappings relate to the rhizome" (Figure 5).</p> <p> <img src="https://imageserver.ebscohost.com/img/embimages/rdk/Q0T/01may25/jade12562-fig-0005.jpg?ephost1=dGJyMNXb4kSepq84yOvqOLCmsE6epq5Srqa4SK6WxWXS" alt="jade12562-fig-0005.jpg" title="5 Screengrab of Jamila's Video Installation." /> </p> <p></p> <hd id="AN0186111003-16">Cartographies of artivism</hd> <p>In this discussion, we take up the theoretical assertions presented earlier to map how the makings, inquiry and analyses of the Walking A/r/tography project enabled and empowered artivist childhoods.</p> <hd id="AN0186111003-17">Young people are agentic and capable</hd> <p>Mayall ([<reflink idref="bib44" id="ref64">44</reflink>]) asserts that within the new sociology of childhood, children are viewed simply as people, who can assert their own rights, feelings and judgements and are social actors and active participants in society. This critical shift in thinking reconceptualises not only the concept and definition of what childhood is but also the ways in which children themselves are understood as active members of society (James [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref65">32</reflink>]). This was evidenced again and again throughout this project. The young researchers made artwork, made choices and made knowledge in the creations and activations of the inquiry. They capably made decisions about materials, analyses and limits, often leading the inquiry's directions into new territories through their creations and codings. They were largely self‐directed in their makings and doings, individually and collaboratively, as experts in their lives, practice and learnings. They demonstrated time and again their agency and decisions confidently and effectively.</p> <hd id="AN0186111003-18">High‐quality, social justice‐oriented arts education enables young people to become artivists</hd> <p>When children come to know through engaging in the Arts, they are aligning their learning with centuries‐old learning practices. The Arts have existed in every place and culture throughout recorded history for reasons of expression, belief, record, politics, sex, power and economics (Berger [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref66">3</reflink>]). Indeed, Art is central to human evolutionary capacity and adaptation; aesthetic faculty is a fundamental component of every human being (Dissanayake [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref67">15</reflink>]). As academic researchers and Arts educators, we have had lifelong experiences in the Arts and advocating for rich, socially just and experiential education for all children of all ages. In this project, we continued activating this legacy by creating the conditions for the young researchers to engage in practice, theory, criticality and an awareness of historical traditions and conventions. When the youth researchers learnt about and through the inquiry practices of Art, they learned that the functions of Art are significant. Some of these knowledges and practices included developing the ability to critically and confidently consume and analyse information, culture, politics and experience. Art communicates, persuades, seduces, and changes minds and ideas (Berger [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref68">3</reflink>]). It is this material potency that provokes agency and the capacity to self‐advocate as an artivist. Learning about and experimenting with the material practices of Arts inquiry not only educates; it arms children with knowledge and techniques they can employ in their own lives. When children learn through Art, they learn how to give their ideas material agency, to communicate deeply held feelings, experiences, creativities and imagination.</p> <p>More importantly, learning about, with and through Art cracks open the world and, in this project, enabled the young researchers to engage ethically in social justice issues through the work of other artists, and the orientation by Aunty Joyce. This is an important concept: a high‐quality Art education should always be occupied with politics, philosophy, civil rights and decolonisation. In Australia, one needs to look no further than Indigenous land rights, sacred and sovereign connections to Country and the impacts of colonisation, as evidenced through various Aboriginal art forms, as we have done in this project. The young people came to understand that such provenance was an integral part of their explorations and mappings on Country, as well as contributing to their developing political awareness and agency.</p> <p>When taken together with an agential childhood, Arts inquiry makes an active posture possible where children learn to become critical about what they consume (Eisner [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref69">16</reflink>]). Learning to read and consume culture, politics, and other information is an essential empowering skill that the Arts make possible (Ewing [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref70">19</reflink>]). Such Arts learnings, combined with children's agency, create conditions for <emph>artivism</emph>: activism through, with and in the Arts (Bunda <emph>et al</emph>. [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref71">4</reflink>]; Lasczik <emph>et al</emph>. [<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref72">38</reflink>]) – for themselves and their own learning, and for others. Artivism makes it possible for children to determine their own philosophical groundings and positions, which they can then enact with confidence. Such empowerment is essential for children who are at educational risk, and access to a/r/tography in such childhoods is socially and materially just.</p> <hd id="AN0186111003-19">Arts‐rich learnings empower young people</hd> <p>As Dewey ([<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref73">14</reflink>]) asserts, Art is a way of predicting that which is not found in scientific concepts, but a truth unravelled by discovery and process. Copious literature supports the notion that enabling students to participate in a range of Arts disciplines promotes both extrinsic and intrinsic benefits (Fiske [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref74">20</reflink>]; Catterall [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref75">5</reflink>]; Ewing [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref76">19</reflink>]). The Arts make connections for students; they feel, they do things that make sense in their own world, they see and experience (Noblit <emph>et al</emph>. [<reflink idref="bib46" id="ref77">46</reflink>]). These outcomes were evident in this project as we observed the focus and confidence of the young researchers in their observations, creations, discussions, and analyses.</p> <p>As the project continued over weeks and months, the young people maintained their concentration and engagements in generating a collective body of work, which was later curated for exhibitions in Australia and internationally. Although invited to co‐publish with the research team, the young people declined, preferring the work to speak for them – yet proud of its display, nevertheless. They appeared acutely aware of the aesthetic origins of their work, that it was speaking back to the site and the experience of being in place, to the other works being created around them, to materiality, to agents, to ambience and to Country. The completed artworks, but more importantly, the processes of creating them, made the thinking of the youth researchers visible, sensed, and material. The processes of fieldwork and studio work were transformative. Raw materials became other things as ideas and imaginations took form (Neelands [<reflink idref="bib45" id="ref78">45</reflink>]).</p> <p>These pedagogies are appropriate for at‐risk young people who often lack control over their learning and lack confidence in experimenting and taking learning chances. This project created the conditions to take such risks and to safely experiment (Eisner [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref79">16</reflink>]), empowering the young researchers through confidence building and positive feedback loops. This process builds further agentic self‐assurance in young people to act as artivists and advocates.</p> <hd id="AN0186111003-20">The Arts activate young people's becomings through process and experience</hd> <p>Artmaking is not a static process. The relationship between the artist, materials, environment, world and audience is flattened; one folds and weaves into one another and unfolds according to process, context, place and materialities. In this inquiry, engaging in a/r/tography enabled young people to participate in complex forms of problem‐solving, in which a slight difference can have a significant effect (Eisner [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref80">16</reflink>]). In this inquiry, engaging in an a/r/tographic inquiry enabled the young researchers to practise making sound judgements through subjective explorations: Art teaches that problems can have more than one solution (Eisner [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref81">16</reflink>]). This a/r/tography facilitated a willingness to engage in the processes of artmaking, surrendering to unknown possibilities through the process as it unfolds (Eisner [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref82">16</reflink>]). Through this creative experience came discovery, aesthetic appreciation and the unfolding of new concepts (Eisner [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref83">16</reflink>]) and becomings. What we noted most strongly was the enhanced confidence of the young people as they came to resolve their artworks in ways that deeply satisfied them. As Eisner ([<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref84">16</reflink>]) asserts, visual work is a sensorial experience; it is embodied and affective. Such embodiments and affectivities were palpably apparent on the fieldwork site and the classroom studio. The young people appeared unilaterally captivated by their activities – often still and mostly focused – for hours at a time. This was an encouraging and ultimately hopeful outcome for young people who are labelled as disengaged and who have previously had many problematic and unsettling educational experiences. The research/learning environments created by them were productive; work was experienced, made and resolved in ongoing fascinations. Such outcomes were deeply motivating and empowering as the young people experienced energising satisfactions, empowering them to advocate for themselves and their learnings as artivists.</p> <hd id="AN0186111003-21">Concluding thoughts</hd> <p>This paper explores but one slice of our <emph>Walking A/r/tography</emph> project with children and young people. In it, we (the authors) worked <emph>with</emph> young people to enable them to experience mastery over their own learning adventures, as doings, knowings and tellings (Cutcher [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref85">9</reflink>]), realised through walking, mapping and making. So successful was the curriculum co‐designed by the young people through these agentic actions, thoughts and ideas that it is now permanently part of the Atlantis learning program for Year 11 students, an a/r/tographic inquiry that can be tailored to need, interest and ability. This is because high‐quality Art experiences build upon the agentic capacities inherent in human children, yet otherwise dormant in classrooms and school settings that do not privilege the Arts. Taken with an acceptance of the capacity of children to agentically determine their own learnings and becomings, the combination of childhood agency and Arts‐rich learning experiences yield artivist childhoods. This dynamic ensures that children become co‐creators of their own futures through learning that is socially just and culturally competent.</p> <p>As Eisner asserts, "the limits of language are not the limits of cognition. We know more than we can tell" ([<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref86">17</reflink>], p. 8). Sometimes we <emph>can</emph> tell, artfully, covertly, poetically, privately, politically – through artivism.</p> <hd id="AN0186111003-22">Acknowledgement</hd> <p>The authors acknowledge that this research has taken place on various sovereign lands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We acknowledge that these lands were never ceded and belong to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of the nation known as Australia. We would like to pay our deep respects to the Elders from the times before and the times now, for their strength and courage and ongoing leadership.</p> <p>We also would like to acknowledge the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for awarding funding for this project, Mapping A/r/tography, under its Partnership Development Grant Scheme, and all of the educators, children and parents who generously contributed to this project. Open access publishing facilitated by Southern Cross University, as part of the Wiley ‐ Southern Cross University agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.</p> <ref id="AN0186111003-23"> <title> Footnotes </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" idref="ref1" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> See https://nicoleyslee.wixsite.com/mappingartography for further detail.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib2" idref="ref2" type="bt">2</bibl> <bibtext> The project was funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Partnership Development Grant (PDG) entitled <emph>Mapping A/r/tography: Transnational storytelling across historical and cultural routes of significance</emph>, led by Rita L Irwin from The University of British Columbia.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib3" idref="ref3" type="bt">3</bibl> <bibtext> Pseudonyms are used throughout this paper.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib4" idref="ref4" type="bt">4</bibl> <bibtext> Independent schools are private schools that are overseen by a board of governors or trustees and have been servicing Queensland education for more than 150 years. There are over 200 member schools, which have the vital role of educating more than 120,000 students, catering for 15% of Queensland's school enrolments. Within the Independent School sector exists Special Assistance Schools (SAS), which provide alternative educational settings for students with high‐level needs, and cater for students with disabilities, as well as students who are at risk, have behavioural difficulties, or whose needs are better met by flexible learning structures. In 2021, the number of SAS schools has expanded to 21 in QLD operating over 30 different campuses, which is three times the amount since 2013 (Henebery [23]).</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib5" idref="ref59" type="bt">5</bibl> <bibtext> Not all of the young people had their own devices to capture photographs and video, so one was supplied to them if needed whilst engaging in the onsite fieldwork.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib6" idref="ref31" type="bt">6</bibl> <bibtext> The thinking routine chosen was Harvard Project Zero's 'see, think, wonder' protocol. It was an accessible way for the youth researchers to begin their rhizonalysis. See https://pz.harvard.edu/resources/see‐think‐wonder.</bibtext> </blist> </ref> <ref id="AN0186111003-24"> <title> References </title> <blist> <bibtext> Barad, K. (2007) Meeting the universe halfway: quantum physics and the entanglement of matter and meaning. 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(2015) School community partnerships: raising engagement and enhancing learning, Teacher Learning Network, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 24 – 5.</bibtext> </blist> </ref> <aug> <p>By Tahlia Lasczik; Alexandra Lasczik and Amy Cutter‐Mackenzie‐Knowles</p> <p>Reported by Author; Author; Author</p> <p></p> <p>Tahlia Lasczik is the Executive Principal of Ohana for Youth, which has strategic and operational oversight of three secondary campuses that cater for young people at risk of educational disengagement. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this role and is currently in the planning stages of creating further campuses throughout Queensland that focus on youth justice. Tahlia holds a Bachelor of Education (Secondary), a Bachelor of Behavioural Studies (Psychology), and a Master of Forensic Mental Health. She is currently a Doctoral Candidate at Southern Cross University, researching the topic of 'School Improvement through the Arts'.</p> <p>Alexandra Lasczik is Professor, Arts and Education, in the Faculty of Education at Southern Cross University, Australia. She is Associate Dean, Education Partnerships and Research co‐Leader of the Sustainability, Environment and the Arts in Education Research Centre (SEAE). Professor Lasczik is an expert educator with 40 years' experience in Visual Arts education. Movement, displacement and climate change education are themes in Professor Lasczik's work, as are the Arts and Arts‐based Educational Research (ABER), particularly A/r/tography. She is committed to equity and social justice, and her spirited advocacy of a high‐quality Arts education for all spans her entire career.</p> <p>Amy Cutter‐Mackenzie‐Knowles is a Professor of Sustainability, Environment and Education at Southern Cross University. She is also the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Education, as well as the Research Leader of the 'Sustainability, Environment and the Arts in Education' (SEAE) Research Centre. Professor Cutter‐Mackenzie‐Knowles's research centres on climate change, childhoodnature, posthuman philosophy, and child‐framed research methodologies. She is particularly focused on the pivot points between climate, childhood, Country, and education. She has led over 40 national/international research projects and published more than 150 publications. Cutter‐Mackenzie‐Knowles's most recent book is entitled 'Posthuman Research Playspaces: Climate Child Imaginaries'</p> </aug> <nolink nlid="nl1" bibid="bib38" firstref="ref5"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl2" bibid="bib47" firstref="ref7"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl3" bibid="bib42" firstref="ref8"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl4" bibid="bib18" firstref="ref9"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl5" bibid="bib53" firstref="ref10"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl6" bibid="bib49" firstref="ref11"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl7" bibid="bib48" firstref="ref14"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl8" bibid="bib33" firstref="ref15"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl9" bibid="bib34" firstref="ref16"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl10" bibid="bib21" firstref="ref17"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl11" bibid="bib20" firstref="ref20"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl12" bibid="bib19" firstref="ref21"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl13" bibid="bib50" firstref="ref25"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl14" bibid="bib36" firstref="ref28"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl15" bibid="bib22" firstref="ref29"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl16" bibid="bib35" firstref="ref30"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl17" bibid="bib27" firstref="ref34"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl18" bibid="bib24" firstref="ref35"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl19" bibid="bib12" firstref="ref36"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl20" bibid="bib10" firstref="ref37"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl21" bibid="bib13" firstref="ref39"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl22" bibid="bib40" firstref="ref40"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl23" bibid="bib39" firstref="ref42"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl24" bibid="bib52" firstref="ref45"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl25" bibid="bib26" firstref="ref46"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl26" bibid="bib28" firstref="ref47"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl27" bibid="bib25" firstref="ref48"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl28" bibid="bib37" firstref="ref49"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl29" bibid="bib30" firstref="ref50"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl30" bibid="bib29" firstref="ref51"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl31" bibid="bib31" firstref="ref53"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl32" bibid="bib51" firstref="ref57"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl33" bibid="bib11" firstref="ref58"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl34" bibid="bib41" firstref="ref61"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl35" bibid="bib43" firstref="ref63"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl36" bibid="bib44" firstref="ref64"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl37" bibid="bib32" firstref="ref65"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl38" bibid="bib15" firstref="ref67"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl39" bibid="bib16" firstref="ref69"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl40" bibid="bib14" firstref="ref73"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl41" bibid="bib46" firstref="ref77"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl42" bibid="bib45" firstref="ref78"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl43" bibid="bib17" firstref="ref86"></nolink>
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  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Artivist Childhoods
– Name: Language
  Label: Language
  Group: Lang
  Data: English
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Tahlia+Lasczik%22">Tahlia Lasczik</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Alexandra+Lasczik%22">Alexandra Lasczik</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7013-2090">0000-0001-7013-2090</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Amy+Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles%22">Amy Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles</searchLink>
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22International+Journal+of+Art+%26+Design+Education%22"><i>International Journal of Art & Design Education</i></searchLink>. 2025 44(2):462-478.
– Name: Avail
  Label: Availability
  Group: Avail
  Data: Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
– Name: PeerReviewed
  Label: Peer Reviewed
  Group: SrcInfo
  Data: Y
– Name: Pages
  Label: Page Count
  Group: Src
  Data: 17
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2025
– Name: TypeDocument
  Label: Document Type
  Group: TypDoc
  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Evaluative
– Name: Audience
  Label: Education Level
  Group: Audnce
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Secondary+Education%22">Secondary Education</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Descriptors
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Foreign+Countries%22">Foreign Countries</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Secondary+School+Students%22">Secondary School Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Student+Projects%22">Student Projects</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Student+Research%22">Student Research</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Studio+Art%22">Studio Art</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Data+Collection%22">Data Collection</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Data+Analysis%22">Data Analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Activism%22">Activism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+Justice%22">Social Justice</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Art+Activities%22">Art Activities</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Student+Empowerment%22">Student Empowerment</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Learner+Engagement%22">Learner Engagement</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Transformative+Learning%22">Transformative Learning</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Geographic Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Australia%22">Australia</searchLink>
– Name: DOI
  Label: DOI
  Group: ID
  Data: 10.1111/jade.12562
– Name: ISSN
  Label: ISSN
  Group: ISSN
  Data: 1476-8062<br />1476-8070
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: The rise in the number of young people disengaged from mainstream schooling is reaching critical proportions. This paper explores a child-framed participatory inquiry known as The Walking A/r/tography Project, which sought to challenge, empower and engage youth at risk in one Special Assistance Secondary School in Southeast Queensland through a/r/tographic mappings of place and subsequent critical and creative experiences in the classroom studio. The young people were invited to the project as researchers, who collected, generated and analysed data, resulting in agentic activist positionings. Extensive literature supports the benefits of an Arts-rich environment, which can enable impactful social justice learnings and a deep awareness of social and political activism, particularly when they are experienced through contemporary artworks and artmaking practices. Such experiences and knowings can tie learning in, through and with the Arts directly to educational activism, where student voice and agency are foregrounded for the purposes of empowerment and disruptive, transformational learning. The findings of this study assert that young people at risk can co-create and reimagine their educational experiences to engage in schooling more positively as Artivists.
– Name: AbstractInfo
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  Data: As Provided
– Name: DateEntry
  Label: Entry Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2025
– Name: AN
  Label: Accession Number
  Group: ID
  Data: EJ1474784
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=eric&AN=EJ1474784
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    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1111/jade.12562
    Languages:
      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 17
        StartPage: 462
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Foreign Countries
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Secondary School Students
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Student Projects
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Student Research
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Studio Art
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Data Collection
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Data Analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Activism
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social Justice
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Art Activities
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Student Empowerment
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Learner Engagement
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Transformative Learning
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Australia
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Artivist Childhoods
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
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      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Tahlia Lasczik
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Alexandra Lasczik
      – PersonEntity:
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            NameFull: Amy Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles
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            – D: 01
              M: 05
              Type: published
              Y: 2025
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 1476-8062
            – Type: issn-electronic
              Value: 1476-8070
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              Value: 44
            – Type: issue
              Value: 2
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: International Journal of Art & Design Education
              Type: main
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