ERIC EJ800303: Madhubani Art: A Journey of an Education Researcher Seeking Self-Development Answers through Art and Self-Study

The Qualitative Report Volume 13 Number 2 June 2008 244-261
http ://www. nova, edu/ssss/ QR/QR 1 3 -2/mittapalli .pdf

Madhubani Art: A Journey of an Education Researcher
Seeking Self-Development Answers through Art and Self-

Study

Kavita Mittapalli and Anastasia P. Samaras

George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

This study is situated within a self-study research methods course to
scaffold doctored students’ explorations of the intersections of their
culture, and research interests using arts as a tool. Embracing the arts as
a research method, the first author painted a self-portrait using the
vibrant colors of Madhubani art which holds cultured significance to her.
She utilized Blumer’s (1986) and Mead’s (1934) theory of symbolic
interactionism to explain the process of her self-development as a
researcher. Combining her self-portrait with an earlier research study
proved veduable as a conduit for understanding and interpreting her work
as a research methodologist. This study is valuable to others interested in
studying their practice and research identity through an arts-based
research method. Key Words: Self-study, Arts-based Self-study,

Madhubani Art, and Learning Qualitative Research

Introduction and Background

This work grew out of a newly designed doctoral level course taught by Anastasia
that offered students an opportunity to both learn about and apply the self-study research
methodology; a qualitative approach for systematically examining one’s role and interest
in an area of research with applications for improving one’s situated professional
practice. The course, self-study qualitative research methodology, included a
comprehensive synthesis of the self-study literature: purposes, foundations, nature, and
guidelines for application. Students learned about and applied self-study methodological
requirements integrated with assignments that were individual and collective, personal
and interpersonal, and private and public (Samaras & Freese, 2006). The methodology
requires specific dispositions, i.e., openness, reflection, collaboration, validation with
critical friends, transparent data analysis and process, and improvement-aimed work
which contributes to professional knowledge. Class assignments are designed to stimulate
deep reflection on the concept of the “self’ within a professional/practitioner context.

Self-study is “a component of reflection where faculty and students are asked to
critically examine their actions and the context of those actions as a way of developing a
more consciously-driven mode of professional activity, as contrasted with action based
on habit, tradition, or impulse” (Samaras, 2002). Self-study scholars inquire thoughtfully
and deliberatively into their often taken-for-granted practice and the assumptions
embedded in their practice. This reflective assessment pushes the researcher to a closer
examination of one’s research practice, an understanding of the impact of personal

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experience, and a reframed professional stance (Loughran, 2007). Researchers may
recognize a disparity in what they believe and what they actually do in practice
(Whitehead, 1989). Although there is a large body of research related to the self-study of
teacher educators and teachers, particularly through arts-based research (e.g., Hamilton,
Pinnegar, Russell, Loughran, & LaBoskey, 1998; Loughran & Russell, 1997, 2002;
Mitchell & Weber, 1999; Russell & Korthagen, 1995; Samaras & Reed, 2000), there are
limited examples of its usefulness to practitioners outside of the teaching profession.
Anastasia invited students to explore the applicability of the methodology to their work
as professionals and specifically to develop self-study research exemplars (Samaras et al.,
2007).

Arts-based Self-Study Method

As self-study researchers we offer an example of utilizing one self-study method
taught in this course, i.e., an arts-based self-study method as a research tool. The arts-
based self-study method promotes and provokes self-reflection, critical analysis, and
dialogue about improving one’s research through the arts (Samaras & Freese, 2006).
Arts-based self-study researchers use a wide range of art forms to represent and
reinterpret, construct and deconstruct meaning, and communicate their study of
researching as they make it public. It can take many forms including visual/image based
arts, e.g., portraits, performance, photography, video documentary, art installations,
multi-media representations, films, drawings, cartoons, graffiti, signs, cyber graphics, and
diagrams.

Holzman (1997) notes that the arts are a conduit for dialectical unity for our
capacity to relate to ourselves and others. She explains that learning and development are
inseparably intertwined and emergent, that is, who we are and simultaneously who we are
becoming. Arts-based education research, as Barone (1995) and Barone and Eisner,
(1997) argue, leads to empathy and a deeper understanding of research that is not
possible with traditional representations. Research in its traditional fonn aims to create an
understanding of the research situation through the processes of experimentation,
observation, and control of that situation. Arts-based educational research creates an
understanding of a general situation through a descriptive analysis of that specific
situation or a process while, at the same time, encouraging an audience or a reader to
question his or her biases and examine his own experiences concerning that situation
(Eisner, 1995). Dewey (1934/1980) states that art can appear to be initiated through an
"emotional discharge" (p. 61) or "inspiration" (p. 66), however he has no doubt that an
artist must be able to analyze his or her own personal history and experience in order for
there to be sufficient material on which to base a work of art.

In this research course, each student was asked to design and present a self-portrait
as a developing self-study scholar using an art medium of their choice, e.g., sketch paper,
pencils, poster paper, markers, clay, crepe paper, felt, colored pencils, oil paint,
watercolor sets, crayons, cardboard, wood, etc. Students were assured that the activity did
not require any artistic training in portrait making and they would not be evaluated in that
manner. After students completed their portraits, they were prompted to reflect, write
about, and share their self-portrait with the class. Anastasia gave them numerous prompts
to stimulate their reflection, for example, any learning or research experiences and/or

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dilemmas depicted in the portraits; the historical, social and cultural context of their self-
portrait; portrayal and perceptions of identity and gender as a researcher; relationships to
others who might be in the painting, meaning of the portrait background; a possible title
for the portrait; and any markers of one’s research journey. Samaras and Freese (2006)
stated,

Self-portraits are a form of text useful for reading, broadening, and
communicating an understanding of one’s self-study research practice and
learning. Self-portraits generate data useful for researchers’ professional
knowing. Dialogue with peers about portraits is a means to construct and
reconstruct one’s thinking about who you are as a developing self-study
scholar, (p. 167)

Anastasia offered an alternative soil for thought to seed with prompts of
nourishment, constant questioning, pushing for clarity, and assisting to fonnalize it into a
study. As a professor and a mentor, Anastasia helped to shape the students’ ideas about
self-study and its application in their field of study or practice and helped to define the
focus of their self-portraits. This article presents an arts-based self-study research project
of the self-portrait work of the first author (hereafter I). Anastasia’s contribution to this
piece is multi-fold; as a co-author, an expert in self-study methodology and as an
instructor and mentor to me throughout the learning process.

My Research Path to the Self-Study Course

As a doctoral student specializing in research methodology, I was required to
take seven courses altogether in qualitative and quantitative research methods. I had
already taken five research methods courses being offered in my department between fall
2004 and spring 2006 and had two courses remaining in order to complete my majors. I
was aware of the course requirements for the mixed methods course that was being
offered the following fall but wasn’t sure about the new course in self-study methodology
being offered that spring. I contacted Anastasia asking her about this self-study course
option and this discussion convinced me that I would learn about a new research
methodology called self-study. The self-study course had variety in its structure and
collaborative activities. It was in this course that all the students were required to make a
self-portrait. I chose to make my self-portrait as a researcher in three stages for my
inquiry project into self-development as an education researcher

My Arts-based Self-Study Project

The study aimed to examine my self-development process as a researcher from
the perspective of examining and understanding how I learned to conduct qualitative
research using arts. The arts contributed to the construction of my self-development as a
researcher. I painted a self-portrait and shared it with peers in the self-study class. I
learned about Madhubani art many years ago in India as an undergraduate student from a
friend majoring in fine arts but I did not foresee its power in opening a pathway to my
research process. The art form is deeply rooted in my history, culture, and experiences.

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How I became an Education Researcher

My academic story begins in year 2000, six months after coming to the United
States to start a new life away from my home in India. I had earned a degree while in
India in Agricultural Sciences with several courses in agricultural statistics and farm
engineering. It was in my senior year when I was exposed to qualitative research when as
part of my minor (Rural Extension), I went to a village in north India to learn about the
various agricultural methods the farmers were using to grow rice. As a team member, I
interviewed the women of the village to learn more about their problems and issues
obtaining the rice grains, the village bureaucracy and influences of the weather on their
crop production. For me, the whole process of trying to learn from the farmers first-hand
and not just compiling data in our classrooms/lab was a big revelation. It was as if I were
taken to the next higher level of conducting research. With the hope to continue my
learning more about this new method, I came to the United States as a student to pursue
graduate studies in applied sociology. The various qualitative methods courses provided
the fuel to my yearning to delve into this newfound world of research. Upon graduation, I
joined a research and evaluation organization to evaluate an education program. After
three years of working there, I decided that I needed to leam more about research
methods and applied to graduate school to specialize in research methodology. It was in
graduate school that I learned about methodologies such as self-study.

Theoretical Framework

The lens used to frame my investigation about self-study is through symbolic
interactionism theory (Blumer, 1986; Mead, 1934). Symbolic interactionism, or
interactionism, is one of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology. Blumer and
Mead emphasized the subjective meaning of human behavior, the social process, and
pragmatism. Interactionists focus on the subjective aspects of social life, rather than on
objective, macro-structural aspects of social systems. One reason for this focus is that
interactionists base their theoretical perspective on their image of humans, rather than on
their image of society (as the functionalists do). For interactionists, humans are pragmatic
actors who continually must adjust their behavior to the actions of other actors. We can
adjust to these actions only because we are able to interpret them, i.e., to denote them
symbolically and treat the actions and those who perform them as symbolic objects. The
process is further aided by our ability to think about and to react to our own actions and
even our selves as symbolic objects. Thus, the interactionist theorist sees humans as
active, creative participants who construct their social world, not as passive, conforming
objects of socialization (Mead). My ways of knowing are based on an interactionist view
of the world that sees humans as active, creative participants who construct their social
worlds.

Research Questions

My self-study included the following research questions: (a) How do I leam to do
qualitative research; (b) What are the stages of my evolution as an education researcher;

Kavita Mittapalli and Anastasia P. Samaras

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and (c) How does employing an art form help me better understand my specialization as a
research methodologist?

Methods

Data Collection

The method utilized was arts-based self-study with the medium of Madhubani art.
I made a self-portrait using that art form to support my task of applying self-study to
better understand my practice. Data for my arts-based study were collected during a
semester long course. The primary data sources included: (a) personal interviews with
three doctoral students conducted in another course that served as a precursor to the
current study and as an inspiration to make the self-portrait; (b) my self-study portrait
using Madhubani art fonn; and (c) a narrative on the process of making and reflecting on
the self-portrait. As part of the self-study research course, peer-feedback, constant
correspondence with Anastasia and fellow students served to validate the process of self-
study. I discuss each of these primary data sources next.

Interviews with Doctoral Students

As a graduate research assistant to another professor in a previous semester, I
worked on a project, “How do students learn qualitative research”? I conducted personal
interviews with three advanced level graduate students to understand how they learned to
do qualitative research, while comparing it with my own process of learning qualitative
research. Among the students were one male and two female students who I shall call
Harvey, Diane, and Lena respectively. They were working on their dissertations at the
time of the interviews. All of them had acquired qualitative research experience through
one of the two graduate-level courses. Like me, they all had come from a quantitative
professional background. Harvey was an engineer with an interest in visual learning.
Diane was an accountant interested in adult literacy and Lena was a teacher educator
interested in brain research in teaching. Diane’s interview was conducted at the university
library on campus, while Harvey’s and Lena’s were conducted over the phone since they
were located in different states.

For data coding, I used the connecting and categorizing method (Maxwell &
Miller, 2001). Maxwell and Miller have contributed to the theory of qualitative data
analysis by drawing primarily from linguistics, studying two types of relationships: those
based on similarity and those based on contiguity (Jakobson, 1987; Lyons, 1968;
Saussure, 1986). Maxwell and Miller comment,

Similarity-based relations involve resemblances or common features; in
qualitative data analysis, similarities and differences are generally used to
define categories and to group and compare data by category. The
strategies that focus on relationships of similarity are categorizing
strategies and coding is the most prevalent categorizing strategy in
qualitative research. Contiguity-based relations, on the other hand, are

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connections that are identified among data in an actual context (such as an
interview transcript or observational fieldnotes). These include relations in
time or space, links of one-directional or reciprocal influence, or relations
among parts of a narrative. They refer to strategies that focus on
relationships of contiguity as connecting strategies, (p. 1)

Categorizing strategies take the data in their segmented form; they label them with
discrete codes or in terms of particular themes. These data are then grouped by category,
examined and compared, both within and between categories. The most prevalent
categorizing strategy in qualitative data analysis is coding (Maxwell & Miller, 2001).
Connecting analytic strategies, analyzing and reducing data; this is generally done by
identifying key relationships that bind the data together into a narrative or a sequence.

I used the categorizing method to fonn codes in each of the interview transcripts
based on the similarity of emerging codes and compared them across the data set. I used
the connecting method to identify relationships of data within each interview transcript to
form a sequence. In order to form categories across the interviews, a separate profile for
each individual participant was developed and then grouped according to the categories
formed. Charts 1-3 present concept maps for all the interviewees.

The technique of concept maps was developed by J. D. Novak and his researchers
at Cornell University in the 1970s. It is a technique for visualizing the relationships
among different concepts/ideas/thoughts. The various concepts/ideas/thoughts are
connected with labeled arrows, in a downward-branching hierarchical structure. The
relationship between concepts is articulated in linking phrases, e.g., "gives rise to,"
"results in," or "leads to" (Novak, 1995). Concept maps can be used to generate ideas,
and are believed to aid creativity. For example, concept maps are sometimes used for
brain-storming. Although they are often personalized, they can be used to communicate
complex ideas (Novak, 1998). Table 1 presents the category profile across the three
transcripts with common themes across them (highlighted). It should be noted that the
tables and concept maps are only a way to exhibit the data across the three interviews and
depict the narratives themselves, rather than analyses of the data.

Table 1

Categorizing the Codes Across the Interviews

Categories

Harvey

Diane

Lena

Area of interest

Process of visual
learning

Adult education

Brain research in teaching

Differences between
basic and advanced
qualitative courses

Basic-1 learned the
process of
qualitative research,
got the idea how it
works.

Advanced- It was
‘more focused’,
‘technical.’ I
learned the various
paradigms, used

Basic- It helped to get to
know the ‘process’,
through (reading)
articles.

Advanced- 1 came to
‘know the mechanics’ of
qualitative research,
‘interviewing
techniques’,

‘categorizing and coding

Advanced- 1 learned the
various coding approaches-
used the approach of
developing themes-codes-
mind maps for my research.
Used prose/poetry in
qualitative research. I
developed mind maps for
each of my teacher
interview.

Kavita Mittapalli and Anastasia P. Samaras

250

concept maps and
narratives in my
research, found the
interactive design
approach useful for
my research.
Qualitative research
is an open process.

processes’.

What did I learn in

- Participants’

-Understand my

- Understand my

qualitative research?

perspectives.

participants’

participants’ perspectives.

- Findings should

perspectives.

- Researcher relationship

be grounded in a

- Be aware of my role as

is important for my

contextual

a researcher.

research with teachers.

framework.

- Using software to code

- Used reflection memos

- Learned that

data.

and journals for my

qualitative research

- Thinking about codes

teachers as well as myself.

can explain

while collecting rather

- Used prose in data

causation through

than having them (she

analysis.

paradigms.

refers to this because she

- Mind maps for each

- Qualitative

learned that it was

teacher’s transcript.

research enables

important not to start

- Research is nested in a

you to design your

coding during the

context.

research as you go-

interview but to think

- Peer feedback is useful

it’s an open

about the various codes)

for validity.

process.

- Passion for what I do-

- I, the researcher ‘color’

- Be aware of

adult literacy issues. .

the research (reactivity).

validity issues.

- Knowing the culture of

- Reflection is vital (for

- Used memos in

my participants.

teachers and me).

my research.

- Used software to
code data.

- Used a
combination of
concept maps and
narratives. Concept
maps helped to look
beyond the details,
enabled me to
understand things
better.

- Be aware of researcher
bias (reactivity).

- Interviewing techniques
(making note of pauses
in conversation)

- Learning by ‘doing’

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Chart 1 (Harvey) - an engineer by profession, interested in visual learning

Research courses Basic and Advanced

Learned

Paradigms ▼

Ways of knowing

Interviewing and Coding techniques. Concept maps, Reflexivity,

Applied

(Applied research techniques to his dissertation research on visual learning )

1) Reflection memos in class and interviews

2) Role of researcher

3) Participants’ perspectives

4) Providing a context to research

5) Developed a conceptual framework of research

6) Developed concept maps of his interviewees

7) Awareness of validity issues

8) Qualitative interviews using interpretative research approach

9) Mixed methods approach in dissertation

“I learned qualitative research by being able to provide a context to research process; applying the
techniques 1 learned in the two courses and keeping the paradigms in my mind. I found memo
writing most useful throughout my research learning process.”

Chart 2 (Diane) - an accountant by profession, interested in adult literacy

Research courses Basic and Advanced

Learned

▼ T

Reactivity

Paradigms

Ways of knowing

Interviewing and Coding techniques. Concept maps, Reflexivity,

Applied

(Applied research techniques to her dissertation research on adult literacy)

Kavita Mittapalli and Anastasia P. Samaras

252

1) Participants’ perspectives and culture

2) Reflection memos in class

3) Coding the interviews

4) Role of researcher and biasness

5) Developed a conceptual framework of research

6) Qualitative dissertation

“Passion for learning the research process first hand in the field drove me to it. I was a participant
in my research and I was fully aware of my ‘coloring’ the process. Reflective memos were very
helpful in providing me the context and giving me a perspective to my study.”

Chart 3 Lena, a teacher educator interested in brain research in teaching

Research courses -> Basic and Advanced

Learned

Paradigms if

Ways of knowing

Interviewing and Coding techniques. Concept maps, Reflexivity,

Reactivity

Applied

(Applied research techniques to her dissertation research on brain science and teaching)

1) Used reflection memos

2) Peer feedback

3) Developed a conceptual framework of research

4) Developed concept maps of her interviewees (mind mapping)

5) Researcher relationship with participants

6) Learning by doing

7) Context to research

8) Used narrative in her dissertation in the form of poetry

9) Mixed methods approach in dissertation

“1 learned qualitative research by actually “doing” it after learning the various techniques in the two
courses. Learning to understand my participants’ perspectives was vital to my learning process. ”

The research with the doctoral students served as a background and an inspiration
to work on a self-portrait for the self-study course the following semester. The portrait
triggered in tne the following questions: How have I learned to do qualitative research?
What in qualitative research makes me appreciate it so much? How do I perceive myself
both as a qualitative as well as a quantitative researcher after all these years of working

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and being a graduate student? What have I learned from these students who have also
come from a quantitative background? Thus, the interviews made me formulate my
thinking about my own journey as a researcher: how I developed as a researcher from a
quantitative academic background of an agriculture undergraduate major to an
educational researcher and evaluator who uses both the methods. The interviewees’
thought processes of being flexible, reflecting from work, learning by doing, and being
aware of my participants’ backgrounds, resonated with my own perception about learning
to do qualitative research. It was these components of qualitative research that framed the
elements of my self-portrait. I saw myself only as a quantitative researcher earlier in my
undergraduate studies, where I was trained in statistics, and used crop data to predict the
future productivity of a crop at a given time. It was as if I was collecting and analyzing
data mechanically, there was no “human” interaction, or trying to understand where my
participants’ perceptions were coming from. My exposure to qualitative research methods
opened a new window to my thought process; of understanding my participants’ views
and perceptions while thinking about my own. Being a researcher, I was also inviting bias
into research. Being aware of that while working with my participants was a revelation. I
was not taught about it any of my statistics courses in my undergraduate classes.
Therefore, my self-portrait clearly depicts my growth and development as a researcher.
The assignment provided me a way to use my earlier research work as a background and
draw a self-portrait.

The interviews were an important episode to unfold in my own research learning
trajectory. Many thoughts of my academic life and of the experiences which shaped it
were brought to the foreground from tracing the itineraries of these students in the
graduate program (Hubennan, 1993). As a result, I view the self-portrait as a powerful
resource for reflecting on my own academic and professional past, present, and future.

My Self-Study Project and the Madhubani Art Form

Madhubani art has its origins in the Madhubani district in the eastern state of
Bihar in India. It began as a traditional family form of art where it is handed over from
one generation to another for centuries. The world at large came to know of Madhubani
and the women as "artists" only in the last four decades. The painting is mainly depicted
on walls, paper, cloth, religious and decorative ceramic pots, and sometimes on wood.
Later on the artists started painting on fabrics like sarees, table cloths, and the other bases
when Madhubani art was made more commercial due to national and international
efforts. The raw materials used for this painting are papers, satin cloth, fabric cloth,
cotton, cloth etc. For painting on paper, natural colors and natural dyes are used, which
are locally abstracted. Fabric colors are used for painting on the walls. Although, I wasn’t
able to locate any academic research on Madhubani art or its influence in education or
any other fields, I was able to find notes about the art and several paintings on the
Internet (e.g., http://www.beacy.wa.edu.au/art/tribal/madhubani.html).

For the self-portrait, I used oil paints on a canvas. I haven’t received any formal
training in painting or in making Madhubani art, but had been exposed to this art form in
my undergraduate studies in India and by a friend who was an art student.

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Narrative on the Process of Making and Reflecting on the Self-Portrait

Reading through my class memos for the self-study course and my previous
research, I thought deliberatively about why I chose to use this art form for my self-
portrait and its purpose. This art form provided me the required means to not only
represent my self-development process in an artistic form, but also gave me a way to
express my inner self as an Asian Indian woman examining her ways of knowing as she
grows as an education researcher. I have always thought of Madhubani form of art as a
simple, “straight-from-the-heart” way of expression. This was also one of the main
reasons which motivated me to use this form of art.

I chose to make this painting for a multitude of reasons:

• The type of painting is called “Madhubani” art- a folk art form from Madhubani
district in the eastern state of Bihar where the women use bright natural colors from
vegetable dyes to paint their homes, walls, and fabrics to express themselves. The
form of art has come a long way from rural India to the commercial streets of the
country where people buy the paintings to decorate their homes.

• The simple figures, almost geometric in form with bright earth colors have always
attracted my attention. I have been awestruck with such simple strokes that can form
such powerful media of feelings and expression.

• I started painting this fonn of art when I was in my undergraduate studies at an
agricultural university in India. I think it was only natural for me to paint agricultural
fields with men and women working hard to produce rice, wheat and other crops.

• I have used this particular art form for my self study because it resonates with my
“work” as a researcher toiling away with my head bent down looking for answers to
my questions about research, my role as a researcher, and my development as a
researcher below the wide open sky.

• The portrait also shows the stages I see myself in as a researcher — the
quantitative me, the qualitative me, and now I think a step in between the two. But, I
still find myself closely examining the various methods of inquiry!

• Just as a farm worker’s work is never done, it goes on in cycles — just as one crop
is cut, it’s time to sow the seeds for the next season; I find myself circling around in
my own questions and answers, going forth with the answers I could find but back
again with new questions.

• The bright, vibrant colors give me hope and help me to look at the brighter side of
research and life in general and inspire me to go on looking for answers to my
questions with my head bent down!

Interviews’ Impact on My Self-Study Self-Portrait

A close examination of data from the three interviews revealed the various
techniques the three participants learned in the two qualitative research methods courses
they had previously taken, which helped them to make connections to their research
work, provided a context to base their findings, understand their participants’
perspectives, conduct research that was valid and reliable, understand their role as a

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researcher, issues of reactivity in research, being flexible with the research and interview
questions, peer feedback and constant reflection upon their work.

Harvey said, “I have learned the various paradigms and have used concept maps
and narratives in my research. I have found the interactive design approach useful for my
research” (see Maxwell, 2004) and “Qualitative research is an open process.” Diane
noted “You need to have a deep passion for what you want to do in qualitative research.
If you don’t, maybe it’s not for you”. Lena commented “You as the researcher and the
instrument ‘color’ the research and the background you are in, you have to take that into
account when you conduct qualitative research and try to be unbiased” and “Peer-
feedback or member checking is vital for the validity of qualitative research. Diane
added, “I have learned to do qualitative research by ‘doing’ it. I have learned so much in
the process.”

Overall, the roles of affect and knowledge in doing qualitative research came to
the fore through this previous work. All the students who previously held a positivist
view of research framed a constructivist stance while doing their research work. They
also said that their dissertations had a qualitative component to them as they realized that
in order to know the context and the deeper meaning of their participants’ views, it was
important to conduct and include qualitative research. As Lena said in her interview,
“Before taking the qualitative research course, I was sure to have only a quantitative
component to my dissertation. I had my research questions and methods all laid out. After
taking the course, I felt I had not taken my participants’ perspectives into being. It was as
if I was missing a big picture!” Harvey said, “My dissertation certainly has interviews
now. My memo taking during the research project was very useful in my reflection
process throughout. I have used the interactive approach to a conceptual framework as
explained by Joe Maxwell in my dissertation. The course was an eye-opener.” Diane
added that her study that was based on adult literacy would not have been possible if she
hadn’t thought out the life process of the women she was interviewing. Where they were
coming from was the most important part of her research design.

This previous research provided a foundation to my self-portrait when I took the
self-study course. These interviews were a conduit to investigate my own learning to do
qualitative research. Self-study researchers work to ask themselves the very questions
they ask of others. In that manner, they are a resource for the research —to gain an
insider’s perspective on the research questions Although I had studied others’
development and thinking as they shifted from quantitative to qualitative researchers, I
had not thought deeply about my own journey. When the opportunity arose in the self-
study research methodology class to create a self-portrait, I seized the opportunity to use
arts to capture my self-development journey as a researcher seeking answers. In essence,
the three data sources came together in a way I had not foreseen. The interviews
prompted me to ask and wonder about my journeys in both quantitative and qualitative
research. The self-portrait provided the canvas to capture my evolution as an education
researcher and my current specialization as a research methodologist.

More specifically, the self-portrait led me to represent myself in three stages of
my self-development as a researcher. My first stage as an Agriculture Science student
trained in positivist view of the world; the second stage being exposed to the naturalist
mode of inquiry; and my current stage being that of a self-examining researcher who
wants to take a middle ground of using both the methods in my research with an equal

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leverage. This study has provided a platform for me to continue to question my ways of
knowing from the quantitative academic background to being exposed to qualitative and
mixed methods approach, and examine my growth as an individual who is evolving as a
researcher. The study also helps to apply my learnings and knowledge to my work as a
program evaluator at a research organization where I use both qualitative as well as
quantitative methods to collect and analyze data, understand the program participants’
perceptions and views and self-reflect on my own thinking process throughout the
process. The self-portrait reflects my journey and a tangible representation of my
previously held notions about research which were positivist, to my exposure to the
naturalist mode of inquiry; to my current status of looking at a mixed view of conducting
research as I proceed towards my doctoral dissertation in three frames.

Figure 1. Self-portrait Wonderings/Questions for a Self-Study Scholar

The self-portrait was made with conscious ideas in my mind about the three stages I have
gone through in the process while conducting the previous research followed by the self-
study course. The three stages of “me” in the picture (Figure 1) shows me working
towards my goal of becoming an education researcher. From left, stage one shows the
quantitative side of me, stage two, far right, shows the qualitative side of me and the
middle stage as the mixed research methodologist trying to blend both. The quantitative
and qualitative sides of me appear to be raised in the portrait because they depict the “two
continuums” of the paradigm debate. The center section, which is lower than the two, is
providing a “middle” ground to the two contrasting views. The bright blue strip around
the portrait provides a border to my thinking process as I try to examine my learning’s.
The green twine depicts the growth of my thinking and how it’s still growing to enable
me to become a better researcher. The bright yellow color depicts my “positive” thinking
to my self-development that I look forward to as I finish my studies. The birds are

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symbolic to the flight they are about to take as they learn at each stage of the research
process.

1 . How do I see myself as a self-study scholar?

As a self-study researcher, both as a student as well as a professional, I see myself
questioning the process of conducting research as a whole. What is considered good and
useful research and how do I see myself contributing to it? I constantly ask, “What can I
bring to the field of research?” “What skills can I bring to the fore which are valued and
deemed useful for infonning the field of research and evaluation-the paths I have chosen
for myself?”

I am in the stage of constant questioning, examining, and re-examining my
thought processes as an individual who has developed as a researcher over a period of six
years, while the seeds were sown long before that while on a field work project in a
village in India. For instance, I find myself reflecting more on my work in graduate
school and workplace. Being more self-reflecting has certainly enabled me to advance in
my level of knowledge, assess more carefully about my academic and work
performances, made me aware of my place and contribution in my institution, and future
goals as a graduate student, researcher and evaluator. Self-study methodology has
provided me with the necessary ways to express myself in a way that I could be “true to
myself.” (Cole & Knowles, 1996). I do realize that I have a long way to go. In these six
years, first as a master’s student and now as a doctoral candidate, I have taken the
research opportunities that have come my way. I have tried to use my qualitative and
quantitative skills such as coding, interviewing in qualitative research and learning and
using different statistical software programs such as Statistical Program for Social
Sciences (SPSS) wherever I could in the areas of health communication to begin with,
followed by public and international affairs, survey research, community-based research
and evaluation and now in education.

As a self-study researcher, I see myself wearing the researcher hat to carefully
look at details, listening to others’ views, understanding their perspectives, constantly
reflecting, reading, and applying my skills to the assigned tasks. It is not an easy task to
conduct self-study because I would come with my own biases about myself or maybe
even excuse myself from any errors that I would do in conducting research. But with the
help of my mentors at work and in school, it helps me stay on course and be critical of
myself when needed.

The self-portrait exhibits my wonderings/questions as a self-study scholar in that
as an education researcher, I sometimes wear the positivist hat conducting quantitative
research, or a narrative/interpretive hat as a qualitative researcher, or as a mixed
methodologist as I work as a program evaluator in the field. In all the three stages in
whichever hat/s I am wearing, I try to apply my learnings from school to the field while
constantly examining and finally reflecting on my self-development.

2. What role did peers play in the refraining process?

My peers were like my constant companions in good and in bad times. I needed
them to pat me on my back when I was on the right path and also slap me on the hand if I

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was way off! I needed peer/s at work and in school to tell me what I was doing right,
what is good about my thought process, and what needed a change and why. Peers also
added to the validity of my research, as they looked at my work with a “fresh pairs of
eyes.”

Anastasia and my four other classmates, who were also doctoral students, were
amazed when I unveiled my self-portrait and propped the five foot canvas against a table
in our class. Peers were intrigued and asked questions related to the art and the color
choices as I offered my interpretation of the self-portrait as a medium of research
understanding. There was no required format for the self-portrait assignment so each of
us chose our own medium that came out of our experiences. One of my classmates
sketched her self-portrait; others used oil painting, pastels, and symbolism. Each of us
talked about both the process and meaning of our self-portrait to who we currently are as
researchers. Anastasia commented in class, “Kavita’s explanation of her self-portrait to
the class allowed us to understand the complexity of a researcher coming from a training
in two paradigms, i.e., quantitative and qualitative. It also demonstrated how she came to
an understanding of the beauty and usefulness of that duality through the arts.”

Discussion and Conclusions

The self-portrait led me to represent myself in three stages of my self-
development as a researcher. My first stage as an agriculture science student trained in
positivist view of the world; the second stage being exposed to the naturalist mode of
inquiry; and my current stage being that of a self-examining researcher who wants to take
a middle ground of using both the methods in my research with an equal leverage. This
study has provided a platform for me to continue to question, and examine my thought
processes as an individual who is evolving as a researcher from a more positivist to a
mixed method researcher. The self-portrait reflects my journey and an objective and
factual representation of my previously held notions about research which were positivist,
to my exposure to the naturalist mode of inquiry; to my current status of looking at a
mixed view of conducting research as I proceed towards my doctoral dissertation in three
frames.

This project was a personal journey of self-development as a researcher to think,
examine, and devise ways to develop further as a researcher through the lenses of fellow
students. Using a theoretical framework of symbolic interactionism, the project attempted
to understand how graduate students who previously held a positivist view of the research
world came to use the various tools and techniques of qualitative research in their studies.
The self-portrait is a reflection of the self as a researcher within different paradigms of
thought. This study can serve to infonn students and early researchers who are learning
the process of conducting qualitative research; specially those who have a quantitative
background and for professors interested in designing curricula that utilize an art-based
educational research approach to assist students in understanding how they make
meaning of qualitative research.

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Author Note

Kavita Mittapalli completed her PhD recently from the College of Education and
Human Development at George Mason University, Fairfax, VA. Her major areas of
interest are research methodology, program evaluation and assessment, and social
stratification. She holds a B.S. degree in Agricultural Sciences from Banaras Hindu
University, Varanasi, India, and an M.A. in Applied Sociology from George Mason
University, Fairfax VA. She has written, published, and presented at several regional and
national conferences. She works at a private research and evaluation company.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dr. Kavita Mittapalli at
Kmittapalli@gmail.com

Anastasia P. Samaras is an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of
Education at George Mason University where she has served as director and coordinator
of several teacher education programs as well as previously at The Catholic University of
America. A former early childhood, middle school, and high school teacher, her 35 years
of teaching and research experiences have continuously been informed through the arts.
Anastasia has been active in the Self-Study School and most recently in her work with
doctoral students. In addition to numerous articles and chapters, she is author of Self-
Study for Teacher Educators (2002), co-editor of Making a Difference in Teacher

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Education through Self-Study (2006), and co-author of Self-Study of Teaching Practices
(2006).

The authors would like to thank their class whose feedback and support made this
work possible. Their appreciation goes to: Mary Adams-Legge, Deanna Breslin, Jennifer
Magaha O’Looney, and Dawn Renee Wilcox.

Copyright 2008: Kavita Mittapalli, Anastasia P. Samaras, and Nova Southeastern
University

Article Citation

Mittapalli, K., & Samaras, A. P. (2008). Madhubani art: A journey of an education
researcher seeking self-development answers through art and self-study. The
Qualitative Report, 13(2), 244-261. Retrieved from

http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR13-2/mittapalli.pdf