Thesis Title: A FREE Education Can Be Just as Meaningful When Experienced Informally.

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An Autoethnographic Narrative Research Study

John Dewey

Research Topic

Building alliances with sites that are inherent places of knowledge that rest outside of traditional places of learning. These communities of knowledge provide safe place to explore learning experiences.

4 5 Gallery X

3 REBUILD FOUNDATION

Addams - Dewey Gymnasium

2 A Proximity of Consciousness Art & Social Action

1 Space + People + Reflection

Picture Book

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Six Stories

6

SYNTHESIZE

Six Communities 1. Gage Park 2. Chicago Lawn 3. & 4. Downtown Chicago 5. Grand Crossing 6. Hyde Park

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Rationale This project is personally meaningful to me because as a youngster the YMCA welcomed me to a community of diversity, a place to build relationships with people who accepted me for me. My thesis reflects my approach through an autoethnographic narrative study.

Research Questions What results emerge when applying John Dewey’s theory about learning by doing to settings that involve the engagement of co-collaborators?

Research Methodology: Autoethnography

Andrew Sparks stated that Autoethnographies are highly personalized accounts that draw upon the experience of the author/ researcher for the purposes of extending sociological understanding

Sparkes., A. (2001). Ethnographically speaking: Autoethnography, literature, and aesthetics. Maryland: Altamira Press

Research Methodology: Autoethnography

AUTOETHNOGRAPHY Auto - Ethno - Graphy Auto (self) Ethno (the cultural link) Graphy (the application of a research process) Ellis & Bochner, (2001). Ethnographically speaking: Autoethnography, literature, and aesthetics. Maryland: Altamira Press

Brief Synopsis of Story I

n a reflective account of six project-based learning initiatives, my thesis explores

inquiry-based approaches to consider nontraditional spaces as learning environments. Each of the projects provides deeper insight into an autoethnographic narrative study.

Analysis/ Conclusion My research sites involved the creation of six art based initiatives in “safe spaces” that were experienced by people as learning places. These locations were inherently communities of knowledge. Gage Park, West Englewood, Hyde Park, and Chicago Lawn offered settings that functioned as a satellite locations to further the capacity of shared knowledge. These settings ranged from a sidewalk, to a gallery, library and a museum. Constituents residing in their corresponding communities, like me, revealed connections between their neighborhood setting, our shared experiences, and education as a process of self-actualization. As a result of these inquiry based projects six audio stories are available online and capture the essence of an autoethnographic narrative study.

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