Paper # GAR02330

NEGOTIATING INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES

IN THE AGE OF INFORMATION.

Victoria Garnons-Williams,

Queensland University of Technology

The Design Of The Research

The questions that framed this study, which encompassed determining the key variables in the selection and use of instructional resources by art teachers, led to the use of a multi-method approach to the research design.

While the research questions were situated in the art teachers' natural environment, which indicated the appropriateness of a qualitative paradigm and naturalistic inquiry, the substantive body of theory in two related areas of literature, namely Instructional Design and Media in Teaching, have a history of the predominance of hypothesis-testing research. The emphasis is on the resource, its attributes and its effects on outcomes and therefore, is media-driven. Research in actual situations is primarily based on determining the degree to which the theory is demonstrated or implemented in practice, which is the basis of the "fidelity" perspective in the use of resources. In addition, research in these areas is often based on a single-media act, which determines the suitability of media attributes for learning. (Gagne, 1992; Thompson, Simonson, and Hargrave, 1992)

The situational characteristics of art education (Stocrocki, 1986; Efland, 1990; Pearse, 1992; Sullivan, 1996) were outlined as significantly different. Experience in working with art teachers also indicated significant problems with this research approach. Media selection in art education was rarely seen to be based on single media teaching and learning events. In addition, human resources and out-of-class venues were used by art teachers on a regular basis. This confounds theories based on 'media attributes'. It also appeared common practice for art teachers to utilise a number of different media in conjunction over time as their curriculum unfolded. If the study envisioned was to be reflective of art education practice, instructional resources would necessarily have to be broadly defined and evolve from the teaching environment, which opposes the a priori theory models of most Instructional Design research. As this study was designed to interpret practice from where the phenomena was to be viewed and presented, with its emphasis on situation and teaching process, the use of a qualitative and naturalistic research paradigm was justified.

Grounded Theory methodology, originally developed by Glaser and Strauss in 1967, is situated within the qualitative, naturalistic, constructivist research paradigm. It is argued by this researcher that, as a methodology, it avoids some of the perceived problems with naturalistic and qualitative research studies. Its distinctive characteristics provide some balance to the effects of freely operating analytic procedures. While it remains flexible and emergent in its methods, it has a sense of order in its analytic procedure and is based on substantively empirical foundations. In line with naturalistic, qualitative methods, it has an evolving design, but it is purposive and exhaustively iterative until the theory fits the observed phenomena. The resulting consistency of Grounded Theory methodology is one of the features that strengthens the validity of naturalistic inquiry.

In Grounded theory, the researcher is required reveal their "theoretical sensitivity", a term coined by Glaser, 1978. It is important in disclosing the stance of the researcher within qualitative research (Jackson refers to this as "candour" 1990, p.9) and it is crucial to the analytic effectiveness of grounded theory. Theoretical sensitivity "refers to a personal quality of the researcher. It indicates an awareness of the subtleties of meanings of data. One can come to the research situation with varying degrees of sensitivity depending upon previous reading and experience with or relevant to an area. (Strauss and Corbin, 1990) It is also fair to mention that the iterative and grounded processes of the constant comparison method also have the effect of counteracting or diminishing bias.

Sources of theoretical sensitivity, then, come from an awareness of the literature, professional experience, personal experience and "the ability to keep a balance between creativity and science" during the research. (Srauss and Corbin, 1990) In outlining professional and personal experience prior to the study, the researcher reported that she had been an art educator at the secondary and tertiary level, with expertise in art curriculum at the undergraduate, graduate diploma (pre-Master level) and Master's levels. As such, the researcher had a broad knowledge of issues in art education. Access to informants was facilitated by the researcher's ongoing involvement (Editor, then Vice-President and President) with the state and professional organisation, QATA (The Queensland Art Teacher's Association) The supervision of practice teaching in schools was part of her professional duties. Each of the teachers selected as subjects for the study was known by the researcher in a professional context over the previous six to eight years. The researcher had occasional entry into their classrooms to address their students, and in two cases, had the teachers' students to the tertiary institution for studio workshops. In the case of this research, access and theoretical sensitivity were closely articulated, contributing mutually to the cooperation that was experienced in data collection and to the collaborative review that became part of the method.

The six participants in the study were involved in Queensland secondary school art programs and were identified as experienced users of a variety of instructional resources. They came from both State and Private school sectors. Initially there were three State and three Private schools, but one of the participants was transferred to two subsequent State schools and these were included as part of the research. Their teaching experience ranged between ten and twenty years over the time of the data collection. A summary of the participants' individual profiles is included as Figure 3 of this paper. The key personal attributes of participants and some of their perspectives on resource use, which are listed there, emerged from the data.

The selected qualitative methods used in this study included structured and unstructured interviews, participant observation, documents and record-keeping. The central element in the grounded theory procedure applied to these methods, is constant comparison. The first two stages (open and axial coding) were undertaken from the beginning across all data collection methods. After each interview or observation, the researcher made notes and memos, reviewed the data and started to code categories. Each subsequent recall interview was intended to clarify or extend the information and categories discerned, and further structured interviews were at times undertaken to confirm aspects of emerging theory. These interviews included structured questions developed after a peer review of data in the second year of the study. Theoretical sampling occurred when the researcher went back to the participants with a particular focus on a category (confirmation of data) or questions (further collection of data). Part way through the described process of sampling and reducing categories, computer software was acquired to assist in the management and analysis of data.

Since this study was initially undertaken without prior knowledge of software programs, coding levels and categories were done manually, according to grounded theory methodology, which consisted of repeated reading, questioning and comparing of data transcripts; determining 'in vivo' codes; listing and labelling categories on transcripts; and writing memos. At the stage of the study that the NUD*IST 3 software analysis was introduced, the initial coding levels of the data had been established. However, after a considerable amount of time working with the text in its original format, the ability to retrieve isolated sets of text by way of the software program brought a degree of objectivity and a refreshed sense of analysis to the process. The NUD*IST ( Non-numerical, Unstructured Data * Indexing, Searching and Theorising) programme revolves around two main functions, a code-and retrieve function, and an ordering of codes into an index system. The final index system was developed alongside the last stages of data collection, which consisted of three remaining collaborative interviews and the emerging theoretical constructs. Using the NUD*IST 3 programme provided an opportunity to triangulate the data by subjecting it to redevelopment by virtue of the software analysis process. Subjecting the data and the emergent theory to the format and function of the software was both exploratory and confirmatory. The NUD*IST 4 version of the software led to a third redevelopment of the index system and extended the analysis of the data. As well, the researcher's familiarity and facility with the software was greater and a sense of closure on the study was realised.

The process of Grounded Theory methodology was served reasonably well by the NUD*IST software functions, particularly NUD*IST Version 4. The software was useful in the managing, retrieving and tracking of data as well as in the analytic process. Grounded theory methodology begins with categories that are initially taken from the in vivo environment, the properties of these categories are determined and are merged with or compared to other properties, and relationships amongst them are formed. This process is paralleled in NUD*IST in the naming of the 'nodes' of the index tree which is listed in Figure 2 on page 5 of this paper. Constant comparison is assisted by the index development, which structures itself so that links are hierarchically apparent- the parent/child/sibling nature of the index 'tree'. The expansion, reduction and collapsing of categories, and correspondingly the nodes, becomes apparent as analysis proceeds and the index is flexibly restructured. Altogether, seventy-four factors were established:

Starting points for establishing nodes and index structure came from both the software functions of NUD*IST and the data through various search operations. Browsing documents allowed the researcher to create nodes from the data 'up' to the index system and text searches using constructed nodes and the software functions of 'string, pattern and special character searches' allowed the researcher to go from the index 'down' to the data. One of the factors that diminished the effectiveness of the string and pattern searches was the use of lay language by the participants and the specificity of the narratives. Because of this, coding from the data 'up' was used more extensively. In Version 4, the on-screen availability of the 'palette' of functions made the sending of text units to various nodes relatively easy. One other feature that provided a useful adjunct to analysis was 'examine coding'. When browsing a document, sections of text could be highlighted and checked for all coding. If a piece of text was coded at a variety of places, it demonstrated the thoroughness of the examination, as well as complexity of the incident. A sense of index saturation became the sense of closure on the research. At the end of the analysis, no new nodes seemed to be required to accommodate the data. When the 'examine coding' function, a feature of the software that lists where text units are coded, indicated that most units were coded at a variety of nodes, it also indicated that the index was functioning at a sophisticated level with many interconnections between data and nodes, therefore the requirements of "richness" and "saturation" in grounded theory were fulfilled. (Glaser and Strauss, 1967, p. 225)

There were some issues of linearity in the tree structure, as well as limitations of the graphical representations during the analysis. A conceptual image of the index structure as a mobile or revolving unit (Sullivan, 1997) where nodes and sub-trees could be swung around in a three dimensional configuration became a solution to the difficulties of linearity as well as a useful means for organising nodes of the index system for further analysis. The idea of mobility also coincided with part of the theory that was emerging, where the dimensions of categories could be seen to overlay each other and formed meaningful, but different, relationships with each other. The use of 'free nodes' within Version 4 (nodes not attached to the index tree in a hierarchical format) ensured that the index more accurately reflected the data. It also prevented reductionism or technical determinism that may have resulted from limitations in the hierarchical indexing system. Free nodes housed extremely complicated relationships, such as "issues", phenomena that was embedded within text and meanings at many nodes of the index tree, but in an unhierarchial way. For example, the free node 'personal interest' housed memos about a quality of engagement that overlaid many incidences in the data, was included at many nodes in the index, but was an indication of events and involvements that were initiated on a personal level, such as Yvonne's after school studio, Sarah's personal professional library, and Elton's sharing of his own collection of artefacts: "It's a Colin Heaney from Byron Bay. Handblown glass. That's one of the things I brought along to show these kids when we did this workshop. ...I brought it from home. My wife's going to kill me if it gets broken." (Elton) A qualitatively different property of a category, personal interest had a subtlety that required it to be an independent, or free node.

In developing the index system, two major types of nodes were created, reflecting descriptive and interpretive coding of data. Descriptive nodes paralleled the open coding of grounded theory methodology and interpretive nodes paralleled axial coding, which outlines the properties of categories and establishes their relationships. The descriptive nodes acted as an inventory of observable or quantifiable factors, such as the various forms of I-R (Instructional resources), the settings for I-R events, how I-R was acquired, and so forth. Complex descriptive categories, such as 'mechanics', (defined as "systems and their variables observed and described that are required in order to accomplish an I-R event, such as access to library systems, room bookings, permission forms, a/v hardware, etc.") were identified. The factors considered when making the decision regarding the placement of the node on the index tree helped to clarify the category. For example, there was considerable difficulty in eventually attaching 'mechanics' to the 'application'-'setting' node rather than the node labelled 'decision issues'. The placement of the node was decided because, in all instances, the mechanics were part of the physical setting. At times, however, the convolutions of the systems and difficult arrangements became a decision issue, and in other respects the mechanics involved highly personalised parts of the teachers' belief system. While this issue is considered one of the saliencies of the study and will be discussed during the presentation of the findings, it is a useful illustration of both the methodology of grounded theory as well as how the NUD*IST software operates to confirm which descriptive factors are most substantial.

The part of the index where interpretive nodes were constructed attempted to clarify relationships between the properties of categories. The hierarchical tree structure of the NUD*IST programme contributed to this. As an example of interpretive coding, which also shows how the NUD*IST software supports conceptual work, the parent node entitled 'Functions' (located at the assigned position of 11 on the index system), is split into two sibling interpretive category nodes of 'instrumentalist' and 'essentialist'. These interpretive categories imply several kinds of relationships that were distinguishable in instructional resource events. The 'instrumentalist' node, defined as "I-R used as an instrument in learning- to facilitate the way in which students learn", coded 'research' and 'teaching' episodes of an instrumentalist nature. When data was browsed in the documents and merged with these nodes, the 'children' were progressively added. The distinctions within the various functions became clearer and more detailed. Thus, the child nodes of 'expand', 'motivate', illustrate', 'demonstrate', 'introduce', 'extend', 'model', and 'contemporise' were created from the data. The relevant text was coded at each of these nodes. The 'essentialist' node, a sibling of the 'instrumentalist' node, was defined as "Intrinsically valued aspects of I-R. Important in their own right, not as an instrument". It was determined that this property of the function of instructional resources was different from those such entitled 'extend', defined as "use of I-R to extend a students thinking-implies higher order cognitive functions". In determining that essentialist characteristics of instructional resources (collected as data) did not fit as a parent to nodes such as 'to extend', etc. It became apparent that it is the content, or substantive information, that was 'essentialist' in decisions regarding certain resources. Thus 'content' became a child node of 'essentialist' 'functions'. The creation of this node, which was part of the theory building in NUD*IST, was further tested by sampling and browsing the documents. Finally, in completing the interpretive branch of the index tree, Gray's definition of the 'technocentric', consideration of media itself, seemed to fit an essentialist definition as well, and was made a sibling node to 'content'.(Gray, 1987)

By conceptually deconstructing the events in order to index them, the richness and complexity of many incidents became apparent. As an example, text coded at the technocentric node, such as Sarah's use of the REM music video, was about video genres ( a technocentric function), but the video was also used as an instrument for stimulating research and was also coded at the student research node. The images on the video, such as a daVinci figure, were used inductively to research daVinci. The video lesson functioned as an illustration of post-modern appropriation of historical art images, was coded as such, but was also about researching back to the original art sources, which added coding at the essentialist node.

The reports generated from these searches indicated certain patterns of usage, which then could be likewise explored and attributed to certain participants' pedagogical styles. For example, 'familiarity' was cross-index searched with 'improvisation', and 'breadth'. Sarah and Joan's styles of resource use were brought out of the data in this regard. When further theoretical sampling was undertaken, Sarah confirmed this by exclaiming, "I think the more the merrier." Joan indicated, "Anything I can beg, steal or borrow." As well as confirmation of phenomenum, both participants added more detail regarding their beliefs and rationales.

The analysis process was further assisted by NUD*IST in rotating and comparing nodes. For example, within the category 'content', it appeared that several of the instructional events were coded at both essentialist and instrumentalist nodes. The question then arose: Can instructional resources function as an instrument at the same time as essential content and/or technocentrically, and if so, under what circumstances? How often do the participants utilise instructional resources in such a simultaneous manner? Does this phenomenum fall into definitions of "postmodernist pedagogy" (Clarke, 1994)? The questioning of the index system in this way led to more complex understandings of the data and subsequently, to some of the conclusions reached in the findings.

Factors which negatively affected the use of the NUD*IST 4 were few. The use of lay language and the colourful speech of the participants cut down the effectiveness of string and pattern document searches, which rely on words or phrases to retrieve data. In this case, the documents were searched individually for references. The researcher also experienced some technical problems in attempting bulk transfers of data by using command operations and copying and merging of sub-trees. again, these operations could be accomplished by using other, although more time-consuming and repetitive operations, but this was not seen as a major drawback. A study of the manual revealed that some software functions as outlined were very similar and in some cases, the same, although they were named differently. This initially confounded choices in determining which operations would accomplish the searches best, but the number that were selected and utilised proved effective and sufficient.

More critically, the researcher carefully considered the use of NUD*IST software with regard to the growing saliency of incidents or changing emphasis in certain categories over time that is characteristic of grounded theory methodology. The software programme tends to treat all text equally, and while it is important that the initial data is clearly accounted for in the emergent and final theory, the nature of the transcripts changes over time as theoretical sampling occurs. Later interviews explored and tested certain concepts and relationships in a more in-depth fashion. While it is possible in NUD*IST 4 for the researcher to revisit early data and early assumptions and view them as such, and to account for this in the index system development, it is not entirely accurate for the programme to store them equally. However, the problem can be diminished by memoing and selective index exploration. Memoing helps to interpret early data, and the breakdown of various kinds of data collection in the 'Base Data' portion of the index tree made it possible to selectively explore early, middle and later data, so this was not seen as a major drawback in the NUD*IST 4 programme. Providing the reader with final results of the computer programme does not entirely reflect this process, however. It is incumbent on the researcher to ensure that appropriate emphasis is given to the emergent quality of the methodology and that the computer analysis results be contextualised so as not to be misrepresentative of the processes used to achieve them.

Results: Recurring Dimensions In The Use Of Instructional Resources

The cross-case discussion will be based on disclosing the participants' "transactional system, a method of analysis that allows one to examine the interactive nature of events. Of all the paradigm features, action and/or interaction lie at the heart of grounded theory. The manner in which any phenomenon is expressed is through purposeful and related action/interactional sequences." (Strauss and Corbin, 1990, p.159) The transactional system includes the following properties:

1. interrelated levels of conditions, which range in scope from the general features of the world at large to the more specific - those closest to the phenomenon under investigation.

Factors and dimensions of practice, as well as aspects of Instructional Resources, made up the interrelated conditions and contexts of decision-making in this study. Dimensions of practice were distinguished by positioning them as levels on one axis of a matrix, while aspects of the resource events made up the second axis. The following matrix outlines the conditions for decision-making in the participants' use of instructional-resources for art education as outlined in this study.

ASPECTS OF RESOURCES

Some of the major categories of the analysis, as indexed and outlined in the individual case study reports of Chapter 4, provided a way of designating aspects of resource conditions to explain relationships within the transactional system. The matrix was developed from the analytical index system and all subcategories are assumed within it. The aspects of resources are also relational to the levels or dimensions of practice that form the opposing axis of the matrix. That is, the "Form" of an instructional resource can be viewed as a "Physical", or "Ontological" condition on the first level of "Dimensions of Practice". Respectively, "Form" can be understood in its relationship to the "Pedagogical" and "Epistemological" dimension of practice, as well as the "Personal", "Moral" and "Ethical" dimension of practice. The same applies to the other designated "Aspects of Instructional Resources"- "Function", Content" and "Setting".

The Forms of resource on the first level of practice, describe what was used, it/their physical properties and any pragmatic limitations this may have effected. On the pedagogical level of practice, the Form of resource has two considerations, the way it may be structured or organized by the publisher/author, and the degree to which this structure is understood and adhered to by the teacher. On the moral, ethical, or personal level of practice, the forms of resources may be seen to have special value to the participant. It may be that the resource is a preferred kind, a special collection, as in Xena's pop-up books, or relates to the ecological, social justice or political beliefs of the user.

The Function describes what the resource is used for. In its physical dimension, it may be used in one-to-one instruction, or small groups, or in whole class instruction. On the second level, the Function can be assigned a pedagogical rationale; that is, it may be used for motivation, illustration, or may account for more than one learning strategy. These functions were mainly independent of the Forms of resource in use, in that they were generally not media-specific. For example, Nigel's view was that "it should be a case of how to model to students how to do something. It may be by using a video, it may mean a picture or going to a gallery. To focus on that- what can best model to the students the best way they can pursue what they need to do in the course." In this sense, the matrix may be seen with a degree of mobility, with various components in relationship to each other, such as Forms and Functions. The Function of resources on the third level of practice describes those intended to encourage changes in student attitudes in a social recontructionist sense or in an affective manner. An example would be Sarah's initiation of the Aboriginal art collection in her library, which had aims beyond the purely pedagogical goals of the art program. This included a positive awareness and understanding of Aboriginality, a potent issue in Australian culture. Its location in the library gave a wider exposure than just the art classes.

The Content of the resource is defined as what it is about. At the physical level of practice, the Content can de described in factual terms, such as the topic, theme or title. At the pedagogical level, it can be understood as both the author's theoretical stance on the subject matter, or the re-invention and re-arrangement of content by the participant for their own purposes. Yvonne, for example, used sections of the text, but not the question sheets in an art theory book, and pedagogically analyzed why she resisted using the ready-made format. The pedagogical dimension makes reference to participants' interpretation of curriculum and syllabus guidelines in selecting content. The Content of resources on the third level of dimensions of practice would be Content that is selected and used for its personal or social impact. Joan structured some projects around the students' own social justice issues and selected content from contemporary artists that illustrated similar issues, such as political repression, environmental concerns and technology. Xena selected content from the cultural histories of her students in her third school, where fifty-two different nationalities were represented. This also corresponded to her sensitivities and experiences with cultural difference, which formed a significant part of her belief structure.

The Settings form the final aspect of resources in the conditional matrix. The first dimension of Physical practice refers to the available spaces and environments, as well as the systems that needed to be negotiated in order to enable resource use. These include the school, the existing resource set-up and the policies that govern resource use. On the Pedagogical level, particular Settings selected or negotiated in order to enhance learning are represented. For example, Yvonne enabled a gallery attendance program for her senior art class by lobbying to rearrange the school timetable. On the third level, the Settings were altered or the system subverted in order to fulfill a personal belief or support ethical principles. For example, Elton relocated resources in the art room, partly due to the perceived negative attitudes of the boys to the library, whose director was described as " a dominatrix". Nigel disguised the payment to enable a visiting artist to do a week's residence at his school, so that students would not have to pay the costs.

Dimensions of practice are represented on one axis of the conditional matrix. These are linked to the participants' decision-making under various conditions. Events and decisions with few factors, based primarily on pragmatism and expediency would define the first level of resource usage. This level includes practical and physical dimensions of instructional resource use; for example, the details of booking facilities, what might be immediately available, the resources that "are in your box when you get into town" (Yvonne), and the settings that exist. The settings and practical aspects of instructional resources use in schools are at times presented as a dilemma where solutions need to be improvised. For example, in her brand new school, Joan struggled with the setting in a physical way, which led to her improvising a solution: the library opened a few days before, with few art books in it, and students sat on the new carpet as chairs were not present at this stage. Without a slide projector at the school, Joan made a set of OHT's from books borrowed from the university library to project for students. The overhead projector was old and in a state of disrepair, so a student was directed to hold one corner together to get some focus on the image. In another observation, Joan borrowed a slide projector from a friend, and when it failed, the class was moved to the art block to view books as an alternative. "They only had a taste; I wanted them to have a bowl of it." Decisions about instructional resources are made at this practical level regularly by the teachers in this study, but the relationship between visualizing more ideal set-ups while making do or creatively overcoming given situations helped to delimit the theoretical aspects of the study. In Joan's case, "scrounging on a mega-scale", she was able over five years to have an art resource centre adjacent to the studio. In fact, the "studio" was the "Whitehouse", a suburban house on the corner of the private school grounds, and the resource centre was one of the alcoves in the house.

When the factors surrounding instructional resources become more complex, requiring professional interpretations through decision-making, another dimension was determined. This has been assigned as the Pedagogical dimension of decision-making. The richness and variety of resource use within this dimension indicates the virtuosity of the teachers in the study. Note: The individual case study write-ups outline these in detail, which is prohibitive here; however an overview of these has been reported on at NAEA, 2001). More critical to this paper is the cohesion that was uncovered in the resource events studied which became the central storyline of the grounded theory. Overall, the actions and interactions were based on a sense of guiding order, or process, and personalized outcomes, which has been designated as "lines of inquiry". The related sequences, which will be outlined in the next section of this paper, demonstrate the processual nature of this dimension of practice in its operational form. The conditional matrix is linked to these patterns of action. For example, in the pedagogical dimension involving Forms of resources, the participants expressed that a variety of forms was critical in their presentation to students. Sarah clarified her use of a wide range of resources by saying "it's not that one isn't good enough, it's that one is not enough". Yvonne linked breadth of use to her understanding of the National and State generic skills imperatives: "how can you show wide-ranging skills in research if you don't have wide-ranging resources?" All the participants were wary of the authoritative discourse or Content that may be privileged in a single source. Nigel said, "as far as the curriculum goes, I am convinced it takes good resources to fulfil goals within the units but it doesn't mean the resources lead the unit." Yvonne had a negative view of the 'Elements and Principles of Design' structure that was a feature of many resources, but in questioning the next generation of resources, based on a particular way of organising theoretical responses to art, she wondered if "this is all we'll be seeing."

How the pedagogical dimension is configured within the individual cases defines that teachers epistomological structure. While this may resonate with a teacher's personality and become a style of teaching, it does not imply stasis. The following figure represents the key descriptors in terms of recurring themes, often self-expressed, that distinguish between participants:

Personal imperatives for individual participants established the third dimension of practice. The characteristics of these decisions regarding instructional resources are distinctive although relationships exist between all the dimensions. Its distinctiveness is the private interpretations that are embedded in the resource event or decisions. For example, Elton sent expensive art books home with students who showed an interest "because they don't have books like this at home." Xena enjoyed inspiring (and tiring) her students by walking them around the urban architectural setting of the city centre to experience firsthand the history of its forms and building details, as well as its spaces and distances. She felt this embodied experience was an important adjunct to the study of classical architecture in the classroom. Because she valued the pedagogical emphasis, Sarah found ways to pay visiting artists under the table by doing jobs for other departments in the school. "Don't forget this is funny money. You're doing this out of the goodness of your heart if anyone asks." Participants displayed an honorific and evolving Personal belief in the value of the various forms of instructional resources, which may be seen partly as a pedagogical phenomenon, but had distinguishing characteristics that linked it to the third dimension of practice. Elton said, "I've gone off videos. You shut the curtains, turn off the light and Bumph... [indicates sleep]" Xena expressed the opposite: "If it moves, you watch it. They are just so buzzed to that [video] medium". Elton's response to this contrast in preferred forms was that perhaps individual teachers knew what their "clientele" would respond to and tailored resources to their student groups. However, the researcher determined that there was an element of personal belief in selecting forms of resources. Yvonne stated emphatically that her favourite resource was "...people. People would be mine, my favourite thing. I think that I like using people and the actual contribution that they make and asking them questions and exchanging ideas with them - because I'm learning too." Joan went to considerable lengths to incorporate slides into her teaching, considering that the school had no projector and no slide collection. She found ways to provide these from other sources, with borrowed equipment, and defended their use in response to a criticism made by a renowned art historian. "Also, artists I know, I like working with slides of their work, although Robert Hughes would find that deplorable, but I don't see how anything else can be done. In his latest writing Culture of Complaint, he says in Australia art students are only exposed to slides, and sometimes get a shock at the real scale of works. He should know what it's like here, being Australian. And it's better than not being exposed."(J Interv 1)

Numerous factors were drawn into individuals' decision-making, but over the time of the data collection, in establishing categories, properties and dimensional profiles, cross-case patterns of category relationships were determined. In the language of Grounded Theory, "Each category has several general properties, and each property varies over a dimensional continuum. In effect, this gives each occurrence of a category a separate dimensional profile. Several of these profiles can be grouped to give you a pattern. The dimensional profile represents the specific properties of a phenomenon under a given set of conditions." (Strauss and Corbin, 1990) Conditions, it has been shown, are not only the physical and administrative dimensions, but may include other attributes and/or factors in decision-making. The group of cases responded similarly to a number of categories, regardless of school and administrative context. For example, all the teachers worked strategically to locate instructional resources close to or within the art rooms, thereby achieving increased autonomy and catering for their impromptu use, which was considered critical for teaching art. In this way, the consequences described the condition. Various factors intervened in the successful accomplishment of proximity, which will be described in the Contingencies section of this chapter. However, over the time of the study, all had accomplished the siting of a/v, such as VCR, video, books and computers in or near their classrooms. Such recurring sets of events were compared and the following summary of cross-case patterns was established. The descriptive phrases identifying the patterns are taken from memos made during analysis and the ensuing discussion illustrates particular actions/interactions, sequences and consequences that form part of the transactional system.

Lines of inquiry were based on the perceived need for personalization of information, but had a number of related processes. Personalization meant that participants or students made connections and relationships between sources of information, as well as between information and individual ideas or sets of problems. There was a sense of immediacy in this act as well; the information had to be current and applicable to the moment, even if taken from historical sources. Dimensions ranged from innovation in idea to rote or copied information. More successful outcomes were considered those that: a) employed appropriate use of exemplars and b) found ways of modeling solutions in process or as direct action, that were parallel to, but not the same as those referenced. Seeking outside information to inform projects or suggest alternatives, and discriminating the value of such information, was considered desirable. These were referred to variously as extension, putting off early closure, and ownership. Non-successful outcomes were rote outcomes, where students: a) directly copied information or work, b) when they treated each new project and its processes as new data, not building on prior learning, or c) not formulating a personal line of inquiry. Negative outcomes were also determined as the use of poor exemplars, showing a lack of discrimination. Individual interest and insight was considered to be a highly appropriate and even desirable catalyst for tracking information. This was not seen as a narrowing of vision, but as a way of establishing rudimentary criteria for processing information. Teacher modeling of the process of selecting and seeking information in a line of inquiry was undertaken to improve student awareness of such processes, encouraging them to rehearse and internalize the process. Self-initiated use of such processes was seen as a positive consequence. The appropriate use of exemplars was, as models of solutions, a way of resolving a particular problem that may be applicable, in kind, to the students' own work.

Examples: Joan's integrated curriculum with the use of resources at every stage. "I try to bring all of it in and have an integrated use. History is always applied to the work of the moment rather than as a separate lesson. Art criticism comes into it as well. It is a third part that is informed by the other two, history and personal practice. I do this as part of my curriculum design... a definition would be entering in [to personal art practice] through art history and aesthetics (Joan) Yvonne structured lessons based on researching students "affinity artists". "...the resource material that they're using is searched for in the hope that they can find work that is very relevant to their context. No longer are they finding work to study that is not related to what they're doing at the time, whether it be in subject matter, theme or in form. There's usually some relationship"(Yvonne) "When you set hard tasks, the kids are not very good at research and find it difficult, so modelling is important. The thing is, you set the problem and make it open-ended enough that they're going to get an interesting result from some personal input. ...The most important thing is to get an idea, so you can stimulate the kids into doing something that is individual - that's their own. ...It's very easy to set, students a problem and have them do the clichés again and again and again. You [have to] start to get them to think, not in clichés, or the first thing that pops into their head. ...And usually I end up having to have a series of books, magazines, whatever, almost anything, that I can say, 'OK, have a look at so-and-so's work. See how they attack the problem; rethink your own problem. (Sarah)

"I've had ears like 'radar', listening for anything that indicates a curiosity. I overheard a student speaking about Alice Springs and I spoke about the artists from there. I have some [of my own] artefacts to show them." (Xena) "Art is personally based and individual and so is the selection of instructional resources." (Nigel)

Participants acknowledged that there were a limited number of core concepts at work in thier curriculum that were usually present to mind. This led to seeing potential in objects and events for incorporation as art instructional resources. These were not necessarily authored for formal use, nor were they dedicated resources for art teaching or prepared art materials. They included anything that triggered a correspondence to the goals of the program or the current units, or indeed, improved the delivery of those goals. Many times, it included specific material for individual students. The condition is described here as a prescient ability in the sense of "foreknowledge" and this refers to the numerous times that the preconscious associates a source of information with the expressive outcomes of the program. Main project or unit structures are set up, other related goals and underlying objectives are assumed, if not detailed, and the outcomes, while unknown in the particular, are anticipated and known generally. The attributes of recognition and association involved in discovering resources have an added element of invention or creativity on many occasions.

Examples: " And the thing is, anything can be used...It should be a case of how to model to students how to do something- it may be by using a video, it may mean a picture or going to a gallery. To focus on that- what can best model to the student the best way they can .pursue what they need to do in the course." (Nigel) Xena used an Australian pop opera of Paris to reinforce classical art: "I don't consciously distinguish between primary or secondary sources for instructional resources." "...I passed Brashes (the music store) and saw a poster with a Trojan helmet with hearts. There is a Greek chorus included so I will spend time on this, as some students don't take drama. I thought it would be good to photocopy the words or score if you can as an aid. So, I bought it, listened to it, liked it. The students are doing a written assignment on Greek myths."(Xena) " It's as much a part of my life as anything." (Joan) "I mean, the poor person who may live and share your life with you can never, ever understand why, what you're doing, even your children think 'oh, this is very bizarre', mom's up there, getting that bit of rope..." (Yvonne) Sarah used a music video to identify and track back images to their original sources, "on my way to work, I was thinking about art images in everyday life, and then I saw this video" "... it's always in the back of my mind, even when I'm at a football match, something could happen." (Sarah)

The use of instructional resources as references at various points in predominantly open-ended, individual projects was anticipated although unpredictable. This led to an evolving learning environment, which took its direction from the permutations of the students' interests and projects. Evolution as learning progressed meant that resources were often changed to capture the immediacy of student inquiry, as well as various sources of information brought into the environment. This led to changes in the use of content and also in the kind of resources being used. In order to cater for these instances, the setting was often changed to include a wide range of periodicals, books and images in close proximity to the classroom. The matching of a resource to a student problem or project was often done after a point of recognition by the teacher, some kind of association between the project and a similar or parallel work or idea. The emphasis, however, was on the affinity between the problem and the resource and not necessarily on the references that were close at hand. The likelihood of locating something by catering for impromptu use in this way was greater, but teachers would bring things or try to locate things wherever they could. The resources on hand would also be provided as stimulus for students to find associated information, so that it was not only the teachers making impromptu use of information.

Examples: Yvonne proposed that the questions on pre-packaged resources were not used because the students preferred to have the questions evolve in a more natural way. "Why I think I like to look at questions that evolve as we're reading the text and looking at the images of other artist's work is because the work that you're setting there, you're talking about with the kids, is always in context with their own work and so the questions are evolving." Sarah, Elton and Joan's lessons with individualised student instruction using books, magazines, and slides. Close proximity of books, magazines, slides, and videos and in two cases, whole art reference centres, facilitated quick access as student projects proceeded. Joan explained, "So, if I'm in the middle of speaking about something, I've got fairly good access to it." Elton had the slide projector and OHP in position at all times "So, slides, heaps! And it's always left there (indicating slide projector on trolley) so I can just whip it around, flash up". Joan expressed the desire to have a constant stream of images at hand for impromptu use in the following way: "and you need to have it immediately at hand...it's like you need to have a 'Star Trek' scenario - (snaps fingers) - here it is, here it is, here it is...from your mind onto the wall - here's the projection of the image that you want." The use of the resources changed focus with the final outcome of projects in mind, such as Sarah's use of a sculpture book to extend finishing considerations. Yvonne also used this strategy. "They may consider their work finished. They are Year 12's and are very independent students at this stage. I don't like to ask them to reconsider. I want them to come to that conclusion themselves about when their work is finished. Sometimes, it takes a bit of time and reflection, and the books provide a way of doing that."(Yvonne)

The emphasis in using instructional material or exemplars was on personalizing the processing of information. When teacher-directed, the appropriate use of exemplars was often as a model of solutions, a way of framing and resolving a particular problem that may be applicable, in kind, to the students. This form of modeling was aimed, in part, at stimulating student discrimination and ownership of the research process. Successful outcomes were instances where students showed initiative in seeking further information or made personal applications in resolving outcomes. On the other end of the dimensional profile, copying was not allowed or was strongly discouraged. Strategies to stimulate student ownership included writing private responses to questions, use of in-process or completed student work as exemplars, complex essay questions, inductive exploration of artists' work, and incomplete, but motivational introductions to art and artists. In all cases, the conceptual and technical basis of the information related to the activity.

Examples: "I want students to have an awareness, make a discovery point"(Elton) Elton's accumulative folders strategy, where students progressively compile given and researched handouts as projects proceed, stimulated individual research. "So, we said, you've got to read the stuff about Parr and Brack, and the kids said - oh, sir, there's heaps of stuff on Brack on the Internet, but not much about Mike Parr. They'd already gone that next step." (Elton) "All it is, is a trigger point, and then we can go and investigate it more deeply...and then set the kids off on their own search for it. ...The next step down is to give the student the ownership of the resource where they are so consumed with a passion for it that they have to go to the library and get the book themselves and have a look at whatever it is, and pore over it in their own time... The best thing resources can be is anonymous. Not to tell everything about the information or the art work...The students need to own their responses to it." (Joan) Sarah reported that students' early closure "drove her crazy", where students settled on one idea or a first idea without formulating an inquiry, seeking outside information to inform the question or problem, or to seek alternatives. Her strategy was to use a breath of resources to stimulate extension. Nigel set assignments with references from a variety of texts and with multiple parts to lead students through information sources (The task sheet asks 'How does 20^th Century modernist Australian interpretation differ from European? Compare and contrast at least two artists, at least one of which is Australian.) Nigel also emphasised student work-in-progress. Yvonne prepared book marked text references for students of their "affinity" artists, with the subsequent lesson based on independent research at the State Library and Art Gallery. "Style, materials, and subject matter have been mentioned as affinities. ...for those who are finding it difficult to find someone, this is an opportunity, and as a practice session before writing up your assignment." (Yvonne)

Interaction refers to the permutations of teacher and resource, students and teacher, and students and resource. Teachers in this study preferred an active style of teaching, where questions evolved with the use of the resources, and were calculated at times to engage individual students. Interactions were emphasized regardless of the type of resource, the group size or the setting, but were more easily accomplished with small groups and individuals, or when the type of resource was flexible enough to include immediate commentary, questions and discussion, such as books, periodicals, slides and OHTs. When students were involved on location, with artists, or in galleries, teachers were prepared to intervene and stimulate interaction in order for students to get more out of the experience. In fact, "more" was considered to be personal interaction. Embodiment describes direct experience with living resources, whether artists or gallery personnel, and can be applied, in one sense, to primary resources as well. While these teachers highly valued embodied experience, and used living resources on a regular basis, the proportion of such episodes was small compared to the use of other resources. Nevertheless, it was apparent in the data that, while the number of episodes was fewer, the benefits of excursions, or interaction with art and artists, were considered exponentially superior to other forms of resources. The dimensional profile at the other end of the continuum would be resources that were less flexible in terms of interactions, such as set questions or in-house videos and highly mediated productions. There was a sense that, in a world of information saturation, that the inclusion of embodied information forms and personal interaction was even more important.

Examples: "Student understanding comes from actual involvement. Students experience things directly, themselves, actually touching- they can view the actual artist and the work. ... I like using people and the actual contribution that they make and asking them questions and exchanging ideas with them - because I'm learning too." (Yvonne) "They need to feel that there is a real person involved." (Joan) All participants had group experiences at gallery exhibitions, artists-in-residence (Nigel, Yvonne, Xena) and artists' visits (Sarah and Xena, Elton). Sarah's summary of what aspects of the visiting artist's work would relate to students outlines some of the major factors in her decision-making: "Students have trouble seeing beyond an initial idea. It's good to see somebody who has recurring themes. Like, the cane toads- students can relate to migrants; they are repelled and attracted at the same time. And the house painter [in his images]- how ironic it is. Also, Ian's skill level- his draughtsmanship is so refined- he would impress students with his technical ability. I know the kids like virtuosity." (Sarah) There were workshop visits to Art Schools (Joan, Yvonne, Sarah and Xena) weekend workshops with an artist (Elton) and art camps (Sarah, Elton, Joan). On one art camp, Joan recalled meeting a major objective: "they reacted with intelligence and grace. Not with white eyes- the students stepped into his [aboriginal] experience."(Joan) Xena also involved students in public art projects (such as the community library mural) that required research and image generation based on the history of the neighbourhood. All participants provided a conduit between students and artists/docents in the form of questioning, relating information to individuals or projects, interpreting and rephrasing. "I'll nominate the student who I feel should answer the question... and I'll intervene at any point I think necessary..." (Sarah) "There's a difference between the teacher and the artist. ...[I] take on those necessary summary and teaching skills that the visitor may or may not have. But what I am sure I want from that person is their expertise. I'm using that person's time most effectively. And it's not when I sit back and let the visitor take over." (Yvonne)

Delivery points were the settings that were selected to enact resource events, and for some learning sequences, a number of settings were employed. Within single units of curriculum, these included classroom, library, and external settings, such as galleries and public resource centers. The difference in setting was valued as well as the information that would be imparted via the resource. Multiple modes refers to the variety of resource types used, which in these cases were quite broad, as well as the various applications of resources in terms of student activity. Art instruction involved numerous sources of information, at times unconventional, but teachers consciously did not discriminate between sources they considered to hold relevant content for units. Multi-resource lessons were those that involved a variety of information sources within one lesson.

Examples: Elton compared concepts using slides, posters, other materials: "if I want to show a segment of... say a video, stop and discuss it, use a blackboard, have posters up, be a multi-resource person. ...like use a Drysdale poster with a video on abstraction in Australia in the 60's for comparison. I don't want to pack up a stack of Art and Australia and bring them [students] down [to the library] to do this." "We are looking for things that are new or different to the way we approach things, so they are getting a variety" (Elton) "...one is not enough. You don't want to give the idea that there is only one way of doing things." "The more you have around you the better" (Sarah) "And you give them plenty of resources, masses of resources, of images on the wall, and as much as you can...whatever we can get our hands on." (Joan) "The assignment has a complex number of instructional resources: books, charts, a handout, a video- which is quite lengthy but I've edited it- an excursion to the Queensland Art Gallery... We will also go to our school library to 'fill in' information on other artists from the journals, things not looked at today" (Yvonne) "I like to give them keys to many other resources- and I think that's a very important role." (Nigel)

The following definitions were used in naming the instrumentalist and essentialist categories and were created for the NUD*IST index by the researcher. They follow Eisner's categorisation (1994):

Instrumentalist uses: While the content in a resource may contain essentialist information from an authorial point of view, the function of content amongst the participants was predominantly instrumentalist. Content was often provided as a guide to similar, or in-kind processes that were meant to be adapted to students' personal expression. In other words, the resource information was intended to provide exemplars of innovation and solutions to self-generated artistic problems. There was an element of appreciation for style and history that was adjunct to the main function of the exemplar, so in this respect the resource was fulfilling a pluralist function. However, the resources were provided as cues for student behaviour, particularly for illustration and demonstration of process and technique. Similarly, resources were selected as models of desirable processes and outcomes. Multiple examples were presented as prompts for extension of student work and expansion of students' idea bases.

Essentialist example: Sources were used to relay content considered central to the subject area of art. (Joan): "that's important that last point. These artists and their art set the foundations for Australian art since that time. It is something we are not able to avoid. Each group will have three books and I have some questions for you to do. ...We'll look at three artists: Tucker, Nolan and Percival."

Pluralist example: Resources were used for both instrumentalist and essentialist purposes. Examples from one participant illustrated how this occurs. Sarah used a music video to explore art images in everyday life. "The major thrust is of association [Instrumentalist]- recognizing art images as part of that association, and then tracing them to their original source [Essentialist]."

Another example of resource use that combined instrumental and essentialist functions would be Sarah's re-use of resources with a change in focus: "...sometimes, like with Henry Moore's anatomical drawings, for year 9, where I introduce the concept of figure abstraction to 3Dimensional form, [we look at] the abstract qualities and principles, and for year 11, I use the same slides. With year 11, we look at the intent and motivation for Henry Moore's work." (Sarah) Sequencing also involved resources used as essential content as a starting point that then provides the model for artistic process. I.e. As knowledge for its own sake, but not to be copied, but used as a parallel idea of process.

At times, networking and professional development related directly to resource use, such as when resources were advocated through avenues of connection, or when a cluster group of teachers invited an artist to hold a workshop, or when networks shared resources and exhibitions. However, being free ranging, the professional involvements of the participants did not necessarily lead directly to the acquisition or use of instructional resources. Instead, they often had an oblique relationship to the resource environment, effecting its evolution due to the increased perceived value of the art program. These categories were determined as patterns of transaction that framed the phenomena as much as they represent the phenomena under investigation, similar to the outer concentric rings of Strauss's conditional matrix (1990). Professional involvements included three spheres of practice: at the systemic level of art education, for example, syllabus and assessment panel; within professional art, such as exhibitions and artists' workshops; and within the school or school cluster groups and associations of art teachers. In addition, each of these represents a professional network and an influence on practice. In particular, professional development at the systemic level provided insight into its processes and parameters, allowing participants to determine the degree of flexibility tolerable at the art program level. In turn, this flexibility opened up resourcing possibilities and added conviction and efficacy to the lobby for evolution of the resource environments.

Three properties of Networking were determined across the cases: a) an increase in knowledge and motivation; b) a focus on students working in the role of artist; and c) a heightened appreciation of the art program. The dimensions of motivation, its increase or decrease, were affected by the amount of effort expended in order to accomplish the networking and the perceived positive consequences. This can be illustrated by Elton's dropping out of the Southside network that he set up. "It just got too big. I actually encouraged other schools to take it on; we could rotate through the schools because it was too big for any one school to manage. I wasn't prepared to do it again and again and again. So I tried to get other schools to pick up on it and they weren't that keen to come to the party, so I dropped it and I just had an in- house one." (E Interv 2F)

Examples: Participants were involved in forming and participating in School cluster groups (Elton, Sarah and Joan) Some professional networks included Associations already established, such as the Queensland Art Teachers' association, but in addition, some teachers established their own informal networks. In Joan's case, "We have started up a network of Christian schools, with personal network days of exchange where we join in other schools- one day or two a year. The network meets two times a year- it's embryonic. I'm hoping it becomes a viable backdrop." This network also held conferences "...It's supposed to be more like a forum. The focus this year was post-modernism and its effects on teaching. There were a few different speakers. One guy spoke about the dissolution of the mega-narrative in favour of a tribal narrative and what impact for teachers this will and does have- it's established already. I find it provoking - I've been pondering it since. Why a tribal narrative rather than a global?" (J Recall 1)

The patterns of resource use included the changes that occurred over time, as well as the micro changes in the day-to-day classroom environments. Micro changes involved the moving of resources to the art class room for impromptu use, the display of a breath of material, moving classes to alternative environments, improvising the style of delivery. Macro changes included lobbying for and achieving dedicated facilities, renovations, and reorganisation of the resource delivery systems, major projects and the restructuring of curriculum to achieve resource goals. The patterns involved here are evidence of repeated attempts and reflexive transactions along the dimensional continuum, as well as responses to new technologies and refinement of resource applications. Two of the participants were able to change facilities entirely; all did renovations to facilitate resource delivery. At the macro level, the strategic evolution of the resource environment meant an intensive analysis of the value of perceived changes as well as the estimation of contingencies and difficulties. Strategies were various, with various levels of success. While more discussion of this issue will be addressed in the following section on Temporality, the focus in the discussion here will be on the pattern of change and the driving aims behind the strategies. Major aims were the desire for breadth and flexible formats that allowed for a number of interactions, closer proximity of resources to allow for autonomous use, and continuing to open up the systemic avenues that would allow for student interaction with original artworks, artists and art environments outside the school. Strategies that were employed included the use of existing autonomous funds and authority, the lobbying for resources directly through policy and budget forums (itself involving patterns of transactions), membership of school and other systemic committees, and maintaining a high profile as a teacher and a department. Recognition of opportunities, such as the Department of Education Visiting Artist Program, was a characteristic of these participants. As well, participants shaped their own opportunities, taking initiative to incorporate valued resources into their curriculum.

Examples: Joan shared a suburban house on the edge of the school grounds with design and manual arts, which allowed more work space and the housing of art resources close to the art room. Nigel recycled or reconfigured slide sets. "We are going out of slides a little bit. The library has been given all the slides. What we're doing over two years is going through them. We're putting some in carousels and setting up our own kits, tailoring the resources to our units. . The other senior teacher picks it up, looks at it; she'll use it and I'll use differently, selecting relevant images." Nigel also lobbied for several years to achieve a separate computer facility for art, which he saw as qualitatively different from the library facility. "I'm on the visual arts side, the fine arts side in my intent. We want the students to be more involved with using the computer technology for what we call imaging; the way you can enhance the imaging with images they have already done through photography, and also creating images on the computer, then manipulating those, playing with them. ...Students are used to accessing [computer] resources all the time, whether for practical or theoretical work." Some of the consequences of proximity, while improving access, did not guarantee improved dimensions of usage. For example, Yvonne was very successful at establishing a large, art-specific resource centre in the Art block over a period of years. However, she felt it presented some negatives consequences. She felt the proximity, size, and staff familiarity presented a number of issues from teacher "laziness", to the de-skilling of students, to perceived inequity in library funding. She was, in fact, reconsidering her "success". "If I had the time again, I don't know if I would put as many resources in the department, because in some respects it has made my teachers lazy. And because the resources are so varied of type, that what can happen if you have such a good resource centre attached to your department is that the teachers rely on it and become reluctant to try and find new things." (Yvonne) Yvonne developed a gallery program by getting on the timetable committee and organising an afternoon double block that would accommodate the class. Sarah suggested a school art collection of Aboriginal works for the library. Elton was able to design an entire art facility as part of a building expansion program, which included storage areas for resources, display areas, a reference library for staff and students. It also included dedicated hardware for resources- a VCR and projector, a slide projector, and epidiascope.

The necessity to lobby and develop the profile of Visual Arts in the school was underscored by all participants. How this affected resource collections varied from the direct, such as the establishment of Sarah's original art collection in the school, to the indirect, such as Elton's high profile public events and the new facility for the Art Department that eventuated. The relationship in the latter case is oblique and in this way, lobbying can be characterised as a sub-text of many transactions. Certainly, the position of the Art Program in the hierarchy of subjects in the school influenced the success of lobbying had an impact on the resourcing for visual arts. As well, the predilection of the school administration towards the art program, the pre-existing views, had a direct effect on how much lobbying for equity was required by the participants. While this will be discussed more thoroughly in the following section on Contingencies, it is important to note that the dimensional profile of this pattern of interaction was directly affected by the supportive or unsupportive administrative attitudes within the school. As well, the level of efficacy in the lobby of the individual teachers varied, based on their ability to persuade others and articulate their case and to judge the effectiveness of certain transactions within the context of their school. Personal characteristics and levels of tolerance for conditions, along with the ability to be improvisational, also effected the position of the program and the level of resourcing. Nevertheless, advocacy was a factor in all cases, ranging from intuitive to direct transactions, underpinned by a strong sense of equity for art as a subject. This and a guiding vision of what was appropriate and desirable for their area led the participants' lobby.

Examples: "I have to be on that many committees in this school it's not funny so that art doesn't get marginalised. You know, when it comes to timetables; when it comes to curriculum development, I must be on about four different committees when it comes to facilities and buildings. ...The subject doesn't have a credibility problem anymore. It's credible; it's up there. And no one questions its value or integrity. ... If this is seen to be a valid program, then resource it. ...The old attitude we had of we have to publicise or perish still exists - so we still have to be out there as a department to maintain market share." (Elton) "It goes right back to timetabled time, it comes back down to being acknowledged within students' subject choices - that is part of equity - that you are not treated as a second-rate citizen and you are not worth any less than traditional subjects. I think that those days are gone, but occasionally you have to remind people of that, and that you deserve your portion of the budget." (Y Interv 3F) "We have an original art collection at the school now, contemporary Indigenous art, like the life size emu made out of barbed wire. It is housed in the library and everyone in the school has access to it." (Sarah) "This year, when I put in for a slide projector, art was the only one that wanted to use one. So, I have asked the English and other subjects what they wanted and they didn't think they would use any slides. Now, I'm going to be more demanding." (Joan) "Well, the other [school] was such an abysmal pit. It was so dreadfully dull and boring and horrible and restrictive that I felt I had to do something. [lobby for a text] This [school] doesn't have such a bad arrangement because usually if you're desperate to lay your hands on something you can usually do that. And if it's feasible and within the budget, it's okay. I mean, I would still like a whole set of textbooks, I really would, ...but for the most part, if it is something you think is necessary, and you can give a pretty good reason for it, they are okay with that; there is money available." (Xena) "One of the first things to do is to convince, ...is work on that person in convincing them that the college values, and we as teachers, value visual art education, and that we are serious about using computers. And it's not just about making pretty pictures and learning how to scan. And that we're beyond learning how to use computers. That used to be an issue, but it is not an issue anymore. It's now how you use computers to make art. And convincing that person, because once they realise that it's serious education and not just a fun thing, the response has been much better." (Nigel)

Ultimately, the temporality of resources and environments rested on the need for constantly refreshing the currency of information, sources and modes. In this sense, contingencies, both small and large, were ongoing. Three main strategies for dealing with contingencies on a micro level were: improvisation, overcoming or changing the system, and subverting the system. For example, the non-ideal, or out-dated existing resources were an ongoing contingency. None of the participants rejected their use entirely, as they found ways to improvise, or change content and presentation mode. At times, it meant cutting up, editing, or physically re-arranging material. As well, participants re-invented material in an authorial sense to make information relevant and immediate. This was often a matter of emphasis, establishing a different line of inquiry through text or illustrations. Changes to the system were seen in the supplementing of resources with outside material, either from the participants' own collection or from outside sources. Subversion of the system would account for the pirating, or non-copyright use of material, which was seen as a matter of expediency, and subsumed by the need for current material. In the micro sense, contingencies regarding non-ideal existing resources were considered relatively easy to deal with, due to the overarching pedagogical importance of breadth of resources to stimulate innovative modeling, and the participants' ability to envision alternatives.

All the teachers in this study had to find strategies for the contingencies that having regular experiences of art and artists in their program created. Improvising was seen in applying for a P&C grant. Changing the system included the staging of independent, after school and weekend workshops. Subverting the system included the payment of artists by disguising budgets to cover costs. These solutions were in addition to utilizing non-contingent methods provided within the system, such as the Visiting Artist Scheme and subject camps set up by the school. It was in part the additional activity that indicated the saliency of contemporary art and artists as resources within the study. The inclusion of primary source material and experience was triggered by a knowledge and appreciation of art practice in the community, a belief in the value of immediate experience of art and artists in student learning, and the desire to revitalize themselves in terms of their own professional development.

The strategic evolution of the resource environments over time encompassed the macro aspects of temporality and contingencies within the transactional system. When the conditions were such that actions within dimensions of practice or the aspects of resources were limited, the professional evolution of the resource environment was restricted, along with the participants' sense of professionalism. Non-ideal environments were, at times, dealt with in the same way as micro conditions. For example, the desire for a class text that the school's budget would not accommodate prompted Xena to improvise ways to use small groups of texts instead. However, there were other variables in operation at the macro level, which affected the amount of change or the period over which change occurred. These variables have been broadly identified as the degree of administrative intransigence, the informed understanding of systemic flexibility by the participants, and the efficacy of the individual's lobby.

For the participants, the level of resistance to systems authority and their sense of what constituted a critical mass of impediments was high. This was testament to their success in lobbying for changes in resourcing and other environments and the sense that the level of administrative intransigence was low. What constituted a critical mass of impediments is illustrated by Xena's case, where the level of administrative intransigence was high. Her second school administration was very conservative and had an attitude that artists were of dubious character, which Xena determined was based on a severe lack of knowledge and appreciation of contemporary art practice. As well, she felt they had a professional distrust of her ability to supply appropriate judgement within her area. In short, the professional contexts of this school's life were limited. The physical condition of the art block, which was dark and small, the narrowly defined and limited work program, the dearth of instructional resources and the restricted nature of their content were testament to this. Xena's decision was to maintain an equilibrium with the students and look for opportunities to introduce artists and topics that illustrated students' interests in contemporary art, rather than construct experiences as she did at her previous school. At the same time, she was able to negotiate resources in the form of a class text. However, this experience caused her to look for a transfer to another school, as well as alter her way of working with resources. It led her to the conclusion that she could relinquish expectations of certain foundational resources and preferred forms, be adaptive and capitalise on what was local and current, especially exhibitions. "I've decided that in the long run, I will use what is available now. If I can find it in the newspaper, if there is an exhibit on, if I can bring a book in... I'm just now eliminating all the past. ...I've shifted a lot and I'm not about to shift 900 pounds of paper that may or not may be suitable to the next school." The level of administrative intransigence is indicated in final interview:

These particular teachers used a great deal of latitude in pedagogical decision-making, going beyond the requirements of the syllabus, altering its content or re-defining its structure. They had an informed knowledge of systems documents, and felt that personal interpretations were warranted in advance of, but in line with, syllabus development. The proper spirit of the document was a reflection of art as a discipline and the predominant inclinations of art educators in the State. For example, art teachers blocked an impending change to a design-orientated syllabus, a new syllabus committee was struck, and Sarah found herself the only original committee member included on the second revision. She helped to negotiate the change that opened up major project areas to contemporary art forms. These changes notwithstanding, another participant ended up labelling a computer-based major project as "Painting" for certification purposes. All but one of the participants had been personally involved with the system in an advisory or official capacity, such as holding positions as regional members of the assessment review panels or as part of the syllabus development committee, indicating a high level of awareness of how the system operated. It is significant to the findings that the participants based these alterations from syllabus on their understanding of the changing nature of current art practice. In particular, this could be seen in the large community projects, art camps and weekend workshops, after-school sessions, and involvement of the arts industry organisations, such as Queensland Artworkers Alliance.

Lobbying was dimensionalised as effective or ineffective, and presented a number of factors as contingencies. The intransigence or support of the administration, as discussed above, was one variable factor, but this was combined with the efficacy of the individual's strategies and their natural characteristics and inclinations. In discussing the cases, the reader will be aware that quite particular combinations are in operation, but these should be seen as exemplars of degree of effectiveness and strategy for the purposes of conceptualising the issue. For example, Xena presented a natural inclination towards establishing cross-discipline projects and using positive public relations to build up a favourable situation for the art program. However, the administrative attitude altered the effectiveness of her lobby in each of her three schools. Her second school has been outlined above. In her first school, one she shared with Sarah, the Administrative attitude was slow in responding to art needs and fairly non-invasive in its surveillance of staff. In that school, Xena set up the use of the music room for her classes. As an indicator of the school tone, she was asked whether other classes did likewise. She responded, "I'm unsure of other subjects' usage. I think we are about the only ones. We have a good relationship with the Music department. I use their broken instruments for drawing, and I have printed shirts for them, and I did a program last year for their end-of-year thing. We scavenge from every department. Other subjects seem to suffer from a lack curiosity...(musing) We have this image- 'that's the art crowd.'"

Sarah, who was relatively quiet and even-tempered, was the last subject area in this particular school to receive its own VCR. Her tolerance for existing conditions was the greatest of all the cases, but due to the lack of surveillance, she was able to accomplish some things without going through the system. For example, she had collected her own extensive library of books and artefacts which she used, and supplemented the visiting artists program with informal artists talks through her network.

Elton's Administration was initially fairly neutral in its support of the art program, but his very effective lobbying combined his natural, energetic style, "the performing seal that I am", as he put it, and carefully considered actions. His ability to keep the art program in the spotlight, through committee work and public events, as well as build the program by incorporating highly motivating extra-curricular events for the boys at the school, paid off in two major ways. First, Elton was able to work specialised art curriculum into the junior school. Secondly, a newly designed art block was housed in a major building project of the school. (Off-line interview, 2001)

Yvonne was a very effective lobbyist at her school. She was both tenacious and well organised in her approach, and took the opportunity to participate in higher-level administration as Acting Deputy of her State school for two terms, which gave her increased stature in her school. Yvonne considered the administrative attitude to be fairly positive in any case, but had a personal give and take way of interacting within the system whose consequences were mostly positive. She also involved herself in an official capacity at several levels of the State system, including the syllabus committee and the assessment review panel. Earlier in her career, she was an itinerant curriculum officer in the State. Her knowledge of systems operation gave her confidence in her ability to lobby, she had a keen sense of equity for her subject area, and she was direct and concrete about her goals. She had the most extensive, dedicated art resource centre of all the cases. Some of the consequences, positive and negative, have been discussed earlier.

Nigel's private school was well off and well resourced. He said, "The administrative attitude and library resource centre attitude is good. It's good not having to justify resources from a curriculum point of view. The teachers in Visual Arts control purchasing. I was just given a resource centre $120,000 budget two weeks ago. I had to give a list of teaching resources, such as staff books, slides, continuing to add to the store of images on various themes, a/v resources such as CD's and videos. These are catalogued in the library and then given straight back to us. [for the art staff room]" His focus was mostly that resources were used in research off-site, both for staff and students, and the interactive nature of the classroom was pre-eminent. However, he spent years lobbying for the dedicated computer facility that was eventually housed in the art block. His attitude and strategy for lobbying is implicit in his comments about one of his colleagues, whose lobby included setting up assignments that required computers before they were available:

Also, the evolution of the process was reported on in his later interview

While Nigel made consistent progress with computing facilities for his area, and acknowledged it was a slow process of negotiation, he identified part of the problem as the kind of person who was employed in the main computing area. "they all come from the same mould". The early, shared facility was used predominantly for research, although Nigel said that "about one third of the students are starting to use the computer more as tools to generate works on paper." At the end of the study, the facility was used mainly as an image tool. It was noted at this time that on the wall, there was a display of a number of self-generated posters with technical instructions and image sequences, which were similar in kind to those seen earlier in the photo darkroom. Joan presented a case where the administrative attitude was perceived as very positive "If they could do it, they would. " However, lack of funds was the main factor here, as the Private School was just launching its senior program. "The whole school rallies together. There's no jealous guarding of one's own area - nobody grabs things. I need $200 to buy some things; I've scrounged in the past... I haven't got the money, but I haven't been knocked back- the funding isn't there." Joan's sense of initiative and improvising was very effective, as was her librarian's and her Principal. "I walked over with the other teacher and the Principal. He asked me what about it? It took twenty minutes to decide after it was suggested. The Principal is a very creative man and he suggested it. 'oh yea!' We both said. This will help with long term planning more. Meanwhile, I just make the best of it." (J Recall 2)

Relative Saliency In The Belief Structure Of The Teacher-

Constructing The Grounded Theory

In developing the theoretical construct of question three, the index was used to verify salient factors and to question them regarding overarching transactions that would integrate them into an explanatory theory. In Grounded theory methodology, the theory is delimited by establishing a "storyline" (Strauss and Corbin, 1990) that summarises major relationships in the categories. In this study, the grounded theory "storyline" was summarised as follows:

While the factors in decision-making were listed and patterns outlined, indicating the richness of detail, the theoretical overview is summarised by the following main points:

1. Instructional resources and events were selected, interventions were made, and resource settings were developed as instrumental to fulfilling perceived student needs to model contemporary artistic processes, mostly situated around needs for individualization of information, establishing personal lines of inquiry from multiple sources, and application to unique thinking and problem-solving. These needs are in part subject to beliefs about real art and contemporary artistic practice. The attributes of contemporary art practice relate to the use of instructional resources in the following ways: the lack of an authoritative reference, the problematising of knowledge and information, the incorporation of many or diverse sources of information, divergent outcomes, individual lines of inquiry, conceptual innovation, contemporary and personal themes. Beliefs about artistic practice are informed by active participation in extra-curricular art experiences, and professional development, including networking. Primary source experiences are incorporated as essential resources in the teaching program.

2. The host of intervening conditions, as outlined in the individual cases, included quality, content, location of resources, budget constraints, access to settings, governing administrative attitudes and policies, the characteristics of the students, and the personal dynamics of the participants. Three main strategies for dealing with contingencies on a micro level were: improvisation, overcoming or changing the system, and subverting the system. The participants were inventive within the system; at the same time, they sought to change it by negotiation and other lobbying strategies. Strategies included active participation at school and State systems levels, public relations and publicising the art program. If the system was perceived as a minor impediment to essential subject or personal objectives, subversion of the system occurred as a matter of expediency. Where the conditions became a critical mass in terms of the number of impediments, disproportionate to the effort required to effect change, and with the chances of substantial change unlikely, the participant sought a transfer. A continuum of a level of pragmatism and level of effort can be used to describe individual responses to intervening conditions. While these were described as individual inclinations, a major factor affecting this continuum appeared to be the level of administrative intransigence. Overall, three conditions effected the micro and macro development of the resource environment: the efficacy of the participants' personal lobby, the level of administrative intransigence, and informed understanding of systemic flexibility.

Over time, the study brought out notions of effective teaching, which came from a sense of guiding order (process) and outcome (personalised line of inquiry), whose details evolved with professional reflexivity and strategic development of the resource environment. At the conclusion of the data collection, Yvonne referred to her own practice. "And all I can do, is I can teach by example. ...to do all those things we've talked about and by having those facilities there, be models of practice of those things we feel strongly about." The participants' cohesive commitment to actively constructing knowledge with their students guided their negotiation of instructional resources in an instrumental and interpretive paradigm. "The interpretive conception defines knowledge as being actively constructed within the unstable, uncertain, conflict-filled world of practice. The resulting knowledge is an idiosyncratic, situated knowledge, made powerful by the contexts in which it is acquired and used."(Wideen, Mayer-Smith and Moon, 1996 p.191)

References