Proceedings of the 11th International Academic Conference, Reykjavik

A COURSE-BASED CREATIVE INQUIRY APPROACH TO TEACHING INTRODUCTORY RESEARCH METHODS IN CHILD AND YOUTH CARE UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION

GERARD BELLEFEUILLE

Abstract:

Introductory research courses give undergraduate students their first, and for many, their only exposure to the scientific methods and principles of research design. They are challenging classes to teach to Child and Youth Care (CYC) students because the thought of “researchers” conjures up images of human beings that appear cold, indifferent, objective, rational, serious, and therefore unfeeling and less caring—the antithesis of the warm, caring, intuitive, and empathic relational-centred CYC practitioner. This stereotype presumes that you cannot be both researcher and practitioner. It’s not surprising, then, to hear CYC students voice their views about research methods courses as boring, senseless, and irrelevant to their practice. In this article I present course-based research projects conducted by fourth year Child and Youth Care (CYC) students at MacEwan University using creative modes of inquiry for both the process by which the research is conducted and for the methods used to represent research data. I address the interconnection between creative inquiry and the meaning-making process that is so central to relational CYC practice and discuss how creative inquiry allows researchers and, or, participants to explore questions and express understanding in ways that represent different ways of knowing.

Keywords: course-based research, creative inquiry, higher education

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