Images of the Navajo Nation: An Art Journaling Experience
Rationale/Background: Written journaling to encourage student reflection is the norm in nursing education. A review of the nursing literature found student artwork as a journaling tool revealed limited research on the topic. Written journaling to encourage student reflection is the norm in nursing education (Epp, 2008). Faculty wanted to explore journaling with student artwork as a tool for processing cultural learning.
Methods: Eight nursing students from a western university were instructed to create 10 illustrated journal entries during a three week immersion experience on the Navajo reservation in Arizona. Each entry consisted of a title, a brief narrative, and an illustration of the cultural experience described. Students were informed they would not be graded on the quality of their artwork and were given full-credit for completing the assignment. Following completion of the course and submission of final grades, students were asked to respond via email to three open-ended questions: their initial reaction to the assignment, how they felt about using artwork as a journaling tool at the end of the experience, and the advantages and disadvantages of the artwork journaling experience. We evaluated and summarized the students’ responses.
Outcomes Achieved: All eight students responded to the three questions, revealing the following: Five of eight students expressed excitement at the prospect of drawing reflections on their cultural learning versus writing them. Three reported initial apprehension that they would perform poorly. Regarding the advantages of the experience, all students at the end of the experience reported enjoying this different type of journaling and sharing their artwork with their peers. They stated artwork allowed for more creativity, was more meaningful and expressive than a strictly written journal, and helped them remember details they might have forgotten otherwise. Regarding the disadvantages, several students wrote they were not used to drawing as a way to express themselves. Students also reported that it took more time to draw than to simply write their thoughts.
Conclusions: All students made positive comments about the assignment. Artwork journaling was found to be an effective tool for processing student cultural experiences in a nonthreatening manner and can be an alternative way for students to process and document their experiences. Using artwork journaling with a larger group of students in a variety of cultural settings would allow for comparison across settings.
Epp, S. (2008). The value of reflective journaling in undergraduate nursing education: A literature review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 45(9), 1379-1388.