Researching oneself through the collage

This paper will present a methodological reflection on how some artistic techniques can became for the individuals the opportunity to think of themselves in an auto-biographical way. In particular, this paper will focus on the collage. Collage is a technique based on a mixing of images, verbal text and other elements that starts with the analysis of an existing state of affairs, proceeds to deconstruct it, and finally to construct a new product juxtaposing different languages. In this sense, making a collage of the learning process engage the authors in a self-narrative process with the potential to enhance reflexivity. First, this paper will underline the role of collage in the artistic background of our contemporary era, in order to explain how the artistic work can be a way to create and tell the own life story. At another level, using selected examples of researching and training experiences conducted by the authors in some educational contexts (as university, primary and high schools), this paper will show how the collage can become a techniques for constructing and eliciting meanings held by the subjects that would not be accessible by other means and that are important to define themselves, especially for adolescents and young adults involved in the difficult construction process of their identities. In light of the complexity of the topic, it is hoped that this paper will contribute to advancing understanding of the potential of arts as learning strategy in educational contexts.