This article gives a brief background of where I come from and how my experiences in Africa and North America have framed the ‘philosophy of teaching’ that defines me as a visual art educator. I reflect on the postcolonial concept of ‘decolonization’ as a means to identifying possible pedagogical alternatives of practice. Acknowledging that my knowledge embraces both ‘western’ and ‘Indigenous’ ways of knowing, poses a question for me as an art educator about ways to design and implement pedagogies that embrace contextualized experiences in order to achieve meaningful learning within formal education. I conclude by stating that nothing will effect change within Uganda’s education sector, particularly in reference to visual art education and practice, without educators having a firmer grasp of their scholarly standpoint on knowledge and learning. Development of concrete ways of bringing together diverse ontological, epistemological and axiological positions of western and Indigenous knowledge systems as well as art pedagogies to facilitate learning, will require educators to develop structures and strategies that progress from the bottom up in order to benefit from the values, beliefs and ways of knowing within diverse local communities.

Working with metaphorical objects as a creative didactic approach unfolds multiple prospects for making meaning of one’s orientation towards artistic practice. Through improvisation, storytelling and visual displays, new perspectives are derived from the professional experiences encountered by practitioners as they engage with the material world and their connections to it. This article expresses the relationship between text and image in meaning-making processes through which visual artists are supported to articulate multiple significances that come together to speak to what their ‘truth’ is; thus, it being subjective in context. Connecting practice to pedagogy, visual connections and inner thoughts are nurtured through a critical process to frame one’s professional identity and scholarly standpoint. A group of twenty art practitioners and educators engaged in a process of defining their philosophies of practice using both tangible and intangible objects through a talking circle. This arts-based approach provided the group with an opportunity to individually share professional experiences linked to their choice of metaphoric objects within a circular orientation. Individual reflection, expression and relationship building were realized and in so doing, a hand, key(s), pencil, key holder, book, shield, environment, culture, bottle, perfume bottle, phone, pot, rubber, balloon and laptop were used as metaphorical objects. This created a unique connection between creativity and imagination through a humanistic orientation in which participants’ inner voices were visually expressed. The notion of ‘Art for what Purpose?’ that is significant in meaning-making was expressed in the voices of the participants making the metaphorical objects relevant within that particular context. With reference to a personal quote ‘I either use a pen to voice my thoughts or fail to do so and have no self-worth’ demonstrates that for one’s voice to be heard by a given audience, there is need to share it in all possible ways. Therefore, participants’ engagement in the talking circle revealed the relevance of empowering practitioners through both oral and visual expressions to validate their self-worth within given contexts as both an academic and practice strategy in establishing meaning.

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