Theories of social justice in art education seem to merge a lot of what we covered in multiculturalism as well as visual culture. We can see the advocacy for underrepresented groups, as well as the decoding of popular culture and the acknowledgement that we are shaped by the art around us in everyday life. What seems to stand out here is the recognition of where this power comes from, our responsibility as teachers to utilize schools as instruments of social change, and instilling students with the recognition of their ability to interpret and change the world for the better. To quote Garber in Social Justice in Education, “This doesn’t mean that students’ thinking and actions will be copies of what their teachers do, but through thoughtful engagement with issues and situations, they will learn to question the status quo against their beliefs about a more just world.” Here we can see that it’s less about teaching specific material, and more about teaching an inquisitive and proactive way of looking at the world. The most straightforward way to approach this as a teacher is to have some assignments that focus more on the inspiration, message, and reception of their work from a social perspective rather than purely self-expression or formalist problem-solving. An example that really stood out to me was taking the time to research museums not just for the art they contain, but which wart they showcase and how. Identifying museums as propagators of social values, for good or for bad, teaches students to look at the world more critically and to understand that everyone has biases, whether they intend to or not. Another was the fundraising based project “Empty Bowls” by Pamela Taylor which is described further on the third page of this article:
Students would make bowls in through their ceramics lesson that would be used in hunger awareness fundraiser, where the guests would be able to take the bowls with them as a reminder of the message being displayed. Often times ceramics courses are tied to purely abstract assignments, focusing on shape, form, and technique. Seeing the bowls being put to active use, especially one that injects them into a vehicle for social change was extremely refreshing.
This ties into the idea of service learning, and the idea that art should reach beyond the expression of the individual and involve the greater cooperation of the community it was created in. I think we can all remember projects from elementary school where we wrote letters to military service members, decorated paper bags to showcase various cultural events, or even this semester when we made the valentine cards. The focus here is on community involvement. The best way to get students involved in the community, if you have the time, would be to include the organization of the involvement in the curriculum. Inviting students to do some research into their community, brainstorm possible social service projects, and vote amongst themselves for the chosen endeavor would provide not just the experience of social service, but the tools for perpetuating it in the future.
A final component to the lesson involves the reflection. As noted in the Rice & Beans project in the article Service Learning as Postmodern Art and Pedagogy, “It was during the reflection sessions that the art education students, the Beans and Rice program director, and the university faculty were constantly challenged to reflect honestly and critically on the ways that the program goals affected the community.” Focusing on reflection like this ensures that the mission was more than just performative, that future service projects will be aligned with true community involvement and betterment, to ensure that students were genuinely learning about the values of engagement and the power of their art, as well as providing opportunity for further cross-disciplinary literacy training.
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