Chapter 8 Discussion with Lindsey

Chapter 8

Social Justice as Art

This chapter was about the incredible power that communal art has to change the lives of the people that participate as well as the recipients of that art.  This chapter talks about the idea of social justice as a form of art, one which assists students, educators and community members in "developing a sense of personal agency and social responsibility."

What is Social Justice?

In order to understand how art can have such an influence we must first know the meaning of the cause we are hoping to advance, social justice.  According to Dictionary.com social justice is the "distribution of advantages and disadvantages in a soceity." The thing that I notice about this definition is that it is not about a specific item.  It is about the larger idea of equality.  Social justice can be applied to every person of every gender, race, religion, creed, belief system on the face of the Earth.  As an art teacher that is attempting to comment on the social justice system of the world, service learning is a gateway into having the mutual dialogue between teacher/student/community to do so.

Service learning has been a part of the American educational system for many years, and some colleges and universities have wrapped it into their curriculum since the early 1900s.  The question becomes, how is this different from volunteerism or community service?  When comparing the two it is important to notice what is missing from community service- the ongoing interaction and reciprocal learning that is crucial to service learning.  Within the idea of service learning is the requirement that it be a two-way street, no one can dictate what another needs; and service learning allows for that dialogue to remain open between the people that are being benefited and the organization that is working with the recipients of the service learning.

Another reason service learning is so important is because it focuses on the desire to build a long term commitment to service.  Where volunteering can be a single time venture, giving people the ability to continue to serve through engaging and needed service learning helps to build the desire to do something rather than just opening a person's eyes to the needs of the community with a lack of follow-through.

The Projects

The two organizations mentioned in the article, Potters for Peace and Empty Bowls, both fall under the same big idea, survival.  As a teacher, it may seem like basic survival (food and clean water) are something that other people deal with, but at a time in the United States where the amount of people living in poverty is higher than ever, our essential questions become things like:

- If needs are not met, how can kids learn?

- How can we (as teachers and a society) move forward to teaching when needs are not met?

- What is poverty?

Dealing with essential questions that affect students directly and indirectly can be a tricky business, as it would be less than ideal to trigger a student into a panic attack, but thinking back to the blog post about creating a nurturing environment for discussion is particularly useful in this instance.

What do YOU think?

As an art teacher, what are ways you can motivate your students to do public spirited/minded works?

What are three strategies for creating meaningful reflections about their experiences?

When would you have your students reflect?

What organization or cause would be particularly interesting to you as a facilitator of a classroom based service learning project?

Activity

According to the book, "improved health, education, and economic benefits will inspire other responses from the community and embody social justice outcomes made possible by this...form of art education."

1. Create a big idea in reference to one of the causes that you mentioned above.

2. Create 3-5 essential questions about your big idea.