Social Reconstructionism

Freedman | Cahan & Kocur | Eldridge

Teaching Visual Culture (2003) by Kerry Freedman

Dr. Kerry Freedman has made the field of research and promotion of visual culture education highly influential on the current world of art education. She has worked with other professional art educators and researchers to take the term “Visual Culture” and define it in the context of the current world. In her book, Freedman explores the historical, social and educational implications of visual culture, and how those can be put into practice in the classroom. It lays a strong framework for a dynamic and meaningful visual culture curriculum.

My summary and analysis of each chapter of Teaching Visual Culture:

Contemporary Art and Multicultural Education (1996)
by Susan Cahan and Zoya Kocur

Cahan and Kocur (1996) explore how multiculturalism has changed over time, and how the demand for a multicultural curriculum that increases “equity for a range of cultural, ethnic and economic groups through such strategies as student-centered pedagogy, community involvement in policy making and governance, and equitable distribution of resources” (p.xix). Throughout time, multicultural curricula has allowed Eurocentric foundations to go unchallenged and be considered “the norm.” Instead of integrating multiculturalism into the mainstream, it is tacked on as an added bonus. What is missing is connecting students’ everyday experiences and sociocultural backgrounds to their thoughts, feelings and emotions. “A social reconstructionist approach to art education requires not only a change in the content and organization of the curriculum, but a shift in instructional methods as well” (p. xxv). This includes incorporating student’s background knowledge, interest, and treating all as having an equal voice.

I feel this goes beyond incorporating student interest into the realm of language. By language, I don’t just mean non-English speaking, but also the way words are used, what words are used and what context they hold within and outside of a classroom. Treating students with respect for their experiences, even though they haven’t had as many as a typical teacher has had, they are still important, valid and shape the way they live their lives. It would be a disservice to students not to incorporate their voice in their work no matter what the subject, but especially in art, which is the main subject where students can express their ideas, feelings, memories and identities in a visual way.

Teaching about Native American Art (2008)

by Laurie A. Eldridge

In this article, Laurie Eldridge (2008) discusses how Native Americans are portrayed stereotypically and as people whose culture and very existence is something of the past and is no longer relevant today. She encourages educators to employ socially engaged research, challenging of assumptions, and listening to the voices of those who are very much a part of culture today but who aren’t always heard. Eldridge feels that students should be asked to "examine previously unexamined assumptions as well as dominant cultural conventions by approaching them from the view of historically ignored or silenced Native American artists" (p. 3). Teaching students about cultures outside of your own is challenging to do without appropriating, assuming and/or assimilating. The first step to giving students an accurate representation of Native American or other indigenous cultures would be to use “first voices” - inviting those of a certain cultural background, heritage or lifestyle to speak and teach the class alongside the teacher. In this way, teachers create a sense of a community through collaboration with other professionals as well as provide a relevant and connected outlet to many cultures throughout the country and the world.

REFERENCES 

• Freedman, K (2003). Teaching visual culture. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

• Cahan S. & Kocur Z. (Eds). (1996). Contemporary art and multicultural education.  New York, NY: The New Museum of Contemporary Art.

• Eldridge, L. A. (2008). Teaching about Native American art issues for art educators. Translations. 17(2). Reston, VA: National Art Education Association.