Communicating through art: Social Justice in Art Education

Art and social justice have deep rooted connections. Dewhurst (2011) states, “I think social change is about making people look at things differently.” Dewhurst claims that there are multiple lenses through which we can understand Social Justice through Art Education (Dewhurst, 2011). Pertinent to my research, he describes the “Translating” lens as a way for learners to reflect on aspects of an idea they wish to convey and to further determine what symbols, colors, and forms might be best to communicate that idea to another person (Dewhurst, 2011). It is through this lens, that a teacher can instill in their students the importance of determining the best means of communicating their messages through art. However, if the teacher guides the content or subject matter, we begin to lose the potential to educate students on the skill of voicing their individual perspectives and connecting to each other through the more nuanced way that artistic expression allows.  In other words, art education can be used to teach students how to express their ideas, perspectives, and feelings in a way that either supplements or goes beyond verbal communication. However, it ought to be student-centered so as to create a more diverse classroom ecology which fosters communication skills that extends beyond the classroom community.  Promoting a confidence to speak up and share personal ideas, encourages students to be active listeners and to connect and collaborate with peers to problem solve creatively, are all skills that can set the foundation for working towards more complicated notions like social justice. 

Williams & Cooney (2006) express the notion that educators should create spaces for children to imagine more hopeful futures. Educators should help children develop a strong identity, both personal and as members of their communities and beyond. Biesta mentions to allow students to exist in the world as subject (Beista, 2017). This may help enlighten children on issues of social justice and develop in them more comfortable and empathetic interactions. These skills are imperative for “oneself and others in the face of justice” (Williams & Cooney, 2006). With support, the content students choose to explore in art class can potentially help them connect with each other, and the adults in their lives, as they are voicing their individual experiences and perspectives while simultaneously contextualizing it within their classroom communities. A student-centered art room environment has potential to guide students to make these empathetic connections. Although the teacher can prompt collaborations by administering group projects, students can experience connecting with their peers through problem-solving in a more natural and nuanced way. 

Collaborations and Connections

In what ways did students collaborate? Students collaborated one-on-one with peers, unprompted by the teacher, as well as through teacher led class discussions. The data has been separated into two main categories. The first of which is “Evidence of Peer-to-Peer Collaboration.” This includes artwork submissions and teacher notes evidencing that the student was inspired by another student in the class. The second category is “Evidence of Class Collaboration,” which includes artwork that expresses an idea that was listed during a class brainstorm session. 

One outstanding example of a peer-to-peer collaboration includes an instance when one student, A, tried to paint a banana with watercolor and was challenged by the colors bleeding into one another. During the next lesson, which was a collage lesson, another student, B, reminded student A of the challenge that was encountered during the previous lesson. B then prompted A to try again, this time creating a banana with the collage materials. B suggested that it would be easier to depict the banana with collaging materials, rather than wet-on-wet paint, to show details better which would help the details stand out, rather than merge together with the watercolor paint. As Eisner mentions, there are affordances and limitations to certain materials, which is an idea that prompted students, in this case, to connect and learn from one another (Eisner, 2002). 

Another example from the peer-to-peer collaboration category is a collage of the titanic. My teacher notes indicate that a student was having a difficult time coming up with an idea to create for his collage. Two classmates at his table suggested ideas inspired by topics in which they knew the student was interested in. One classmate said something to the effect of “You love the titanic, I bet you’ll make a collage about that.” After some thought, the student proceeded to create a collage of ships on the water. This was a conceptual collaboration which was initiated by a more happenstance discussion. My teacher notes indicate that the student expressed being interested in his collage and was eager to share his piece with the class. Open-endedness can be off-putting or intimidating for some students, but by having a sense of community within the classroom, the students were able to guide each other by their prior knowledge of each other’s interests. 

Eleven of twenty-six collages are of cityscapes, landscapes, or seascapes. The idea of creating a cityscape or landscape was generated by a class discussion, and so these artworks exist in the “Evidence of Class Collaboration” category. Students brainstormed what concepts felt relevant in relationship to the material. In my teacher notes, I noted that “water,” “mountains,” and “trees” were ideas common to all classes. The class brainstorm exercise seemed particularly helpful to students who were less inspired to come up with their own topics. According to my data, I was able to help guide students to choose an idea from the class brainstorm list if they were unsure about what to create.