Blog #2: Chapter 1: Community - Based Art Education Across the Lifespan

For this blog post I am going to focus mostly on a couple definitions, transformative learning and Paulo Freire, and how intergenerational learning and empowerment are important components. I hope that by the end of reading it you are able to build a small understanding of transformative learning and social transformation.

We'll start with CBAE or Community Based Art Education. Its focus lies solely on fostering teaching and learning within and across communities and institutions through that of visual art. In my words that means providing community learning with experiences through visual art. The most important take away from this experience is learning from each other within the community in a larger context, building meaningful relationships, and inspiring people to transform both communally and individually all while developing art skills. Transformative learning can be understood as experience within CBAE that can produce growth personally, communally,  or societally which in turn can benefit individuals, communities, or society as a whole. Transformative learning happens when intense self - reflection occurs, an individual reexamines old or develops a new way of seeing the world.  Both Transformative learning and social transformation go hand in hand.

 

Freire created a model of transformative learning based on social- emancipation. Both social and personal transformation have to happen for transformative learning to be successful. This will only work if the individual participates in critical self reflection and action based on their reflections. Social transformation is almost an unachievable goal, but with some hope and CBAE's help we can enable learners to make important connections to their art education in schools and its implementation into the community, and it will eventually reveal how the arts impact responsible citizenship. 

Intergenerational learning and empowerment are important components in CBAE for a few reasons. It's important to make sure that this learning is done through ideas that matter. As the world's population continues to live longer lives it's important to continue to utilize generativity, or the flow of information between generations. This will continue to improve all generations as well as encourage them to pursue more meaningful lives. This is extremely influential to all generations. Below is the trailer for a mini series I watch on Facebook about intergenerational learning in a nursing home that doubles as a pre school. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13_rJVvxx_g

Blog #1: Social Justice & Why It's Important When Curriculum Planning

Prior to reading the article, "An Inevitable Question: Exploring the Defining Features of Social Justice Art Education" I had a small amount of knowledge on the subject of Social Justice Arts Education. It's something that I fully believe we have learned the basics of in other courses because I understood what it was as soon as I started reading about it, but I think it's something we haven't attached vocabulary or definition to previously. More or less focused on in a deeper context. As a future art educator, my definition of Social Justice Education broadly means a way of teaching that seeks a way to free all people from systems of inequality or injustice. Social Justice art making is a commitment to create art that draws attention to, mobilizes action toward, or in some way attempts to intervene within those systems. It is extremely important to planning art curriculum in many ways, reason one being because it's influential for students to create artwork that critique and strive to affect conditions of injustice within their own view of the world. Implementing this idea within the realm of your classroom is giving students a way to construct knowledge, critically analyze ideas, and take action in the world. Due to understanding these concepts students will also start to form their own identities, experiences, and attentiveness to their likes and dislikes.

As the teacher, your job is to make sure that students are able to pull from their own personal connections - as well as their own personal reflections based on an idea of injustice. You are also responsible for teaching them how to question- or encourage them to explore ideas with deeper meaning. Lastly, to encourage your students to express an intention to challenge ideas or change conditions of injustice. Students will eventually become people of society with a career, how can this idea translate to making a career choice? Social Justice Art Education teaches our students to be more open minded when it comes to ideas of social injustice - they are able to be deeper critical thinkers, and are able to challenge the norm. Students are able to evolve among these contexts based on people and community that is ever changing around them. Teaching our students these skills will only become more valuable as time continues and the field of Social Justice Art Education continues to expand.

I recently came across this Ted Talk - and this quote stuck out to me, "Wherever art is being created and engaged, we see it- people being inspired, being motivated, moved." Now, it isn't about visual arts, it is more based on writers - poetry, etc. Art has a major component to it, it can build personal connections that make people question inequality and injustice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLg8LMK_Ct4