Â
Dewhurst, M. (2010). AN INEVITABLE QUESTION: Exploring the Defining Features of Social Justice Art Education. Art Education, 63(5), 6–13. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20799831
“Art made for social justice is not simply a meandering inquiry into the play of light or color across a page, but an inquiry motivated by a specific, purposeful desire to impact structures of injustice” (p. 11)
Social justice art-making is a process that allows artists to construct knowledge, critically analyze an idea, and take action in the world. This practice does not necessarily have to be on controversial topics, the significance lies in the process itself. The “inevitable question” that the title of this article refers to is what the very definition of social justice art education is. Though they do not provide an explicit answer, as this continues to be an evolving field, the article does speak to what it can and should look like. Dewhurst begins by stating the process must be collaborative, reciprocal, and involve contextual planning. Social justice art education relies on teachers and artists co-constructing knowledge and action together. Participants should not merely be participants, but rather collaborators. This increases their sense of agency and makes the entire process more their own. This of course presents challenges in the planning of the curriculum, there will be no universally applicable approach. With this in mind, the author goes on to describe characteristics that will help scaffold their teaching: student-driven projects, relevant reflection. critical questions, a tactical balance, and a public audience
This article will continue to be a great reference while designing and implementing my curriculum. Since its publication, I believe that researchers have honed in and built upon the ideas in this article, but the field continues to have questions as it grows. I intend to implement each of the pedagogical features that Dewhurst speaks to. As much as possible, my learners will be engaging with self-driven projects that are personally relevant to their experiences. As a designer, I will create opportunities for students to guide the end products with their own experience. I will never tell my young artists specifically what to draw or create, however, I will provide them with substantive opportunities to explore and gather inspiration for their work. Along these lines, I will design and support the ways in which the modalities in which the products will be delivered, but always leave the topic/issue at hand up to the artists themselves. This leads to another point that Dewhurst touches on, the importance of having a public audience. Already I am imagining an overarching project for them to create a zine that is filled with their works or to host a gallery walk that displays their work. It is important for the discoveries and acts of expression that the artists make leave the confines of the classroom. Young people are far too often censored, and the projects that we do will be a direct challenge to that. One more feature that I want to be considerate of while implementing my curriculum is supporting the tactical balance of activist intentions and the aesthetic aims of the artists. Neither should be sacrificed. This ties into reflection in that the artists will engage in constructive critiques of their works and engage in dialogue about what approach to artmaking will be the most effective in addressing the injustice that they have targeted.
Wright, D. E. (2021). Countering Dominant Discourses about Youth: Critical Arts Approaches to Analyze Ideological and Institutional Oppressions. In K. P. Goessling, D. E. Wright, A. C. Wager, & M. Dewhurst, Engaging Youth in Critical Arts Pedagogies and Creative Research for Social Justice: Opportunities and Challenges of Arts-based Work and Research with Young People (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003100072
In this article, the authors introduce a theoretical framework to support a critical arts pedagogy, of which there are five principles:
- Connecting the arts with social justice can be used to disrupt pervasive, dominant youth discourses.
- Artmaking can be used as an analytical tool. It also creates a reflective space and a platform for young people to understand themselves and (re)imagine the future.
- Artmaking can be transformative, for both the individual and the community they are a part of.
- Artmaking promotes ownership in the analysis of injustice.
- Young people are valuable knowledge producers.
These principles are exemplified in a youth participatory action research (YPAR) case vignette where four young men created a series of skits that examined their community and reimagined a more just world. The arts-based activities allowed youth to share and discuss injustices that they have directly experienced, explore their intersectional identities, analyze the root causes of injustice, and channel their feelings of indignation into collective action.
I would like to eventually use my curriculum as the foundation of a (YPAR) project. One of the most important goals of my work is to interrupt adultism and the pervasive discourse that surrounds youth and this research approach disrupts that traditional power dynamic. This is a huge challenge, but creative practices can not only provide a means of expressing one’s very nuanced world but also an approachable way for young people to engage with the world analytically. Critical artmaking empowers young people to reframe themselves and how they operate, all the while revealing and challenging the deterministic discourses that attempt to define them. There’s ownership and agency in the artmaking process. Art is a unique tool that offers engagement, analysis, and expression that is liberating. This chapter details a research vignette in which learners in a critical arts education project translated their analysis of injustice into art and action which eventually led to community change. Social justice work desperately needs the input, experiences, and creativity of young people. Integrating art into the work of research can have transformative impacts on individuals and the communities that they find themselves in.
Critical arts pedagogy is a growing area of research that I hope to contribute to with my curriculum and action research project. One of the biggest themes that I plan to incorporate is fostering and respecting the agency that young artists have. Their creations are no one’s but their own and the insight that they provide is unique to each of them. This will be incorporated by intentionally having my curriculum be flexible to whatever cause they can directly speak to. I will have activities and lessons build a foundation for their systemic analysis, but otherwise, it will be with their direction that the projects take. I believe that an art class lends itself to this, as most modalities of expression are not limited to what message is being expressed. My curriculum will be made in such a way that it will only be truly complete once it is shared with the young artists. I can design lessons that explore identity, relevant artists, and project-based components that are completely laid out- but they will all rely on the youth bringing their own expertise to make it work.
DomĂnguez, A. D., & Cammarota, J. (2022). The arc of transformation in youth participatory action research: Creative expression to creative resistance. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 35(8), 805–823. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2021.1985650
Dominguez and Cammarota outline the theoretical foundations of arts-based YPAR in their model called the arc of transformation. Inviting youth to create radical possibilities for the future is a catalyst for social transformation. The potential for positive change is maximized when the researchers adapt to the universe of the youth and art is a useful tool to let them depict, imagine, and make sense of their world. This article contains a literature review detailing the legacy of creative expression and arts-based YPAR as well as a detailed account of such action in response to Hurricane Maria. The author stresses the importance of threading art throughout the process, not just as an afterthought or add-on. Integrating art into social justice-oriented research will promote cultural synthesis and humanization.
The principles of arts-based YPAR align very closely with the ambitions of my curriculum. Whether or not I can apply my curriculum to more formalized research, YPAR can still inform my approach to engaging youth in activist art-making and critical conscious raising. A major goal of my curriculum is to promote conscientization. An important aspect of this framework to accomplish this is by engaging in creative praxis. This is an iterative process that cycles through reflection, action, and theory all while incorporating creative expression. My curriculum will meet Michigan’s social-emotional learning competencies largely through the act of reflection. Creative praxis will be threaded throughout my curriculum through individual and group reflections, we will all be inspired to take collective action against the injustices the youth face. This connects to another part of the authors’ framework, the “importance of the body as a site of creative critical inquiry” (p. 813). My curriculum will call to attention the embodied experiences of oppression as well as critical consciousness raising. Taking an anti-oppressive approach, my curriculum will encourage exploration, reflection, and constructive responses to these embodied experiences. Artmaking and reflection go hand in hand- some of the inspiration for my work is the reflective, arts-based practices that art therapists utilize.