Review: Postmodern Art Education in Practice. Gude, O. (Ed.). (n.d.). Spiral Art Education

Book review of Spiral Art Education, Olivia Gude (Editor), University of Illinois, Chicago, 2003

Schooled in Silence

What is not said, is often more powerful than what is spoken about diversity, difference, and identity in U.S. classrooms. Examples are everywhere: Although no students of color may be enrolled in a course at a prominent research university, members of the class do not believe there is such a thing as institutional racism. A handful of women are discussed in course textbooks, all authored by men, but no one thinks it odd that only men have written accounts of women\u27s achievements that appear on the syllabus. Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people do not speak for themselves, either, in the context of the course. Sexual orientation is mentioned in class discussions only in sentences that begin “I’m not gay myself, but .. .. Other dimensions of students\u27 and teachers\u27 identities- age, weight, ability, social class-are not mentioned at all in the professional setting of the classroom. Every day in these and a thousand other ways, silence helps protect the position and privilege of dominant groups in U.S. society

Visual Culture Explorations: Un/Becoming Art Educators

What we consider to be obvious, true, or commonsense depends on the various assumptions we hold. Becoming aware of our assumptions is difficult at best. Despite our belief that we know what our assumptions are, we are hindered by the fact that we are using our own interpretive filters to become knowledgeable of our own filters. Described as a cognitive catch-22,” it is the equivalent of our trying to see the back of our head while looking directly into a mirror (Brookfield & Preskill, 1999). Becoming critical requires that we find a mirror that critically reflects our thinking and reveals our most influential assumptions