Curating Arts on the Edge of an Unstable Society

The curatorial practice and research of Project 7½ in Korea and Indonesia, from 2014 to 2019, aimed to consider the value of art in humanistic and existential terms, with the exhibitions and events seeking to positively impact the lives of local communities. In this respect, the commentary reflects how Project 7½ has been received and understood by audiences unfamiliar with contemporary artworks, exhibitions, and art institutions and on what kinds of projects can foster new dialogues and understandings between different social groups. Project 7½’s strategy of taking art outside the institution has sought to explore the role of socially collaborative art projects; it also underpinned its methodology of bringing artists, audiences, and other stakeholders into a dialogic or a ‘Third Space’ (Kester, 2004, 2011; Bhabha, 2004) to encourage all to openly discuss their different perspectives, including their understandings of art and its function/s. However, the forms of relational social engagement and their cooperative structures have followed different trajectories in the separate contexts of Korea and Indonesia. Project 7½’s approach to socially engaged art and collaboration aims to redress what the art world neglects when it operates in socially exclusive ways. Therefore, recognising ‘the collaborative turn’ and ‘collaborative identities’ of contemporary art, along with its inherent complications and potential agency, the commentary also emphasises the need to discuss the purpose of collaboration (Lind, 1999; 2005; 2007; 2009, Kester, 2006; 2011). The processes and outcomes of the projects demonstrate that socially engaged art activities intersect with other, non-artistic forms of cultural production, and along a scale from curatorial practice to social activism to radical pedagogy (Kester, 2006; 2015). The commentary argues that the development of dialogical situations, as part of collaborative processes involving targeted groups of people who do not usually attend art events, can make a significant methodological contribution to the success of a socially collaborative art project and its social value, particularly in Korea and Indonesia

Three essays on the impact of student assignment policies

This dissertation is comprised of three essays, which study the impact of student assignment policies. The first two papers investigate the impacts of the removal of school desegregation plans on school racial segregation and on ninth grade repetition rates in the U.S. The third paper examines the impact of the school choice policy in Seoul, Korea on school segregation by academic performance levels. Over the last two decades, half of school districts that were subject to court desegregation orders in the U.S. were released from those court orders. In response, many school districts modified student assignment plans that had been adopted to integrate public schools. Chapter 1 documents the changes in school desegregation plans and examines the effect of the changes on racial school segregation in approximately 100 school districts. Analysis of student enrollment data from 1988 to 2012 suggests that recent changes in student assignment plans caused a moderate increase in school racial segregation. The results of additional analysis of the types of policy changes suggest that the overall effect on school segregation is driven by the school districts that replaced school desegregation plans with neighborhood-based assignment plans. Districts that replaced race considerations with socioeconomic factors and that expanded school choice options did not experience an increase in school segregation. Chapter 2 examines the impact of the changes in school desegregation plans documented in the Chapter 1 on ninth grade repetition rates in the same districts. Analysis of data from 1988 to 2012 suggests that the removal of school desegregation plans caused a statistically significant increase in the ninth grade repetition rates of about 0.2 standard deviations. I also find that the impact on the ninth grade repetition rates is driven by the school districts where school segregation was substantially increased due to the changes in desegregation policies. The impact on the ninth grade repetition rate is driven by the school districts where school segregation was substantially increased by the changes in desegregation policies. In addition, I find no evidence that the desegregation policy changes affect student movements from other districts or private schools. Chapter 3 examines the impact of school choice policy in Seoul, Korea on school segregation by student performance levels. Seoul, Korea replaced random assignment of schools with school choice in 2010. By exploiting the policy change, this paper examines the effect of school choice on student sorting by ability. I find that schools became segregated by student performance levels following the implementation of the school choice policy in Seoul. The results of this paper suggest that school choice increases school segregation by academic performance levels even in a racially homogenous country

Opportunities and challenges of measurement of knowledge development and management: The use of emergency telecommunications as an educational theme

Measurement of knowledge development and management could be gleaned from examples in education.The use of “educational” or “learning” themes in education is one of the effective pedagogical methods.In this paper,“emergency telecommunications” has been proposed as an educational theme in secondary and tertiary education.The use of emergency telecommunications as an educational theme brings about challenges to traditional educational measurement.On the other hand, it also provides opportunities for experimentation of new educational measurement methods.As such, it is worthwhile to delve into its effective and practical educational measurement