Pre-Service Teachers and Middle School Students: A Collaboration for Social Justice Art Education

Our lives are mediated through the visual which informs, in multiple and conflicting ways, our views, our beliefs, attitudes and mores, our choices, and thereby our resulting actions. This barrage of the visual impacts the postmodern student encountered in K-12 education. Students readily gain access to information that was once the sole domain of adults yet the prevailing system of education has not adapted. Visual culture is seldom used as an engagement strategy in school despite its ubiquitous role as hidden curriculum and ever-present place in the world beyond the school. Social justice education underscores humanizing pedagogy as it examines and challenges power relationships in the classroom (Anderson, 2010), fostering a space for students to gain a clearer understanding of the world in which they live (Garber, 2005) and be active participants in their education (Dewhurst, 2011; Hackman, 2005). It is both goal and process (Bell, 1997) through which youth can explore issues of power and critically examine the role of media and socio-cultural forces in relationship to power (Chung, 2008). As students use semiotic pedagogy to connect to each other, question their world and translate their beliefs into action (Dewhurst, 2011) they are empowered; they become active participants in the creation of the curriculum through their voices, lives, and interests. Youth empowerment is an inclusive, participatory, ongoing, and a critical educational process (Williams-Boyd, 2004) through which those who have been marginalized or disempowered are put back in the driver’s seat. This presentation will share the findings of a qualitative action research study, grounded in social justice art education, in which pre-service art educators worked collaboratively to integrate visual culture into the curriculum to bring Dayton middle school student’s voices to the forefront. They planned, delivered and assessed art education lessons that fostered meaning making, critical engagement, and development of artistic and activist voice

Chilean \u3ci\u3eArpilleras\u3c/i\u3e: Writing a Visual Culture

This paper highlights a recent inquiry into the contemporary visual culture of the Chilean arpillera from a cross-global perspective. This art form derived from political, social, and economic conditions of the times yet contemporary manifestations do not address these origins. Arpilleras, historically created in the home and sewn by hand, are constructions in which bits of discarded cloth and burlap were used to compose pictorial narratives. The art form arose in Chile during a period of intense political oppression. This manifestation of women’s fiber art has and continues to serve as both seditious and reconstructive forms of visual culture. While the government of Chile has undergone tremendous change since early arpilleras were created in response to atrocities committed by the Pinochet regime in the 1970s and 80s, the original intention and audience of the arpillera has changed as well. As an American traveling to Chile, I was excited to have an opportunity to see these works of art in person. Yet I discovered that the once powerful form of political resistance is no longer created to tell personal stories of oppression or acknowledge the lives of those disappeared and murdered. Rather, contemporary arpilleras (excluding those in museums) display playful images of rural Chilean life and idyllic landscapes. Arpilleras, once a subversive way to communicate to humanitarian organizations outside Chile, are now a bright, colorful commodity packed into suitcases and proudly shared as souvenirs. This robust part of Chilean tourism-sold as wall-hangings and cards, are manufactured by machine in workshops staffed with a predominantly male workforce. In this paper I seek to tease out the ways in which these changes potentially alter the value and impact of arpilleras within visual culture by asking how do these contemporary manifestations reflect the Chilean cultural identity yet ignore it as well

Executive Summary and Recommendations: Developing Best Practices to Support Equity for LGBT*Q+ Identified Faculty and Staff at the University of Dayton

Over the course of the academic year 2019-2020, under the sponsorship of the Women’s Center and the Women’s and Gender Studies Program and with the support of the Provost’s office through a Gender Equity Research Fellowship, Dr. Darden Bradshaw engaged in a yearlong qualitative study examining policies, practices and perceptions of equity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBT*Q+) faculty and staff on the University of Dayton campus. The study participants included 35 self-identified LGBT*Q+ faculty and staff members from the University community who participated in one-on-one interviews, focus group sessions or both as well as 13 senior administrators who participated in one-on-one interviews. Benchmarking of UD’s 25 peer institutions policies that support equity was also undertaken. Data analysis was emergent and interpretivist, bringing together the participants voices to portray the multi-faceted experience of being LGBT*Q+ on a Catholic, Marianist campus. Findings indicate that definitions of equity are not universal and thereby necessarily impact one’s perceptions of equity for LGBT*Q+ employees on campus. Regardless of one’s definition of equity, the lived experience of LGBTQ+ persons on a Catholic Marianist campus can be characterized as filled with tension, invisibility, and persistent marginalization. This invisibility and marginalization may be greater for those individuals who identify as trans* or bisexual and is facilitated by the acceptance of a heteronormative cisgender lens. Out of the University of Dayton’s Marianist charism and Catholic foundation, spaces designed to foster inclusion are experienced by LGBT*Q+ persons as not fully welcoming. Admittedly there have been significant and welcome changes in the last four years, but we have far to go to achieve equity and current diversity efforts are not diverse enough. LGBTQ+ faculty and staff seek action as well as statements of support and point to the fatigue as microaggressions and overt aggressions persist. Furthermore, while policies are designed to foster equity and changes to University policies have occurred to increase equity it is practices, often applied across the campus in unequitable ways, that appear to create the greatest disparity

Developing Best Practices to Support Equity for LGBT*Q+ Identified Faculty and Staff at the University of Dayton

This report presents the results of a year-long qualitative study, grounded in queer and feminist theories, undertaken between August 2019 and May 2020, during which time I examined policies, practices, and perceptions of equity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBT*Q+) faculty and staff on the University of Dayton campus. Faculty and staff participants from the University community participated in one-on-one interviews or focus groups. Senior administrators were also interviewed. The data was analyzed in emergent and interpretivist manners to bring together the participants voices to portray, as much as possible, the multi-faceted experiences of being LGBT*Q+ on a Catholic campus. Findings indicate that there have been changes to policies, especially over the last five years, to advance equity. Results also indicate that while the University prides itself on being welcoming and fostering community through the Marianist charism, practices that create spaces of exclusion, invisibility, and marginalization continue. These include an acknowledgment that diversity efforts are not diverse enough; that LGBTQ+ faculty and staff seek action as well as statements of support; and that the fatigue of microaggressions and overt aggressions are taking a toll. Embedded through the report are recommendations, grounded in the voices and lived experiences of the participants, that will support the University of Dayton in achieving greater equity for LGBT*Q+ people as it strives to be a University for the Common Good. Three undergraduate research assistants contributed to this research. Katie Gross began data collection on policies at UD\u27s 25 peer institutions during fall 2019. This work was amended by the Women\u27s Center undergraduate research staff and was concluded by Katelyn Barnes (Spring 2020) who provided the depth of analysis of these policies. Barnes verified a portion of interview transcripts and offered interpretations on them; she also created the glossary for this report. Undergraduate research assistant Kate Jones (Spring 2020) verified a portion of interview transcripts and offered interpretations of them

Art Integration: A Turning Point in Becoming

This article uses personal narrative to articulate one art educator’s journey through the first year of teaching middle school. Highlighting the tensions that accompany navigating the liminal spaces between pre-service teaching and in-service teaching, the author articulates the potential of visual culture art integration as a site for meaningful student engagement and teacher empowerment. The article concludes with a call for the intentional inclusion of art integration pedagogy within pre-service art educator preparation programs

Fostering Empathy through Visual Culture Art Intergration (abstract)

Our lives are mediated through the visual (Mirzoeff, 1999; Freedman, 2002). This mediation informs, in multiple and conflicting ways, our views, our beliefs, attitudes and mores, our choices, and thereby our resulting actions. This barrage of the visual impacts the postmodern student encountered in K-12 education. Students readily gain access to information that was once the sole domain of adults (Kincheloe, 2004) yet the prevailing system of education has not adapted. Visual culture is seldom used as an engagement strategy in school despite its ubiquitous role as hidden curriculum and ever-present place in the world beyond the school. Learners are not necessarily critically aware of the messages conveyed through music, magazine advertisements, toys, and other forms of visual culture. This disconnect supports visual culture messages going unexamined, becoming internalized, and potentially exacerbating the pervasive culture of oppression, divisiveness, and exclusion within schools thereby creating a space where power-laden behaviors like bullying fester and occur. Through a qualitative action research study, grounded in social justice art education, I examine ways integrating art and visual culture into the curriculum fosters safe spaces for students to find voice; to take risks in deconstructing and reconstructing their identities, beliefs, and understandings of others and their worlds and to develop empathy. The examination of visual culture inundating students’ lives and the concept of social empathy serve as transgressive pedagogical practices bridging relationships in learning in the arts and learning in other curricular areas. Findings indicate students draw from visual culture to find commonalities among and with their peers becoming more accepting of one another; visual culture art integration empowers youth to critically question the visual culture messages they have accepted and, through art making, reconstruct and challenge those messages – to join others to work together for a more democratically just world through empathy

Art Integration: A Turning Point in Becoming

This article uses personal narrative to articulate one art educator’s journey through the first year of teaching middle school. Highlighting the tensions that accompany navigating the liminal spaces between pre-service teaching and in-service teaching, the author articulates the potential of visual culture art integration as a site for meaningful student engagement and teacher empowerment. The article concludes with a call for the intentional inclusion of art integration pedagogy within pre-service art educator preparation programs

A Conversation with Brother Mickey McGrath

Mickey O\u27Neill McGrath and Darden Bradshaw, associate professor in art and design, engage in an interview-style discussion on the role of art in the healing of communities as part of the 2023 Marian Forum. The annual forum provides opportunities for the UD community, the global Marianist community and the International Marian Research Institute to reflect more deeply about Mary and the wide range of topics related to Mariology. A transcript is available for download

Chilean \u3ci\u3eArpilleras\u3c/i\u3e: Writing a Visual Culture

This paper highlights a recent inquiry into the contemporary visual culture of the Chilean arpillera from a cross-global perspective. This art form derived from political, social, and economic conditions of the times yet contemporary manifestations do not address these origins. Arpilleras, historically created in the home and sewn by hand, are constructions in which bits of discarded cloth and burlap were used to compose pictorial narratives. The art form arose in Chile during a period of intense political oppression. This manifestation of women’s fiber art has and continues to serve as both seditious and reconstructive forms of visual culture. While the government of Chile has undergone tremendous change since early arpilleras were created in response to atrocities committed by the Pinochet regime in the 1970s and 80s, the original intention and audience of the arpillera has changed as well. As an American traveling to Chile, I was excited to have an opportunity to see these works of art in person. Yet I discovered that the once powerful form of political resistance is no longer created to tell personal stories of oppression or acknowledge the lives of those disappeared and murdered. Rather, contemporary arpilleras (excluding those in museums) display playful images of rural Chilean life and idyllic landscapes. Arpilleras, once a subversive way to communicate to humanitarian organizations outside Chile, are now a bright, colorful commodity packed into suitcases and proudly shared as souvenirs. This robust part of Chilean tourism-sold as wall-hangings and cards, are manufactured by machine in workshops staffed with a predominantly male workforce. In this paper I seek to tease out the ways in which these changes potentially alter the value and impact of arpilleras within visual culture by asking how do these contemporary manifestations reflect the Chilean cultural identity yet ignore it as well