Collaborative Student Voice
When reading over “The A2 Curriculum ARTvocacy and Autonomy: Giving a Voice to the Next Generation” by Tracey Hunter-Doniger, I was inspired to reflect on how to incorporate advocacy and autonomy. As she addressed, we will be teaching a generation that has technology at their fingertips. They see the world moving at such a fast pass, and there is constantly new news and information to process. How do we teach our students when their minds are already being loaded with information? We need to give our students an outlet to reflect and share about things that are important to them.
An art classroom can be the perfect space to allow students to have a voice. It is important to let them know that art can be such a powerful tool. The past couple of weeks have been fun to be able to see the completion of the Junior High’s collaborative relief sculpture. This was a project that students got to put their voice into.
When reading over student’s ideas for the artist statement, I was reminded of the intelligence of youth and how much they understand. The project idea started out pointing out the pride that they had in the diverse activities at their school. It evolved into a piece where students also wanted to bring attention to the inclusive and unified community that their school had. I think this is important to note for teachers.
We will be creating lessons that might focus on a topic or “big idea”. In some cases though, students might take a slightly different route. Students need to be heard and so we should celebrate them speaking out through art. I enjoyed reading the students' responses and viewing the art they had made. I hope that they are proud and will remember the big idea and the lessons they learned while working collaboratively.
I would enjoy doing a collaborative art piece in my school
someday. It is a great way for students to leave their mark and show a school’s
values. A fun way to do this would be by having the students reflect on
community and come up with a list of positive words that correspond to their
school’s values. After that, they could each get a square to and one of their
words to represent anyway they wanted. The squares would be put together like a
quilt with the words blown up in a common space in the school.
I like how you reminded us all that students need time and a place to reflect. We do live in an extremely face-paced world and art class is a place to encourage students, not only to create, but also to take time to reflect on what they have learned to deepen their understanding and share with others their thoughts and ideas. Keep thinking of ideas to help kids share and advocate for opportunities to work with the community. Kids need to see that they have a place in their community and when they are able to share their voice within the community through art, people take notice. Look at Youth Art Team in the Cedar valley. They get noticed and the impact on the kids involved in HUGE!
ReplyDeleteNatalia, I enjoyed and was refreshed yet again with the statement " I was reminded of the intelligence of youth and how much they understand." I had the same thought while reading the statements the students created and how much thought they put into writing them. The tile quilt project you mentioned also caught me eye. I think that it is a great idea and you are able to grow it and continue it and crate a beautiful mosaic of sorts. With this idea being a wonderful one I agree with Wendy in the idea of continuing your search for more community/collaborative ways one could do art with everyone. You seem to have ideas for the future and I'm eager to see them.
ReplyDeleteNatalia,
ReplyDeleteI was also so inspired by the students at Holmes Junior High when reading their reflections of their artwork. I was amazed by how intelligent they were, and their understanding of diversity, unity, and inclusiveness.
I love your idea of a quilt project to be hung in a common area of a school. Showing anybody who enters the school a reflection of the students and the values and pride that the students have of their school is so important. It not only shows the public how the students value their school, but it also gives the students a sense of pride to see their work displayed in a high traffic area.