Lily Yeh one of the world's leading art educators and human rights advocates. Awakening Creativity is a book with many illustrations, making it
what some might call a "quick read." We only have a few weeks left in the semester so this book should be perfect. At the same time we must resist temptation to speed
through the pages. To do so would be a terrible betrayal of Yeh and her students at the Dandelion School!
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Lily Yeh is not a trained art educator, and to my
knowledge she never taught in the U.S. public school system. She is an artist
who has a tremendous gift for connecting with people unlike herself and
motivating them to do the most amazingly creative things. Because she is so
uniquely gifted, I think that we can learn a lot from her.
Because she is so unusually gifted, it's important
to pay close attention to her process. Read carefully as she describes her
first interactions with the teachers and students at the Dandelion School, a
school for children of migrant workers on the outskirts of Beijing. Pay close
attention to the decisions she makes early on in her process. It is quite
fascinating- not only to study her, but to learn about the schooling process in
a culture with a very different history, political structure and social system
than that found in the U.S.
Through it all, remember that Yeh was born in
China, but she is not "home" in contemporary Beijing any more than
she was at home in Philadelphia when she first arrived there as a college
student. If you read the blurb on the back cover of the book, you'll see that
she has worked extensively in Ghana, Kenya, Syria, Ecuador and Haiti. Yeh is a
teacher-travellor, a woman who speaks a universal language through art, who
somehow finds a way to communicate meaningfully to people whose languages she
does not know and whose backgrounds she does not share. How does she do it???
This book provides a glimpse into her process. I
will try to draw your attention to this with my questions.
There are 5 questions below. Please respond to at
least 2 of the 5. Some of the questions lead into each other, so if you can
catch two or more birds with one stone, go for it!
Question #1
Notice that very early in the book, Yeh pays her
respects to a mentor who shaped her as an artist, a teacher and as a person of
Chinese/Taiwanese ancestry. Why does she mention him? Who was he?
Ed, Future and I have noticed that MAE students often do
not mention their teachers or the authors they read in their classes at their
thesis presentations. We decided to make more of an effort to point out the
importance of naming the authors, artists, and/or artist-educators who
influenced you. Remember those names, just as Lily Yeh remembers the name of
her mentor at the start of her book. If not for her mentors, she would not be
the person she is today. So - once again - who is the mentor she
mentions in Chapter One? Why was he important to her development?
Question #2
In Chapter Two, Yeh carefully constructs a picture
of the social world she has just entered. She pays close attention to recent
events in China's history, especially the social impact of the great migration
from the rural provinces to the cities. The United States also went through a
population shift of this magnitude. Before WWII, the U.S. population was mostly
rural; after WWII it became predominantly sub/urban. In China, this migration
began in the recent past and is still going on today.
Can you think of a social group in the United
States today whose economic conditions resemble that of the rural migrants in
China? As in China, it is the children of this social/ethnic group who are most
at risk of dropping out of school because their family's economic and social
situation. As in China, the members of this group have
very little in the way of rights, land or legal protection.
Question #3
Lily Yeh describes, in detail, a couple of
"home visits." Do you think home visits would improve
teacher-student-parent relations in this country? What effect did they have on
teacher-student-parent relations at the Dandelion School? What did she learn?
Question #4
Yeh realizes that to be effective in a school, you
have to establish good relations with other teachers. She knows that as an
outsider (coming from the U.S.) this isn't going to be easy. How does she "size up" the teachers at Dandelion School? How does this
differ from her "sizing up" process with students?
Question #5
Notice her keen observation of the teachers,
students, parents and other people she encounters in the early stages of her
work at this location. What does this tell you about the role of listening,
observing, and reflecting in adapting to a new work environment?
Again, respond to at least two of the five
questions, and please be sure to read them all. Thank you and enjoy the
reading!!!
I want to teach in a Dandelion School! This was a pleasure to read about.The mentor recognized by Ms Yeh as most influential in setting her on the road to her current profession and passion was Professor X R Yong. His research in Chinese folk art confirmed her own belief in the depth and centering influence of ancient art forms. She was an adult when she met him, but her interest in the ancient folk arts came as a result of her own parents sending her to study ancient Chinese landscape painting as a teenager. She turned to it other times to center herself, to find again that place of wonder from which comes art. She stated that she believes that a knowledge of folk art, the art of the people of their origin, can help the younger generation know who they are and where they come from. Her involvement with the poor people of Philadelphia and the creation of The Village of Arts and Humanities grew out of that intense belief in the value of art of the people and the relationship with community that it exemplifies.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the mentors we choose as adults are often more recognized, I believe that those early experiences such as her study of ancient landscape painting under a good teacher, often become those core experiences that direct our paths as artists. My own father was the primary influence in my early thoughts about “art”. He let me try anything – he showed me how he did it – and then left me with the media, and if he didn’t know how, he experimented with me. He gave me a great confidence to try new processes – to create – sometimes out of very unusual materials. My first public school art teacher was in 6th grade – Frances Nowlin. I wanted to be like her and do what she did. She got to do all day long the things that I loved most and is he reason I decided to teach art. Since that time, other instructors have opened new doors, new directions, (Juanita Pollard comes to mind) but none remain as influential in molding who I have become as those of my childhood.
I don’t think any of us would question the value of home visits in establishing relationship with parents and students, more than that – in creating understanding of our students. I have been horrified and amazed so many times upon learning of the circumstances that my students live in. The statistics given regarding parental attendance at school functions following home visits were certainly impressive – from 30-40% attendance up to 80-90%. I doubt that we could expect that kind of improvement in our more fast paced urban society, but I know that it makes a difference. I know that even phone calls make a difference – One of my most difficult students has made quite the turn around as a result of a conversation with his mother just to inquire if he was alright after an extended absence. She could hardly believe that someone from school was calling to ask if he was ok – she was used to calls telling her of his misbehavior! He has become one of my “adopted” students.
ReplyDeletePrincipal Zheng Hong said of home visits,” It helps me to understand where our students come from.”It is also worth noting that at the time he said this, the school had 668 students and 67 faculty - a ratio that none of us in public school is lucky enough to enjoy! I could make 10 home visits too! Instead, I try invite the parents of my students to come to see their work as often as possible, to call occasionally and tell them of something good they have done or accomplished, and inquire if I notice something is different or wrong with their student. I am much better at this with my Art III and IV kids because I know them well, but I do know without doubt that it makes parents your friends and supporters when you include them as much as possible by communication. Schools also need to consider what is possible for the parents of their community when they plan events. Lack of attendance is not always out of disinterest.
Jennifer,
DeleteYou are correct that the teacher-student ratio in many US schools make home visits a complete impossibility. But it's truly sad when a mother is surprised that a teacher would call to check in on the well-being of her child. That small act of caring can and, as your experience tells us, in some cases does make a difference in the child's education. I commend you for taking this student under your wing and showing him that somebody at the school does in fact care about him as a unique individual. This is the sign of a truly great teacher.
Yeh pays her respects to a mentor who shaped her as an artist, a teacher and as a person of Chinese/Taiwanese ancestry. Why does she mention him? Who was he? Why was he important to her development?
ReplyDeleteFirst off I should acknowledge the importance of mentors, not only in my own development, but in the development of my students. I take this role very seriously when placed in the position to mentor others. Yeh’s mentor, Professor X.R. Yong, is important because he helped to shape her views on how art can impact social change and development in areas of economic hardship, migratory/population transisition, and cultural change. His impact seemed to be rather profound, even though it seemed to be applied subtly rather than overtly. His mentoring came by way of example. I can only assume that Yeh mentions her mentor for the following reasons: The Chinese culture emphasizes the importance of paying homage, and bestowing respect upon ones elders. I addition, (I am projecting) that she feels indebted to him for honing her path and guiding her choices in applying her art skills, her social conscience, and her personal creative energies toward endevours that impact those who need them most. I’ve been fortunate enough to have had mentors along the way who have encouraged me, guided me, and occasionally chastized me when I was going in the wrong direction. Some of my mentors were active in playing their mentoring “part,” while others did not even realize they were cast into the role. Sometimes I’ve even found that mentors can even be people we don’t even like, but their effect upon us can be very profound. Right now I am transitioning out of one role and into another role in my life, and I am hoping the right mentor will appear to help me solidfy my path and help me “see” the direction I need to go. I try very hard to provide that kind of guidance to those students with whom I have become close. I find the role to be very fulfilling for me. I swell with pride when I see their accomplishments and how much they have grown. I hope that my mentors feel that way as they watch my progression. I’m sure Yeh’s mentor feels much pride in what she has become.
Notice her keen observation of the teachers, students, parents and other people she encounters in the early stages of her work at this location. What does this tell you about the role of listening, observing, and reflecting in adapting to a new work environment?
ReplyDeleteIn a fantasy world, we’d all like to formulate a plan and then just charge right in and implement our idea with no problem, assured that it was the perfect solution for the situation. In the real world, it just isn’t possible, advisible, or appropriate. I respect Yeh’s approach to first watch, listen and become a part of the school/community. During her multiple visits to the school, Yeh observed the surrounding community and it’s growth, she studied the demographics, and the changing landscape to grasp the influences that have produced the environment in which the school operates. This background knowledge is paramount to understanding how to most effectively make a positive contribution to the school. The examination of The Dandelion School children’s art work also contributed to an understanding of the kid’s perpectives on their situations. I really liked how Yeh went with teachers for home visits to make sure she also had the feel for the students lives. This was not only educational for her, but also must have developed a sense of trust toward her by the school administration, the parents, and the children. She became a part of the community, and not an “outsider” who was there to “do good” and then leave. Working from within an organization or community creates a sense of empowerment for all members. This is important if you want to accomplish the most effective change. Here descriptions of the abject poverty and resulting despair are heart wrenching to read, but important in understanding the enormity of her task. I look forward to reading on to see what the final project looks like, and the impact it has on the community.
Gail,
DeleteI think you zoomed in on a central feature of Yeh's practice and its enduring success. She invests in communities. She patiently and respectfully observes before jumping in with her own ideas. She researches the place and learns about the individuals who live there. All of this shows in the quality of her interactions, which in turn makes for high quality work from the whole group. You are so right about the importance of developing trust. In some situations, such as her work in Philadelphia, it is impossible to work without first establishing trust - a trust that has to be earned over time. This kind of work takes enormous investments of time, energy, passion, belief, and most of all dedication that a different kind of world is possible. Not many people have the gift that Yeh has and so freely shares with others.
FYI-I was at TAEA Thurs-Fri-Sat, and saw Ed, Future, Ryan, and some of my TT buddies. It was great to see everyone! Wish you all were there, I had fun, but working a booth can be exhausting. We sponsored a great class on screen printing on glass which was packed!
ReplyDeleteCool!
DeleteQuestion #2 & Question #3: In my current situation, it's easy to say that my own students are very similar to Yeh's students in China. Many of them are children of illegal immigrants and some have only been in the United States for less than a year. There is an abundance of poverty in our neighborhood and even throughout our district. Our professional development consists of reminding us that some of these students come from horrifying situations and backgrounds and we have to take that into consideration when teaching them. But my question has always been...HOW DO WE KNOW EXACTLY WHAT'S ACTUALLY GOING ON???
ReplyDeleteWhen I read that the Dandelion school requires home visits and how most of them went, I really thought about how that could be an effective tool for our own school (or even district) to adopt. Unfortunately, it is only required when a student transfers school and wants to play sports. So, all my knowledge of the students comes from their own stories that I hear from them.
For example, this year I have a student, that I've heard from more than one teacher, is a handful. He's very disrespectful and never does his work. On the other hand, he is an amazing athlete!! Last year, the theatre teacher failed him (obviously he wasn't doing anything in her class) and all of a sudden she found herself in a meeting with the head football coach and an administrator. They questioned her decision to fail him and made her sign a paper that clarified that he actually passed her class....all so he could play. When I got him this year, he came in my room with the same attitude. Upon confrontation he even asked me, "Why don't you just pass me like the other teachers?" As a coach and athlete myself, I gave him an eyeopener (basically a lecture on how college sports/scholarships really work) and I also went and talked to one of his coaches. THe coach explained to me that he is from Mexico and his family brought him over and left him with non-relatives. After leaving him, they were forced back into Mexico. He's been here for three years now. Hearing about his situation made me try a little harder to get him to pass my class the right way instead of having the counselor transfer him out of my class. It's been a rocky road, but little by little he's starting to really enjoy the class. He even asks me to go to his games and sometimes comes to watch me coach my Freshmen team.
Adopting the requirement of home visits could have easily made my job easier. It took at least two months for me to find all that information out about him...and only a couple of weeks more to build a better relationship with him. There are so many other students in my classes that might be in that same situation. Even something as simple as getting to know their parents (very much like Leh did during her home visits) could make the classroom run a little smoother. Just being able to contact my athletes' parents helps build our basketball program! We know that and that's why we require them to come to parent meetings at the beginning of the season. So in essence, if that helps then shouldn't it help us with our own students?
Ana,
DeleteYou really did the right thing in a hard situation. As you well know, most teachers wouldn't (and didn't) make the decision you made with the troublesome student athlete. The situation, I realize, is far from perfect. By this time he might be used to having his own way with teachers. This appears to be something that happens all too often with talented student athletes, especially as schools rely on their sports teams to generate revenue to a greater degree than at any point in the past. In my opinion, it's gotten pretty out of hand. As teachers, though, we have the responsibility of seeing every student as a human being and working with him or her regardless of the circumstances.
You demonstrated a great deal of integrity and dedication in your effort to first learn something about the student's home life and second to keep working with the student despite the difficulties. The student respects you for it - whether or not he is able to show it right now.
Question #3
ReplyDeleteMy first year teaching was at a charter school on the east side of Lubbock called Harmony Science Academy. We did 2 home visits a month as a 2 teacher team. I found this to be just as enlightening as Yeh in regards to better understanding my students and their home life. The charter school had an enrollment of around 150 k-8th students with about 15 teachers. I think this is a great model for a small school but I just can’t see it being as affective in a large school such as CHS with its 2500 students. However I think that targeted home visits for at risk students would certainly help teachers, students, and parents gaining a better understanding of one another. I certainly don’t think home visits can hurt.
Daniel,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the small school model is advantageous for teachers and students in many ways. It's been very popular in the NYC public schools, which up 'til the 1990s were grotesquely overcrowded. It took Jonathan Kozol's book, Savage Inequalities, and many subsequent books by this excellent chronicler of the state of the US public school system, to wake people up to the problem. Then the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation threw millions of dollars into funding a small schools model that worked well in some instances and not so well in others. But I think NYC is still the most successful example of the Small Schools project in action.
I'm glad you had a chance to work at Harmony Science Academy. Because of their small size they are able to do things that other schools can't. It sounds like a good experience!
#1I really enjoyed this weeks reading. After getting through it I found an interesting connection between Yeh and Profesor X. R. Yong. I have had mentors dramatically influence me by working with them. Some helped me change what I was doing aesthetically and others helped shape new concepts and help evolve my art making. When I was first reading I was anticipating a mentor that guided Yeh’s work, or one that Yeh wanted to emulate in certain ways. But now that seems quite wrong to me. When her work became stagnant and she became less interested in what she was doing, Yeh talks about going home. Not a literal location or place, but her spiritual home. Taking this idea and going back to what she learned painting in the traditional Chinese landscapes, going back to a basic idea she believes in. The question is how to find a way “home”? I think Professor Yong showed Yeh this with their work together researching Chinese folk art. This research helped Yeh affirm her “ cultural and ethnic roots” and better understand herself and community. Moving to Philadelphia gave her the outlet to begin her work with the communities. Bringing the a community together that is falling apart, transforming and shaping people back together by talking them back to what made their culture, the basic idea. Maybe the concept of accepting the raw beauty in traditional landscape that Yeh learned and implicating it in the places that needed to see the beauty in their own culture and landscape would best describe it.
ReplyDelete(#2)Another part of exploring this new found path seems to come from her research with Professor Yong. I keep drawing back to how during her research and interacting with the peasants in China, seeing the bottom of the social ladder and how it held a foundation to her culture and ideas now, led to her looking into the Dandelion School. An underfunded migrant school in another over populated region and impoverished town. Then bringing them together in someway to make something beautiful or shed light on the beauty people see. All this reminds me the beginning of the semester with Rollins and Paley. Working with underprivileged or other kids in poverty or lower class cultures in the U.S. It doesn’t answer the relationship between migrants in the U.S. and migrant workers of China but I found it interesting. The most recent weeks come to mind with migrants from Mexico looking for work, also separated from their families living in poverty. Children that come with their parents and go to schools here in the U.S. resembles that of China, or resembles conditions in Mexico also.
#5 I find Yeh’s ability to recognize and comprehend her surroundings is what is so fantastic. She does extensive research into the community, the people, their emotions and their lifestyles. All this enables her to do her work. Her ability and caring is what changes the world (aesthetically/physically, emotionally, and communally). It’s quite inspiring. As an artist Yeh became a teacher and wanted to help other people. The ability to listen to what people communicate, or observe how they live is a daily activity that everyone goes through. Some people choose to ignore those things and others like Yeh take an initiative to absorb the information and relay it. Which as a teacher is something I want to try and hold myself to a standard that may compare no matter how minute.
Stephen,
DeleteI'm so glad you point out the connections between Yeh's work and other work we've read and discussed this semester. Yes, there are many similarities between Yeh's approach or what might be called her general philosophy of critical pedagogy and Tim Rollins. Jim Hubbard tried to accomplish a similar thing in his Shooting Back project but fell short. Noticing connections between different projects is a true sign of deep learning.
On a similar note, I'm really glad that you saw a connection between the massive migration going on within China and our own current situation here at home on the US.-Mexican border. In both cases, people who were traditionally farmers have been displaced and left with nowhere to go. Yeh doesn't get into this in her book, but the main reason for this displacement, which is going on all over the world in epic proportions, is the encroachment of multinational agri-business and factory farming. People who lived on the land for hundreds of years suddenly find themselves without legal claim to their property. Like the native Americans, their tenure on the land predated the legal construction of what we call private property. They worked the land, they took care of it and therefore they belonged to it - they belonged to the land, not the other way around.
Once pushed off the land, the small farmers are left with few choices. In many parts of Latin America, they are given the option of becoming tenant farmers - a no-win proposition for them. The other option is to go to the city. In many parts of the world, the largest cities like Sao Paulo in Brazil and Jakarta in Indonesia are surrounded by massive tent cities that spread for hundreds of miles. The folks in these tent cities are the traditional subsistence farmers who have recently been thrown off their land. Until recently, about 90% of the Mexican population lived in rural locations.
Anyway, I'm glad you made the connection between the two groups. Millions of people all over the world are in the same situation, and that is why we're seeing unprecedented levels of immigration legal and illegal. People don't know where to go or what to do.
Question #2
ReplyDeleteLily Yeh points to her time with Professor X.R. Yong, and his focus on peasant art, as a key in her Artistic and personal development. I think we can all relate to a special personal relationship with a teacher as fundamental to our own Artistic development. It is this time she spends with Professor X ( sorry I am kind of a comic nerd ) Yeh starts to look at this folk art in a new appreciation and a break from her traditional landscape painting style, while still staying true to her Han ancestry.
I look back to my time in high school and my painting teacher, Mr. Milton. I had taken intro to Art and photography in my sophomore and Jr. year, but senior year was my first and only year in Mr. Milton’s class. It was in his class that I decided I wanted to be an Art teacher, because for the 1st time I felt like I was in the right place doing what I was naturally good at and genuinely enjoyed. More importantly it was the friendships and bonds with Mr. M and the other students that I felt were the most valuable experience of my high school years.
In addition to being a get teacher Mr.Milton also would meet students on the weekends at the Houston Museum of Fine Art. I had always enjoyed going to the natural history museum as a kid but had never been to the HMFA. I was instantly at peace in the galleries, and enjoyed a personal zen I still feel every time I walk into a Museum. Moreover, I get a special high off exposing my students to the joys of the museum.
I would also point to Future and Ed as key to my professional development as a result of going through the Visual Studies program has shaped my classroom and curriculum. I am not a naturally emotional person, due in large part to my fractured relationship with my father, but Future and Ed have brought out a bit off compassion from me.
I would also have to say my friendship for my late friend David Wragg pushed me and continutes to inspire me to become a better teacher. David and I were in many visual studies classes together in college, and we ended up working together at One Guy from Italy for about 2 years. When he got a job working at LISD he quit the pizza job and put everything into teaching. David’s commitment to his students and his ability to be honest and fair with his students still inspires me.