In this week's reading, I'd like to focus on techniques of helping students "step into the picture" of the lived realities of people with whom they may seem to have little in common. As Bob Peterson and Linda Christensen point out in their chapters, building empathy with the Other (the person unlike oneself) is necessary to see beyond stereotypes, assumptions and other shortcuts to reading the complex "bigger picture." Both Peterson and Christensen use visuals in their teaching to nurture deeper understanding and cultivate ethical values.
Art educators are especially well positioned to promote visual literacy for purposes that include, and exceed, aesthetic experience/creative expression. Visual literacy is an important part of what Paulo Freire called "reading the word and the world." How can we, as art educators, harness the power of images to help our students develop a stronger ethical imagination?
For this week, I'd like you to view two interesting photo essays. The first is a set of 6 images comparing the U.S.-Mexican border at Nogales and images of the Berlin Wall (before it was torn down). An interesting article accompanies the work.
http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/The-border-fence-is-a-wall-by-any-other-name-2334567.php#photo-1845027
The second is a set of 85 photographs taken along the U.S.-Mexico border by photographer Todd Bigelow (any relation to Bill?).
http://toddbigelow.photoshelter.com/gallery/G0000SA.p6lh3Ock
Lastly, I want to direct your attention to John Craig Freeman, an artist who creates public memorials on mobile devices. Like the set of 6 photos comparing two walls from different locations and moments in time, Freeman's work looks at/works with the U.S.-Mexican border, Tiananman Square in Beijing, North Korea's Bridge of No Return and other sites of concern in regards to human rights.
http://johncraigfreeman.wordpress.com/vera-list-center/
Freeman's work suggests a correlation between Tiananman Square, the Bridge of No Return and current events on the U.S.-Mexican border. Since your students (or you yourself) may not know very much about Tiananman Square or N. Korea's Bridge of No Return, this would be an opportunity to explore the history of each place. You might then ask what each symbolizes, and what they may/may not have in common. Freeman's work puts the U.S.-Mexico border in a strikingly different context that may shock, surprise or possibly even upset some students. The first litmus test should be your own reaction, so pay attention. Are you shocked, surprised, upset, angered, irritated, inspired, saddened, etc.? Be sure that you know how you feel before bringing it into the classroom!
Like last week, I'd like you to select a group of images from the resources above and design an art project around them. Your objectives are to 1) promote visual literacy, critical thinking and ethical values, 2) create awareness of contemporary and/or historic events, and 3) design an art project that helps students view their own lives from the perspective of an inside and as an outside observer.
For example, you could ask students to consider how they, themselves, might be (or already are) stereotyped by people who know nothing about them. You might challenge them to reduce themselves, their lives and their community to a single stereotyped image. This image could then be challenged by a scene or set scenes expressing the students humanity.
I know you'll come up with ingenious ideas of your own, so please don't worry about doing it "right" or "wrong." We're here to share ideas, learn from each other and gain from each other's perspectives.
Best of luck with this week's reading and let me know if you have any questions! Thank you!
Put the first photo from Todd Bigelow’s series on the SMART board. It shows a boy and a man looking through a fence. Display a map of Mexico and California and mark Jocotopec and Tijuana.
ReplyDeleteRead First Crossing. Depending on the level of the group, you might assign parts to be read, taking advantage of the sound of male voices for Marco and his father to make it more meaningful. Following the reading of First Crossing, show the entire Todd Bigelow Photo essay. Record and play a reading of “Running to America” P.3 while the photos run. If you know of an emigrant who would talk to the class about his journey and why he came to the US, it would be great to have him there.
Break into groups for the following discussion. Have each group create a graphic organizer addressing the following questions:
Discuss the idea and characteristics of a ”wall”. Create a graphic organizer recording your discussion. What does a wall do? Are all walls real/ concrete? What are some walls without brick or steel? Do we create our own walls?
Assignment#1
What are the walls that contain you? Create a mixed media self -portrait showing your eyes looking over, through, out of, or reflecting in the literal or figurative walls that hold you back.
This could be done looking at Surrealism as an example of the figurative – I think of works by both Dali and MaGritte.
Assignment #2
Do we deal with literal walls in our community? Create a photo essay of the walls that exist in our own community. They may be figurative or literal walls.
Assignment #1..This is great. I had the same idea but didn't see your post till after I posted.
DeleteJennifer, I agree with Stephen. You can do a lot with the idea of walls, physical and metaphorical, and it's something everyone can relate to. Walls are also interesting documentary subjects, so getting students involved in a project of documenting walls in their immediate home, neighborhood or even school environment would allow them to see their beauty while at the same time questioning the need for walls & fences, and recognizing their significance.
DeleteThis caused me to reflect on some of the public schools I saw in S. Florida while I lived there. Many high schools and middle schools were surrounded by high chain link fencing and locked behind a gate during school hours. The same was not true of primary schools. I remember asking my middle school students if they thought the locked gate was there to keep potentially dangerous people out or to keep students in. Most of the students assumed the former, which left me with the uncomfortable feeling that I'd planted a dark idea in their heads. However, not all students thought the fence was their for their protection. More rebellious kids felt it was there to contain them and discourage escape. It was an interesting discussion!
Jennifer I absolutely love your project idea. I have been doing a lot of projects with my Art 1 students lately about self-reflection and the need to analyze your own demons and obstacles as a means to face them and conquer. Don’t be surprise if you see some pieces from CHS that fit into this concept of personal walls when Scholastic and VASE come around lol.
DeleteAlso, You have a smart board already?!?
DeleteSo I have been looking at theses pictures for hours now it seems. I find so many of them intriguing. I found the juxtaposition between the US/Mexico and Berlin photos interesting but not to the same degree as Bigelows. What I liked about Carolin Ströbele ‘s work was her article. Her own perspective being from another country that has had a past with border issues and human rights, and then viewing another border between two different countries was so interesting.
ReplyDeleteSecond was Todd Bigelows photos are the ones I responded to most. After reading “First Crossing” by Pam Munoz Ryan I found myself wondering what Marco and his father may see on their journey and how they might feel, what the living conditions . I feel like Bigelow does a good job portraying theses emotions and thoughts in some of his photos, such as the first one (1) with a man and child pressed againt the border fence, gazing into the US, almost dreaming. Or the photos (16)of the migrant missions in Tijuana, where you can see the exhaustion and despair from traveling on men’s faces as they eat. Views of lifestyles (40/42) move me to wonder who these people are and what they do. Where are the little girls parents while clothes dry? One project comes to mind to have yourself look at these photos or others and as references create a totem or token, something that would embody what a migrant may encounter on their journey. Visually representing something like this can be difficult so things like found objects come to mind. So this object should tell a story, like a boot full of sand, trash bags, food, blood, hair, anything that causes wear or impedes migrants. I don’t know the full extent of what it may contain, but something along those lines.
The second project that comes to mind would be to super impose yourself into the situation of a migrant. Through drawing, painting, or sculpture create a self-portrait or scene that shows you as a migrant trying to cross a border. (Borders don’t have to be international they can be personal borders within the issue i.e. racism, personal views, or cultural boundaries). Im not sure how effective these are but it may spark some creativity and at least draw attention to the subject. Getting to the critical thinking area is hard for me.
The last thin I had to say for right now is in regards to Freemans mobile app. I was a little shocked to see what he was doing. Whether or not is was good or bad reaction I’m unsure. But to see a place where someone once died could have a very powerful and visceral impact on viewers as far as art may go. The concept of a memorial is prevalent. But I don’t know if I can force myself to view it as art more than a new way to look at statistics or as a memorial.
Stephen, You don't strike me as someone who has a hard time thinking critically. Once you're a teacher, you will think of ways to involve students in thought-provoking projects that stimulate the mind and help them become more socially aware. At this point, it's good that you're paying close attention to the lesson plan ideas being offered by the seasoned teachers in our group. We can learn a great deal from each other, especially with so many years of teaching experience pooled together in one place.
DeleteFreeman's mobile app is not unusual for the contemporary art scene. New Media art has been in the vanguard since the early 90s. With each new technological development, we can expect to see more and more adaptations by young artists who are pushing the boundaries. A good database on new media artworks can be found at
https://wiki.brown.edu/confluence/display/MarkTribe/New+Media+Art
This site serves as a companion to the book, New Media Art, by Mark Tribe & Reena Jana (2006). The works listed under "profiles" are considered the new classics, but many more interesting works have been done since and the field will keep evolving. This work has a lot of appeal to younger people, so learning about it can only make us more effective teachers. I hope that you will check it out!
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ReplyDeleteViewing the Bigelow images reminded me of the FSA Photographers during the Great Depression. I was happy to get into this subject because I have a "dream" lesson that I could easily tweak to fit this weeks assignment!
ReplyDeleteFirst, I would have the students view a select two of the photographs (one of migrants and the other of undocumented migrants being caught by the vigilantes) Bigelow has on his site and have the students write a quick reflection about it. I'd keep the writing a free writing since majority of my students come from a Mexican background.
After this we could have a debate or class discussion on what everyone has written and lead the discussion towards common Mexican stereotypes. I have experienced situations where other schools have shown racial discrimination towards my students. For example, two years ago our boys basketball team made far into the playoffs and had to play a game against a North Texas team. The players and parents of that school (during the game) yelled racial comments like "Go back to Mexico!" A similar situation happened last year when another school played against another San Antonio school located in the wealthier part of the city. I thought this was worse because this crowd was from San Antonio!! In all, my students will have a lot to say about how an outside person may view them.
Then I would like to go over the photographers of the Great Depression and discuss about how part their job was to reveal the impact this was having on people in the US. Without the FSA photographers, many people would have had no clue what was really going on!
(Now here's why this is my "dream" lesson)
Last, I would use some of our funds to purchase a disposable camera for each of the students and challenge them to show the outsiders what their own life was really about. The assignment would call for them to document their daily routines and what else might be going on outside of school. In the end we would get their photos developed and pick a series that might reveal to an outsider that they are just like any other person...any other American!
Obviously this lesson needs a lot more development and research, but I think this might be fun for any level Art course!!
Ana,
DeleteGREAT IDEA to link the photography from Bigelow's site to the photographers of the Farm Security Administration (FSA) during the Great Depression. Works by Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans and Gordon Parks, among others, is among the greatest art this country has ever produced. The book, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, by James Agee and Walker Evans comes from this same period (1941) and is widely considered an American classic. Writers and photographers really swoon over this book (despite the "Men" in the title, which I hate!) because the juxtaposition of writing and imagery is very innovative even by today's standards.
Well I agree it's so important for people outside one's own community to see the beauty of what we know is inside. It's tempting for people of middle-to-upper class means to think people of lesser means are somehow deprived and unhappy. But people of lesser means are by no means impoverished in spirit. Spiritual impoverishment is an equal opportunity destroyer! However, as teachers we need to be real with our students about the bias in our culture that links money to happiness and moral goodness. Because of this bias, it's important that kids and people of all ages represent the beauty of their cultural riches for themselves and for people outside their communities. This is what artists always set out to do - to challenge assumptions of what's normal, acceptable and right.
A few years ago a student graduated from our program and went on to teach in the Dallas (or Houston?) area. She teaches cell phone photography. Since most kids have access to a cell phone, and most cell phones have camera capability, she found this a more practical solution to the age-old "how do I buy cameras for all my students?" question. Cell phone images interface with internet apps & technologies, so if you went this route you'd be working entirely online. If your school has a computer lab, you could see about using it for art purposes. The TEKS are always telling us to incorporate technology into our lessons. This would be a good way of doing it.
Just some ideas. I love where you're going with this - especially the historical component.
Ana, I can't believe the Admins at the games didn't do something, that is embarresing that an educator would permit that on their campus. Just awful.
DeleteWith the photo segment of the project you could look at "Shooting Back" with the kids as a jump off.
I read, I viewed, I was saddened, enlighted, and hopeful for change. The only piece that really shocked me was Freemans work on Tiananman Square. The video that showed the perspective of the tank driver versus the man blocking his way in rebellion to the parade of tanks was chilling. The video editing which cut back and forth between the tank driver and the rebelling man was very powerful. I think that students would certainly benefit from seeing this because it was very effective in placing the viewer in both positions. I found it very unsettling and very moving. I would design a project around this in the following way:
ReplyDeleteAssignment: Design an art project that helps students view their own lives from the perspective of an inside and an outside observer.
Project Description: Students will create a 2 -panel mixed media piece that will be mounted back to back portraying the insiders and outsiders perspective in a rebellion to be randomly assigned. The student will place their picture in each side of the conflict, allowing them to be a part of the conflict. Project assignments will come from one of four rebellions as subject matter; (1) Tiananman Square Protests; Students, Activists & Intellectuals versus The Peoples Liberation Army of China, (2) Ghandi and the Non-Cooperation Movement in India versus The British Government, (3) The Cuban Revolution; Castro’s Communism versus Batista, and (4) Draft Protests of the 1960’s; Students and military inductees versus the U.S. Goverment and Conservative Establishment. (I think its important to randomly assign the topics so students will have to research something they may know nothing about.)
Timeframe: This will be a 3 week project. Students will have 15 sessions in which to research, design, fabricate, and present their panels.
Project Plan:
Week One:
Present Project to students. Have students count off numbers 1 through 4 each number would correlate to the above conflicts. Based on their assigned number, that is the conflict they must research, create their panels about, and present to the class. Students would visit the library as teams to research their subjects. The “like” teams would have time to meet to share their research and discuss what they’ve learned about each side of the conflict. The teams might then begin to plan their panels and gather materials for week two. The teams will photgraph each other for their inclusion on the panels.
Week Two:
This week the teams will meet with the instructor separately to discuss the topics and do any Q& A necessary to move forward with their projects. Newsreels and video footage will be viewed by each team in relation to their subject matter. During this time the other teams will be working on their panels.
Week Three:
This week students will continue to work on their panels. In addition, students will develop a first person account in the voice of a person on each side of the conflict. This presentation must be a minimum of 3 paragraphs each highlighting both sides of the issue. The first-person account will help students personalize the conflicts and allow them to connect these events to events in their own lives.
Resources Needed:
I think this would really lend itself to mixed-media collage. The materials needed might vary from paints, colored pencils, magazines and newspapers to specialty papers, relief printing tools and suppies, adhesives, etc.
**I know that this isn’t about the border wall, but this has been a topic of discussion in just about every class and I’m getting a little burned out. I’m conflicted because I know we are in a border state and this is a hot issue, but I also feel that there are so many additional, complicated issues that students could learn from in addition to this topic.
Gail,
ReplyDeleteYour project idea is super hot! It doesn't address the border, but I agree it's just as helpful for students to learn about human rights struggles in all parts of the world. The more they learn, the more they will be able to contextualize current US-Mexican border struggles within a historical continuum that transcends national borders. This is crucial to learning what "human rights" is about. And learning about human rights is crucial to becoming a fully engaged citizen. As WWII, the Nuremberg Trials and the Geneva Convention made clear, we can ill afford ignorance or indifference to events of the past. It's for teachers to dismantle the worst kinds of ignorance. If we don't do it, who will?
I like the historical struggles you selected. Each one has been widely documented so there's no shortage of reference material, including images such as the infamous Tiananman Square footage. You are right - it's impossible to watch this without a sense of horror. But we are adults. For those who work with adolescents, don't let yourself be caught off guard if someone exclaims "cool!" or thinks the brave soul who stood in front of the tank was stupid. They've grown up in a media environment that puts Pizza Hut commercials, news reports from Syria, hurricane victims, game shows and cartoons on a flat, level plane of constantly shifting, interchangeable images. Most of us are desensitized by the sheer volume of images if nothing else.
This is why you made a wise choice to have students visually place themselves in the positions of insider and outsider and to write and speak in a first-person voice. Otherwise it the main point of the project could float past them like a video game. It stops being unreal at the moment they recognize, "This could be me." The next thing is, "Why isn't it me? Why did this happen or is this happening to someone just like me in many ways but not me?". The strange and bitter mystery of it all. The lessons of history and the unanswerable question of what these things say about us as human beings. Hard knowledge indeed but again, if we don't teach it, who will?
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DeletePart of our job is to disturb and inspire. Your art project idea certainly takes direct aim at that goal, so of course I'm pleased. A parent, however, might not like it at all and express themselves in a complaint. If this happens, try to stay in the role of teacher. Adults are learners too and maybe you can teach them something, or at least justify your choice in a rational manner.
A undergrad in one of my classes today said that two students (at a middle school where she's doing a practicum) were forbidden by their parents from making Day of the Dead-themed art in their art class. At the same time, the district wants art teachers to use class time to have students make Christmas cards. Now, Americans enjoy freedom of religion and freedom from religion persecution under the law - and this is always the bottom line. However, it wouldn't hurt worried parents to be informed that Mexico's Day of the Dead is like Memorial Day in the U.S. (+ really cool art). Some people see the skulls and conclude the Dead of the Dead must be Satanic. Parents who believe this need to be better informed citizens. As we disabuse them, it's super important to show respect for their religious belief and for them as human beings.
As educators, we tend think most problems can be solved through learning. I think your project works on a number of levels that could, for at least some students, really and truly "make a difference." We invest our lives in teaching, so it's really important to design lessons that promote intelligence multiple levels. One of those levels promotes ethical evolution and helps shape thinking citizens in a complicated, beautiful and troubled world. We have to aim high - higher than the troubles facing humanity or we'll never get over them.
As Grey Panther activist Maggie Kuhn (1905-1995) said, "Speak your mind even if your voice shakes."
After finishing the readings (finally ) I instantly thought about using the narrative of First Crossing for a class collaborative graphic novel using the images from Bigelow’s collection as a basis for the story boards. I did a comic themed lesson last year where students created their own arch enemy to represent a personal demon or vice, they loved it. I have a friend who teaches English outside of Waco and he is in the process of doing a full blow graphic novel in his classes and they can’t get enough. Not only would this be a great way to help students connect with an outside and realize that the “Other” is actually a real life person, but it is a sure fire way to give the students a studio activity that they actually enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI also thought if my friend’s English classes are getting a kick out of working on a graphic novel why wouldn’t students at my school? This would be a great way to get some cross curricular action going, administrators love that stuff. If a English teacher was willing, they could also read Frist Crossing and work on distilling the narrative and help create the story boards while the Art class fine tune the images from Bigelow’s collection of photographs to fit the lay out.
This got me thinking about what other classes could be brought into the mix. After looking at the photographs of the berlin wall and the fences along the US-Mexico border, I started to wonder how much students knew about the Berlin wall, surely a social studies / histoy teacher would cover the topic at some point in the year, why not dove tail with their lesson plans? Sure only a handful of students would be in both classes but it would be great to get both classes together for a few periods to produce some collaborative works.
All this reading about barriers, be they physical, economic, etc. got me thinking about the West Bank barrier that Israel has put up along its border with the Palestinians. Now I know this is super ambitious given the schedule core teachers have to stay on in my district thanks to ECO and STARR testing not to mention the curriculum we are using right now (c-scope), but what if all three classes could work together. After all the classes had read First crossing, the Social Studies class could research the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the construction of that wall alongside the US-Mexico border in the context of human rights. The English class could then take this research and work on a creative writing project to tell two parallel stories of how these two barriers have / are affecting both sides. The Art class could then focus on putting these narratives into graphic novels as a series telling the stories of migrants living on both sides of the US-Mexico border as well as Palestinian’s and Israeli’s affected not only by the wall but by the ongoing violence in the region.
Hey Daniel,
ReplyDeleteWelcome back from your long day's journey into night. It's hard to get back in routine of everyday life after going through a funeral of a loved one - or two, in your case. I'm very sorry for your losses - and I'm sorry for the inadequacy of these words for expressing truer feelings. But I commend you for getting back to class so soon.
I'm very enthused about cross-curriculum learning and so I love your idea and share your frustration with the obstacles to working creatively with other teachers. There ARE small schools that focus exclusively on teachers working together at the same time on one theme. They go by different names, the most common being project-based schools or schools of integrated learning. Not all of them are private. According to the website for an organization devoted to promoting and disseminating information on integrated learning, Edutopia -
http://www.edutopia.org/schools-that-work
-there are currently 5 schools in Texas that fit this description. An even better website from the Buck Institute for Education can be found at -
http://www.bie.org/
This source lists all schools in the U.S. that follow a project-based learning model. An example from the list is ACE Leadership High School in Albuquerque. ACE stands for Architecture, Construction & Engineering. The curriculum is based on "making things," which sounds cool to me. ACE is a charter school that admits students on a lottery basis.
I checked out ACE's website and saw have an opening for a Humanities Teacher. They're looking for someone who is "highly qualified in Language Arts and Social Studies...and may have endorsements in one or more areas including Science, Math, ESL, Bilingual Education or may be licensed in Special Education." (see http://aceleadership.org/info/staff-hirings). Sort of a tall order, but all project-based schools aren't like that. At any rate, it can't help to know that other models of learning are out there, it's just a matter of finding them and, if you really want to teach in one, being willing to relocate if necessary.
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ReplyDeleteAn interesting thing about the Berlin Wall is that a great deal of graffiti, mural art and public writing ranging from political rants to poems and letters to loved ones on the opposite side was found on the EAST side of the wall. Artists like Keith Haring called it "the world's longest canvas." Most of the wall was destroyed in 1989, but a few sections remain as historical reminders. There was SO much art in so many different styles that you really have to take some time to look at it all (a Google image search for Berlin Wall Art turns up a lot) and just absorb it.
As disinterested as kids seem in historical subjects, targeted topics like the Berlin Wall can really bring history to life. I think the way history is presented in school textbooks - as a long chronicle that tends to exclude the perspectives of historical cultures & groups other that of the victor/triumphant conquerer - makes it difficult for kids to 1) relate, and 2) see the relevance of the past to the present. Thus the prevalence of cultural and historical amnesia that some critics talk about. Whatever you call it, it's not good for our country.
Your project would zoom in on one aspect of history that is recent enough for kids to see not only its relevance to events going on today, but also its parallels to other situations going on in the world. As teachers, we start with something specific like the Berlin Wall, then we move to the US-Mexico border wall and talk about the similarities and differences not just at the aesthetic level, but at the political/economic/social/historical factors that created the walls in the first place. People didn't build these walls on their own accord. Governments built them to achieve specific aims. So what were/are those aims? This stuff is important. Your project provides an entry point to a small part of history and the much larger lessons to be learned from it.
I hope you'll do the project with or without the cooperation of other teachers. Art is a window onto every subject in the curriculum!