What does “Culture as Commons” mean to you?
The culture as commons means shared access to creative practice and art and the redistribution of resources and power. Quinn describes it as “belief that everyone has both the possibility and the right to create and to live with beauty.” (3) To me this means that it is my responsibility to advocate for a strong arts program for ALL students. I do this through work on the Art Educators of Iowa board and supporting the advocacy efforts of AEI and the Iowa Alliance for Arts Education. All Iowa students should have fair and equal access to band, music, drama, and visual arts education, but many don’t whether it is because their parents can’t afford an instrument or lessons, or their school cannot afford the supplies for a robust drama or art curriculum. I think to create a “culture as commons” in the classroom, it is important to value each student’s abilities and consider them an artist. The label artist shouldn’t be reserved only for those students with natural abilities. By seeing all of my student as artists, no matter their ability, they can begin to see themselves as artists too. Think about your current teaching practices in light of what you read this week. What can/do you do to inculcate openness and inclusivity in your classroom?What can/do you do to encourage collaboration among students and with students?How might students and peers be silenced/excluded unwittingly? One of the rules in my classroom is that I have a no tolerance policy for disrespectful language. We discuss how art can be a vulnerable experience, and how even giggling at something that didn’t turn out right can be hurtful. The quote that stood out for me this week was “What do you want your students to remember about art 50 years from now?” (Desai, p.35) It makes me think of the similar quote “They may not remember what you said, but they will remember how you made them feel.” When I think about what I want students to feel and remember, it is that they have a powerful voice, and that they said something with their artwork. To encourage collaboration among students, we discuss the collective knowledge of the studio. I emphasize that each artist doesn’t need to know everything, because the artists around them have knowledge and experience they can use. I often show videos from other teacher friends or the internet and admit that I don’t have great knowledge and experience about this technique or topic, but there are other experts out there. It is so rewarding to see students ask peers for feedback or to answer questions and get help problem solving instead of going straight to me. I think students that I have to make sure aren’t silenced in my classroom are my ELL students, especially those that don’t have a firm grasp of English, because they can be literally silenced by the language barrier. This is something that I need to work on.
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AuthorMorgan Singleton is a secondary art educator with a Master's degree in art education. Archives
April 2017
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