Art Education: Curriculum & Pedagogy, Secondary Level

Students’ Cultural Images as Catalysts for Critical Inquiry

In “Students’ Cultural Images as Catalysts for Critical Inquiry”, Mary Blatherwick outlines some approaches and strategies that art educators can use in order to be successful while working with this theme. She explains that culturally based art and images created by school-aged students can help to provide a better understanding of various cultural perspectives through the communication of visual ideas. While exploring these perspectives, value systems and lived experiences can be challenging, it provides an excellent educational platform for both the students and teachers involved.

A Critical Action Research Project was created to find out “how teachers can affect change in their own programs and enhance the learning” using student’s cultural images as catalysts. This project began with the collecting and selecting of student’s cultural images for an on-going visual resource. The teachers were then provided a professional development course to ensure their understanding of visual literacy, image analysis, and image making. Teachers then created instructional strategies based on what they learned and assisted students with their responses to the cultural images. Through this process of sharing and enquiry around cultural images the students were able to gain more understanding and respect for other cultures, and learn about stereotypes, prejudice, racism, beliefs and identities.

What is the most effective way to encourage students to explore and express their own cultural heritages through the use of images? Would it be beneficial to discuss the student’s personal experiences– whether positive or negative– around their own cultures? How do we ensure that these projects encourage greater love, sharing and respect for other cultures and individual students rather than further perpetuate stereotypes? How do we safeguard against the narrowing of student’s individual identities outside of their cultural backgrounds?