Andrabi, Syed Gowhar. (2013). Critical Pedagogy and Artist-Teacher.
This article examines the concept of critical pedagogy and its influence on art education. Andrabi begins by offering several definitions for “critical pedagogy;” “an educational setup in which teachers and students work together towards empowerment, emancipation, and transformation of the academic, social, and personal levels of students (p. 2).” He goes on to add on to this by saying that critical pedagogy “empowers the critical awareness of the learners about the oppressive nature of the society (p. 2).” Andrabi highlights the connections between the teaching and study of art with critical pedagogy. He claims that the combination of art and critical pedagogy creates a space for students to unlearn certain things to allow space for new thought and understanding (p. 4). For teachers specifically, critical pedagogy encourages the understanding of students cultural backgrounds before giving criticism on “students drawings according to pre-established understanding of visual representation (p. 5).” Andrabi focus on the role of teachers heavily in the last pages of this article. He emphasis the teachers role as “researchers and knowledge workers who reflect on their professional needs and current understandings (p. 6).”
Currie, Dawn H., & Kelly, Deirdre M. (2022). Are you being hailed?: Advertising as a venue for critical media literacy, Pop Culture and Power: Teaching Media Literacy for Social Justice. Chapter 7, 143-171.
This article details the work completed by Currie and Kelly regarding development of young people’s visual literacy skills. Currie’s pedagogical goal in this study was to help learners see how social identities are used by advertisers to appeal to readers and, as a result construct ‘certain kinds of people’ and ‘certain kinds of worlds (p. 146-147).” The author claims that advertisements are a key component of media literacy education, and have been for a while. Currie asserts that critical media literacy is the “solution” to the seductive influence of advertisements, and the effect they have on shaping young peoples perceptions of self identity. The article serves to outline in detail the seminar conducted by Currie with several female students. After detailing her approach in the seminar setting she comments on how these methods can be adapted to the classroom setting. One of these such activities involved students having conversations with each other via sticky notes in a magazine, on which they were leaving comments about what the ads made them think/feel. Additionally, the authors outline a method of taking this activity and continuing it into one in which students create a new version of on of the advertisements.
Garcia, Luis-Genaro. (2012). Making Cultura Count Inside and Out of the Classroom: Public Art & Critical Pedagogy in South Central Los Angeles, Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, 9:2, 104-114, DOI: 10.1080/15505170.2012.743446
In this article Garcia discusses the role that culturally relevant and arts based methods of critically exploring history, language, culture, politics, and visual literacy impact the academic outcomes and political awareness of marginalized youth (p. 104).” To start, the author defines “cultura,” and distinguishes it from the english word “culture.” Garcia says “cultura” ecompasses more than “culture”, as it “invites bilingual students to think about the overall experience of their environment, wether at home, at school, on the streets, or within the working class (p. 104).” The author aims to challenge the U.S. idea that culture only refers to food, traditions, and celebrations. One of the key themes emphasises throughout this article is the importance of developing students visual literacy. Garcia defines visual literacy as “the ability to think and communicate visually,” and the California state standards tack on visual thinking (p. 105). The author argues that teaching a critical pedagogy that centers the learning in the world happening around the students can amplify the students political and social awareness. Additionally, art can serve as a fantastic medium for expression, and provides the perfect opportunity for students to develop their visual literacy skills. The author provides the frame work of a project that challenged students to take a “Caution” sign found near the border with Mexico depicting immigrants running. The teacher had students recreate this sign in a way that represented their own socio-political stories and perspectives.
Spinner, Kaspar H. (2019). Literary learning. Film Education Journal, 2 (2): 159-174.
This article begins by explaining the heavy emphasis placed on literary learning in German education, especially as it relates to literary and media pedagogies. Spinner then goes on to summarize 11 aspects of literary learning in the German education system. He also emphasizes that “aesthetic education must not be replaced by an approach centered around notions of competence (p. 159). Spinner begins by defining the key aspects of literary learning and literacy. According to Spinner, “while literacy refers here to the reading or written and printed texts, literary learning also includes auditory and visual forms of reception, such as audiobooks, film or theater, and thus is actively present in a child’s development even before the acquisition of literacy (p. 161).” Spinners approach also highlights the importance of a students’ abilities to understand metaphorical and symbolic language, as well as the necessity to become familiar with literary discussion.
Yenawine, Philip (2019). Art in school: As essential as language. American Educator, 11-18
In his article, Yenawine begins by talking about how early our ability to interpret and learn from visuals develops. Before any record of written language, we had paintings. This goes back to the early cave drawings done by early human ancestors. Children utilize this visual acuity to make sense of the world around them. “This ‘figuring out’ is referred to by the cognitive scholar Rudolf Arnheim as ‘visual thinking’ (p. 22).” Yenawine defines visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) as “a program that enables teachers to use specific strategies as part of their existing curriculum to develop students’ skills of observation, social interaction, and language development (p. 23).” The article makes the argument that the classroom is one of the best places to introduce students to art, as a result of the ease with which it can be applied to multiple disciplines. However, it highlights the early emphasis on text-based instruction as a hindrance to the utilization of VTS. VTS also emphasizes the importance of “a discussion-based approach that supports teachers in introducing art images for students to consider and discuss (p. 24).” The article concludes by going into detail about how to get started with VTS in the classroom, as well as some of the common hurdles teachers may face. By utilizing VTS, teachers can will be able to help students develop confidence in their own voice and the validity of their opinions (p. 27).