Pedagogies of Critical Multiculturalism in Teaching Visual Culture.
Fall semester 2012. Undergrad. Licensure requirement

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING (Big Idea) FOR THE COURSE:

Art Education in the 21st century is a dynamic process and product of sociopolitical context, historical considerations, philosophies, practices educational research, and trends in the worlds of art and visual culture.

Essential Questions:

How does the sociopolitical context of students’ and teachers’ experiences and schools influence theory and practice about art education?

How does a postmodern framework on knowledge and learning influence theories and practices of art education with social justice perspectives?

How are critical multicultural education, visual culture, contemporary practices and the multiple worlds of art (past and present) evident in art programs today?

When constructing democratic spaces of learning, do the voices of students and families influence art education curriculum?

How can we be informed by social and cultural issues and the notion of “culture as commons” to actively participate in the construction of diverse teaching practices in the field of art education?

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course explores the interrelationship of social and cultural issues, visual culture, philosophies of teaching, and the construction of democratic spaces of learning building on theories of multicultural education. Students build upon their prior experiences with, and explore new ways to think about, artworks and other forms of visual culture in and as curricula. Through a simultaneous exploration of contemporary and historical visual culture (including art and popular culture), and educational and critical theory, this course emphasizes not only questions related to content in the art classroom, but also how social and cultural issues inform the construction of diverse teaching practices.

COURSE GOALS, OBJECTIVES, LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Students can interpret U.S. and globalized, historical and cultural influences on art history and contemporary cultural production.
• Students will study sociopolitical context of U.S. schools and art education, including but not limited to postmodernism, human diversity, and multicultural society.
• Students develop strategies and knowledge that lead to demonstrating empathy and solidarity with the families and communities of K-12 art students.
• Students can apply critical art pedagogy by engaging students in inquiry-based studies and art-making.
• Students see in perspective multiple influences on art education, including a

 
REQUIRED TEXT BOOKS

·  Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural Education, 6th edition by Sonia Nieto & Patty Bode. (2012). Published by Pearson.

·  Art and Social Justice Education: Culture as Commons, edited by Therese Quinn, John Ploof, and Lisa Hochritt. (2012). Published by Routledge.

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