The Revolution will not be STANDARDIZED: What are you doing about it?

6/22/2013

The battle cry "The Revolution will not be standardized" has been asserted by countless public school teachers over the past decade in response to policy constraints on curriculum, instruction and teacher efficacy. Adapted from, and inspired by Gil Scott-Heron's 1970 recording "The Revolution will not be Televised" and most recently echoed by the Chicago Public Schools Teachers Union, "The Revolution will not be standardized" invokes the voices of teachers, cultural workers, families and students resisting the systemic take-over of public school life. This page is dedicated to that conversation with specific attention to the ways in which the standards movement has exterminated access to arts education and invaded the practices of art teachers. This blog honors the ways in which all teachers, including art teachers, have continued revolutionary practices in the face of outside efforts to standardize imaginative, innovative thought and social consciousness.
HOW ARE YOU RESPONDING TO THE COMMON CORE AND LEGISLATIVE CONSTRAINTS ON CURRICULUM?
Learn about ways in which art teachers and other teachers are responding to and resisting the standardization of art curriculum by participating in this blog.

2 Comments

Brittany M. Notari

6/22/2013 01:15:30 pm

Patty: I'm very excited to have a place of critical discourse available. I must be honest and say I have recently felt the emptiness of critical discussion in Art Education since graduating from Tufts. I do get to interact with other Art teachers within my district twice a year, however this does not feel like enough time. My own supervisors have confessed to not understanding "What it is (I) do..". Which for the most part leaves me to my own devices, as long as I continue to produce curriculum documents that are flashy and lengthy (I feel like no one reads them).
Nevertheless, I too have been asked to integrate the Common Core into my lesson plans. After reading over the document (which continues to change.. Whee!) I have come to the conclusion that Art educators already do what is requested for College & Career Readiness. I have pointed out to my principal, vice principal, & district supervisor, (both in writing and verbally) how students read a work of art the same way they read any text. Our students problem solve using the same strategies in both Math & Art. Our students must think critically about their own work as well as the work of others in order to knowledgeably engage in discussions and by doing so utilize the vocabulary and social skills gained in our classrooms.
As I continue to find out more about what classroom teachers need to accomplish in order to fit the Common Core standards (which they now have to teach, which does not align with the state standardized test they are forced to administer; cue in "teach-to-test". Another rant for another time) I have begun planting little seeds throughout my school & with my principal concerning a lean towards focusing on Art Integration. Not integrating Math, Reading, Science, Social Studies into Art. But, instead, having Art be a core part of every classroom practice. I have used the Common Core as a bargaining chip when presenting my ideas.
I have created a 5th grade art curriculum which focuses on the "Theatrical Arts". What is more visual than masks, costume design, set construction, and performance? What could incorporate character development lessons, mathematics such as geometry, writing, speech, and all sorts of other Common Core "goodies" that your principal wishes to see, better than a performance? A performance written, designed (costumes & set), and performed by the students. Once the teachers, parents, & principal saw the end result of a yearlong Art curriculum, one that reaches the students for only 50 minutes once a week & engages them throughout the entire week, I obtained the backing I needed to start a small pilot program with one grade level. The teachers and I will meet twice a week next year to co-plan and collaborate on classroom curriculum that has an Art Core! This is not about what they do coming into my classroom, but about what I do, once a week, entering their classroom every day of the week. And traveling with the students to other classes, to after school activities, and hopefully, home. For me, the Common Core has not been my bain, but instead my key into negotiating a more Artful school environment and experience for all students.

Patty Bode

6/22/2013 01:47:22 pm

Brittany, This is the pro-active approach I would expect from you! Yes, it is like Christine Sleeter wrote almost 10 years ago in her book Un-Standardizing Curriculum: Multicultural Teaching in the Standards-based Classroom - when she explained that one can develop and implement a curriculum that is "standards-based without being standards-driven." I appreciate your approach to forthrightly address the Common Core so productively. It precisely because the administrators and teachers are under so much pressure that you can use the CC to get their attention and make the case for fully and authentically integrating the arts into the so-called core subject areas! I am inspired to read your statement "The teachers and I will meet twice a week next year to co-plan and collaborate on classroom curriculum that has an Art Core!" That is exactly the kind of reclamation of curriculum we need. Keep it going, Brittany!

The Revolution will not be STANDARDIZED: What are you doing about it?

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