This book is a resourceful users manual to create socially engaged art but I believe concepts and ideas in this book can serve useful to an art educator. I believe that when students embark on creating something collaboratively it fosters an intrinsic motivation that drives them to further explore the content. Socially engaged art in the classroom requires students act rather than be passive observers, their participation in the development of the project is vital to the overall completion of the project. It is much like project based learning in that the projects are student driven, collaborative, and have real world implications. I also think intrinsic motivation is cultivated with strategies from socially engaged art because it is interdisciplinary, as Helguera stated it can not be produced in a “knowledge vacuum”. Therefore in its interdisciplinary nature a socially engaged art classroom allows various points of access to the content for the students.
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“The purpose of education…is to create in a person the ability to look at the world for themself, to make their own decisions.” – James A. Baldwin
I want to start off by stating unequivocally BLACK LIVES MATTER! Its almost unbelievable that this is a controversial statement but here we are, at war over basic human rights.
We’re at a moment where the line has been drawn and we must decide what side we’re on. I know the side I’m on. I’m on the side that demands justice for any and all people who have been, and will be, a victim of this cruel and oppressive racist system. I fight for all black and brown folx murdered by the police, I fight for the countless children who are kidnapped and put in cages, I stand in solidarity with my brothers and sisters in fighting to dismantle systemic racism around the world, from the ground up.
Education is key in the struggle for true racial justice. As an educator my goal is to help students from diverse cultures learn to engage in dialog and civic action in a diverse, democratic society. Students’ dreams, hopes, and experiences or not only included in my curriculum but are necessary in its construction. I want to provide a space where students can realize their power and learn how to use it.
Lastly check out this website for information and ways to help BLM http://www.pb-resources.com/
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“A journey of 1,000 miles begins with one step”– Lao Tzu
My name is Daniel Gonzalez-Zarzuela. I am a Chicano artist and Bilingual educator in San Diego California and this is my first post in this blog dedicated to my art/teaching practice. This space will serve as an archive of projects, ideas, and artwork from the classroom, it will also serve as a means to connect with students, parents, and the community.
DANIEL GONZALEZ-ZARZUELA 