Abstract

The authors of the paper explore ways teachers of young children in grades pre kindergarten through third grade can utilize a variety of art works to stimulate conversations about issues that are considered culturally charged or historically sensitive. Art imagery, when used as a visual cue, can promote even very young children to think beyond their own experience and connect emotionally to the artist’s message. We believe that our method of incorporating art history and the aesthetic experience of viewing art, can increase children’s social consciousness and broaden their understanding of the diversity and similarities in the human experience. Young children’s ability to “see” what adults cannot is showcased in their ability to communicate their feelings and thoughts about the art and the artist’s motivation for creating it. The trend in early childhood education however, is to avoid any controversial or seemingly sensitive topics out of fear that it might be disturbing or developmentally inappropriate. As a result, children are misinformed or inadequately prepared for the reality of past and present.