Abstract
The National Academy of Education’s report on civic reasoning and discourse (Lee et al., 2021) found an interdisciplinary approach is needed to provide a civic education to strengthen our democratic society. Heeding this call, we ask how art education contributes to a comprehensive approach to civics in schools. The paper traces the turn away from politics within civic education, while contemplating how the political turn within art education provides a pathway forward. The authors discuss a place-based art education unit that studied the legacy of the civil rights movement in a Southeastern, US, capital city. The unit addresses historical narratives by noting the incompleteness of historical registers, the impermanence of historical places, and the imperfections of historical interpretations. By always looking backwards and forwards, at forgotten histories and historical forgetting, the unit asked students to move between the then and now, in order to explore history as constantly occurring and unfolding. This paper discusses unit outcomes, considering how art allows students in this unit to activate history from a personal perspective. The study considers how art is a valuable tool in interdisciplinary humanities curriculums, noting in particular its contribution to teaching civic dispositions.
Presenters
Rachel FendlerAssociate Professor, Department of Art Education, Florida State University, Florida, United States Sara Shields
Associate Professor, Department Chair, Art Education Department, Florida State University, Florida, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Art Education, Civic Education, Place-based Pedagogy, Forgotten Histories, Arts-Based Inquiry
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