Main Question: Is there a relationship between the community, art, and the public schools? We will look into the arts surrounding Newark Arts High School and see in which ways they reflect the community, and how students can relate to the arts in order to become engaged in creating art of their own.
Sub-Questions:
-Do the arts play an important role in education in Newark?
-Is art integrated into classroom curriculum? How?
-How are the arts related to the community?
-What are the forms of Pop Art (popular art, art for the people) in the community?
Data Collection:
-Walking map of city
-Walk around the ten block radius in Newark taking field notes and pictures.
10 blocks, 10 sites
www.googlemaps.com Arts High School, Newark Public School, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Rutgers State University Art and Design Program, North Star Academy Charter School of Newark, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Newark Museum, Seed Gallery, Central Business District, Passaic River.
-Are youths involved in these sites?
-What kind of art do these sites support?
-Look for art on the street (i.e. graffiti, music, formal sculptures)
-Look for youth participating in art activity on the street
-Interviews with community members
Geographical information: http://www.citytowninfo.com/places/new-jersey/newark
Includes the history of Newark, the culture of Newark, and demographics
New Jersey Performing Arts Center-downtown Newark
What is the art about?
Collect flyers about local artists and the shows
Arts High School, located on 550 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Website: http://www.nps.k12.nj.us/arts/default.htm
Includes school history and profile (About Us)
Walking tour of the school
Teacher interviews
What art are students making?
What involves classroom curriculum?
What do the arts bring to student learning and development?
What kind of special projects/topics are used to engage students in art?
Does the school make visits to the museums and venues in the area? If so, how often?
Faculty interviews
What are the requirements to be accepted to the arts high school?
Student interviews
If you could change anything about the curriculum, what would it be?
Do you feel that the art being taught to you relates to your everyday life?
Local News in Newark involving the arts and the 10 block radius of the school
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
10 Lessons The Arts Teach (from arteducators.org)
http://www.arteducators.org/olc/pub/NAEA/advocacy/advocacy_page_5.html
by Elliot Eisner
1. The arts teach children to make good judgments about qualitative relationships. Unlike much of the curriculum in which correct answers and rules prevail, in the arts, itis judgment rather than rules that prevail.
2. The arts teach children that problems can have more than one solution and that questions can have more than one answer.
3. The arts celebrate multiple perspectives. One of their large lessons is that there are many ways to see and interpret the world.
4. The arts teach children that in complex forms of problem solving purposes are seldom fixed, but change with circumstance and opportunity. Learning in the arts requires the ability and a willingness to surrender to the unanticipated possibilities of the work as it unfolds.
5. The arts make vivid the fact that neither words in their literal form nor numbers exhaust what we can know. The limits of our language do not define the limits of our cognition.
6. The arts teach students that small differences can have large effects. The arts traffic in subtleties.
7. The arts teach students to think through and within a material. All art forms employ some means through which images become real.
8. The arts help children learn to say what cannot be said. When children are invited to disclose what a work of art helps them feel, they must reach into their poetic capacities to find the words that will do the job.
9. The arts enable us to have experience we can have from no other source and through such experience to discover the range and variety of what we are capable of feeling.
10. The arts' position in the school curriculum symbolizes to the young what adults believe is important.
SOURCE: Eisner, E. (2002). The Arts and the Creation of Mind, In Chapter 4, What the Arts Teach and How It Shows. (pp. 70-92). Yale University Press. Available from NAEA Publications. NAEA grants reprint permission for this excerpt from Ten Lessons with proper acknowledgment of its source and NAEA.
In other words, the lack of art education will result in students hurting from missing out on all of these crucial points.
by Elliot Eisner
1. The arts teach children to make good judgments about qualitative relationships. Unlike much of the curriculum in which correct answers and rules prevail, in the arts, itis judgment rather than rules that prevail.
2. The arts teach children that problems can have more than one solution and that questions can have more than one answer.
3. The arts celebrate multiple perspectives. One of their large lessons is that there are many ways to see and interpret the world.
4. The arts teach children that in complex forms of problem solving purposes are seldom fixed, but change with circumstance and opportunity. Learning in the arts requires the ability and a willingness to surrender to the unanticipated possibilities of the work as it unfolds.
5. The arts make vivid the fact that neither words in their literal form nor numbers exhaust what we can know. The limits of our language do not define the limits of our cognition.
6. The arts teach students that small differences can have large effects. The arts traffic in subtleties.
7. The arts teach students to think through and within a material. All art forms employ some means through which images become real.
8. The arts help children learn to say what cannot be said. When children are invited to disclose what a work of art helps them feel, they must reach into their poetic capacities to find the words that will do the job.
9. The arts enable us to have experience we can have from no other source and through such experience to discover the range and variety of what we are capable of feeling.
10. The arts' position in the school curriculum symbolizes to the young what adults believe is important.
SOURCE: Eisner, E. (2002). The Arts and the Creation of Mind, In Chapter 4, What the Arts Teach and How It Shows. (pp. 70-92). Yale University Press. Available from NAEA Publications. NAEA grants reprint permission for this excerpt from Ten Lessons with proper acknowledgment of its source and NAEA.
In other words, the lack of art education will result in students hurting from missing out on all of these crucial points.
Annotated Bibliography for Inquiry Project
1. Whitehead, J.L. (2004). Graffiti: The Use of the Familiar https://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&attid=0.1&thid=1202ffba8affe0e2&mt=application%2Fpdf&pli=1
One of the main forms of street art is graffiti. When we think of urban areas it is easy to imagine walls covered in graffiti as a result of vandalism. But it is also important to consider the history behind graffiti, why it exists, what it represents, the different kinds, and mainly who its target audience is. In this article the author is certain that most students are familiar with graffiti and that including a lesson about it in art class can be beneficial, as long as the teacher explains that without the owners’ permission, it is illegal to paint on building walls.
I believe this article is important to include as part of my inquiry project because I believe teaching students about graffiti can engage them in understanding art and its relation to expression and emotion, motivating them to create their own pieces of art. I personally would use it as part of an introductory lesson, since graffiti is much about identity, an important aspect that needs to be explained to students about art.
2. Moskowitz, E.S. (2003). A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words: Arts Education in New York City Public Schools
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1b/5a/d9.pdf
This article describes the importance of art education to academic achievement, personal development, and parent involvement. It also describes what quality art education is like as well as the deficiencies New York City public schools have. It examines 6 main problems NY PS’s have and offers recommendations made by the education committee, as well as by teachers, and principals.
The six problems are the following:
- Instruction is not comprehensive
- Resources are insufficient and inequitable
- Art Education is undervalued
- Shortage of qualified art educators
- Variable quality of partnerships with cultural organizations
- There are insufficient facilities for art education
Even though this article focuses on NYC public schools, I believe Newark schools face very similar problems that can be solved in similar ways. But most importantly, this article offers clear information as to why art education is crucial in public urban education for its students to be well rounded individuals in society.
Bitz, M. (2004). The Comic Book Project: Forging Alternative Pathways to Literacy
https://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&attid=0.1&thid=12031a88e1e4b9a1&mt=application%2Fpdf
In an attempt to bring back art education to urban schools, author Michael Bitz founded The Comic Book Project with the focus on enhancing reading, writing, and vocabulary skills, not being the only result. Students found in this program a tool for expressing their daily urban lives and search for their identities, qualities for the success of this art program. When it comes to engaging students in dry class material, it is important to get creative, and this is where art education can play an important role.
Like other kinds of art, creating a comic book requires a good amount of imagination and ability to solve problems. Through discussions, students were able to understand the importance of each stage of the comic book production: Planning, creating the manuscript, and designing. The article describes some of the themes picked by the students for their comic book. Surprisingly in most of the comic books, the characters were not superheroes, but characters from their everyday lives. Many wrote about gangs, drugs, and family problems, making us realize how important art can be for children to express what goes through their minds in healthy ways. This project also increased the students’ self confidence in their writing and creative skills and motivated them for future writing.
Arts: Wherefore Art? By Sara Bernard http://www.edutopia.org/whats-next-2007-arts-education
This magazine article gives some interesting facts about current issues art education is facing that are closely related to the NCLB act, as well as positive ways in which certain organizations are supporting art education in the urban areas, giving hope that one day art education will be recognized as an essential part of education.
From Arts Advocacy Day (2008) Strengthening Arts Education in No Child Left Behind http://www.americansforthearts.org/get_involved/advocacy/aad/issue_briefs/2008/advocacy_issuebrief_005.asp
Brief directed to the Congress, as an attempt to:
-Retain the arts in the definition of core academic subjects of learning
-Reauthorize the Arts in Education Programs of the U.S. Department of Education
-Improve national data collection and research in arts education
-Require states to annually report on student access to all core academic subjects
One of the main forms of street art is graffiti. When we think of urban areas it is easy to imagine walls covered in graffiti as a result of vandalism. But it is also important to consider the history behind graffiti, why it exists, what it represents, the different kinds, and mainly who its target audience is. In this article the author is certain that most students are familiar with graffiti and that including a lesson about it in art class can be beneficial, as long as the teacher explains that without the owners’ permission, it is illegal to paint on building walls.
I believe this article is important to include as part of my inquiry project because I believe teaching students about graffiti can engage them in understanding art and its relation to expression and emotion, motivating them to create their own pieces of art. I personally would use it as part of an introductory lesson, since graffiti is much about identity, an important aspect that needs to be explained to students about art.
2. Moskowitz, E.S. (2003). A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words: Arts Education in New York City Public Schools
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1b/5a/d9.pdf
This article describes the importance of art education to academic achievement, personal development, and parent involvement. It also describes what quality art education is like as well as the deficiencies New York City public schools have. It examines 6 main problems NY PS’s have and offers recommendations made by the education committee, as well as by teachers, and principals.
The six problems are the following:
- Instruction is not comprehensive
- Resources are insufficient and inequitable
- Art Education is undervalued
- Shortage of qualified art educators
- Variable quality of partnerships with cultural organizations
- There are insufficient facilities for art education
Even though this article focuses on NYC public schools, I believe Newark schools face very similar problems that can be solved in similar ways. But most importantly, this article offers clear information as to why art education is crucial in public urban education for its students to be well rounded individuals in society.
Bitz, M. (2004). The Comic Book Project: Forging Alternative Pathways to Literacy
https://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&attid=0.1&thid=12031a88e1e4b9a1&mt=application%2Fpdf
In an attempt to bring back art education to urban schools, author Michael Bitz founded The Comic Book Project with the focus on enhancing reading, writing, and vocabulary skills, not being the only result. Students found in this program a tool for expressing their daily urban lives and search for their identities, qualities for the success of this art program. When it comes to engaging students in dry class material, it is important to get creative, and this is where art education can play an important role.
Like other kinds of art, creating a comic book requires a good amount of imagination and ability to solve problems. Through discussions, students were able to understand the importance of each stage of the comic book production: Planning, creating the manuscript, and designing. The article describes some of the themes picked by the students for their comic book. Surprisingly in most of the comic books, the characters were not superheroes, but characters from their everyday lives. Many wrote about gangs, drugs, and family problems, making us realize how important art can be for children to express what goes through their minds in healthy ways. This project also increased the students’ self confidence in their writing and creative skills and motivated them for future writing.
Arts: Wherefore Art? By Sara Bernard http://www.edutopia.org/whats-next-2007-arts-education
This magazine article gives some interesting facts about current issues art education is facing that are closely related to the NCLB act, as well as positive ways in which certain organizations are supporting art education in the urban areas, giving hope that one day art education will be recognized as an essential part of education.
From Arts Advocacy Day (2008) Strengthening Arts Education in No Child Left Behind http://www.americansforthearts.org/get_involved/advocacy/aad/issue_briefs/2008/advocacy_issuebrief_005.asp
Brief directed to the Congress, as an attempt to:
-Retain the arts in the definition of core academic subjects of learning
-Reauthorize the Arts in Education Programs of the U.S. Department of Education
-Improve national data collection and research in arts education
-Require states to annually report on student access to all core academic subjects
Monday, March 9, 2009
Culture Project - "Never Quit"
I was born and raised in Mexico City, a very large city with strong Mexican traditions mixed with some American pop culture. American media had bombarded Mexico and the rest of the world with all of its charming movies, TV shows, and music for decades. And around the time I was born in the 80s, my father worked for an American company and frequently traveled back and forth the two countries. Therefore my family was eager to enroll me in a bilingual school. A few years later my aunt and uncle moved to New Jersey where my uncle was offered a job. Since then every other year I would come and visit my cousin or she’d go to Mexico to see me. It was until after I graduated from high school that I realized I wanted to move to NJ with my family to go to college.
Even though I didn’t grow up in the USA, I have been living here for over 5 years, time which has shaped my culture into a more open minded and pro-diversity than if I had stayed in Mexico. Also living here has given me the opportunity to meet people from all over the world and enjoy discussions about their cultures compared to mine. I believe my elementary school education shaped from a very young age what could have been a more strict Mexican culture, into a more open minded and diversity oriented culture.
My interest for different cultures has increased since I moved to NJ and also through travelling, a passion my parents started fueling in me since an early age.
There is a general idea that in Mexico everyone is Mexican. Very rarely you see foreigners and there is very little awareness of culture diversity or people’s background. Colonialism changed the demographic profile in Latin America. The intermixing of races was known as castes: Mestizo (European/American Indian), mulatto (Spanish/African), and zambo (African/American Indian). During this time having fair skin meant having social and economic advantages; unfortunately hundreds of years later, this kind of discrimination has not fully disappeared.
In today’s Mexico, people who can afford sending their children to private schools for a good education are privileged because public schools in Mexico sadly are inefficient in many levels (see blogpost #1).
Nevertheless, even in the private school I attended, there were gender inequalities. While girls were taught shorthand, typewriting and other secretarial practices, boys were taking computer classes.
As far as language, my private elementary school was not only bilingual, but also bicultural in many ways. We would learn not only the grammar and spelling of the English language, but also its literature, traditional songs, and world history while also taking those same subjects in Spanish of course.
Most likely because most of the population in Mexico is catholic, homosexuality is still repudiated by many. Discrimination against homosexuals is common in smaller towns, while the big cities are starting to become more tolerant.
Because of its history, the country where I grew up in does not celebrate diversity and has a hard time tolerating differences. I think issues of race, class, gender, sexuality, and language can really shape a country’s culture. But one’s own culture is influenced by more personal experiences. Culture helps us realize who we are and/or why we are the way we are.
As a teacher, I want my students to think about having an open minded view of the world that surrounds them. To think of themselves as world citizens and to be excited about going to different countries or at least explore them through study, not only to enjoy and learn from different cultures but also to become more aware of who they are and learn to appreciate their own country and culture.
It is important for me to keep in mind that no matter how open about the world I present in front of my students, there will be some of them whose cultures will conflict with these ideas, they may find for example that exploring other countries is an unattractive idea.
Because of my background, I will be able to recognize differences in cultures and will welcome all of them without judgments because children especially at a young age are influenced by their families’ cultures. I believe school is a great place for students to mold their culture as they grow older into something they are proud of. But some students may be confused, especially those who are new in the country and may be experiencing culture shock.
As a visual arts teacher, I will give the students freedom to express themselves according to their culture, and I would have them create a project similar to the collage created along this post. By letting them describe visually their culture, students can become more aware of other cultures and hopefully be able to understand their peers better as well as having an insight into their own culture.
Now, to further explain my collage, I will start by pointing out that another important aspect about Mexican culture is that of family ties. For the most part, young adults will live with their parents until they get married. I am very close to my parents even though I don’t live with them, but since I don’t have any siblings I am also very close to my friends.
As far as hobbies, I enjoy listening to all kinds of music, reading traveling, art, design, and fashion magazines, playing sports like tennis and football, as well as watching those on TV.
Art is to me a particularly important way of expressing my emotions. Some people have trouble expressing their emotions verbally but can do it easily through a visual form. The bottle in the middle of the poster represents emotions being bottled up, and finally coming out through art.
Throughout the history of mankind art has taken an important role in communication and with time has become more complex and can express very particular things, feelings, or experiences, or perhaps is just there as an aesthetically pleasing work of art with little meaning.
Famous artists that I love are shown in the upper left corner of the poster. Art history is extremely important to understand the world and art itself.
To me, design is modern art. Observable for inspiration, it is everywhere: industrial design, graphic design, interior design, and fashion design should all be considered forms of art. Because in general the only difference design has from fine arts is its functionality. It is important for students to pay attention to detail so that they can come up with their own designs.
Last but not least, the big letters in the middle of the poster read: “Never Quit”. It is a motto that I live by and that I would like to pass on to my students.
Even though I didn’t grow up in the USA, I have been living here for over 5 years, time which has shaped my culture into a more open minded and pro-diversity than if I had stayed in Mexico. Also living here has given me the opportunity to meet people from all over the world and enjoy discussions about their cultures compared to mine. I believe my elementary school education shaped from a very young age what could have been a more strict Mexican culture, into a more open minded and diversity oriented culture.
My interest for different cultures has increased since I moved to NJ and also through travelling, a passion my parents started fueling in me since an early age.
There is a general idea that in Mexico everyone is Mexican. Very rarely you see foreigners and there is very little awareness of culture diversity or people’s background. Colonialism changed the demographic profile in Latin America. The intermixing of races was known as castes: Mestizo (European/American Indian), mulatto (Spanish/African), and zambo (African/American Indian). During this time having fair skin meant having social and economic advantages; unfortunately hundreds of years later, this kind of discrimination has not fully disappeared.
In today’s Mexico, people who can afford sending their children to private schools for a good education are privileged because public schools in Mexico sadly are inefficient in many levels (see blogpost #1).
Nevertheless, even in the private school I attended, there were gender inequalities. While girls were taught shorthand, typewriting and other secretarial practices, boys were taking computer classes.
As far as language, my private elementary school was not only bilingual, but also bicultural in many ways. We would learn not only the grammar and spelling of the English language, but also its literature, traditional songs, and world history while also taking those same subjects in Spanish of course.
Most likely because most of the population in Mexico is catholic, homosexuality is still repudiated by many. Discrimination against homosexuals is common in smaller towns, while the big cities are starting to become more tolerant.
Because of its history, the country where I grew up in does not celebrate diversity and has a hard time tolerating differences. I think issues of race, class, gender, sexuality, and language can really shape a country’s culture. But one’s own culture is influenced by more personal experiences. Culture helps us realize who we are and/or why we are the way we are.
As a teacher, I want my students to think about having an open minded view of the world that surrounds them. To think of themselves as world citizens and to be excited about going to different countries or at least explore them through study, not only to enjoy and learn from different cultures but also to become more aware of who they are and learn to appreciate their own country and culture.
It is important for me to keep in mind that no matter how open about the world I present in front of my students, there will be some of them whose cultures will conflict with these ideas, they may find for example that exploring other countries is an unattractive idea.
Because of my background, I will be able to recognize differences in cultures and will welcome all of them without judgments because children especially at a young age are influenced by their families’ cultures. I believe school is a great place for students to mold their culture as they grow older into something they are proud of. But some students may be confused, especially those who are new in the country and may be experiencing culture shock.
As a visual arts teacher, I will give the students freedom to express themselves according to their culture, and I would have them create a project similar to the collage created along this post. By letting them describe visually their culture, students can become more aware of other cultures and hopefully be able to understand their peers better as well as having an insight into their own culture.
Now, to further explain my collage, I will start by pointing out that another important aspect about Mexican culture is that of family ties. For the most part, young adults will live with their parents until they get married. I am very close to my parents even though I don’t live with them, but since I don’t have any siblings I am also very close to my friends.
As far as hobbies, I enjoy listening to all kinds of music, reading traveling, art, design, and fashion magazines, playing sports like tennis and football, as well as watching those on TV.
Art is to me a particularly important way of expressing my emotions. Some people have trouble expressing their emotions verbally but can do it easily through a visual form. The bottle in the middle of the poster represents emotions being bottled up, and finally coming out through art.
Throughout the history of mankind art has taken an important role in communication and with time has become more complex and can express very particular things, feelings, or experiences, or perhaps is just there as an aesthetically pleasing work of art with little meaning.
Famous artists that I love are shown in the upper left corner of the poster. Art history is extremely important to understand the world and art itself.
To me, design is modern art. Observable for inspiration, it is everywhere: industrial design, graphic design, interior design, and fashion design should all be considered forms of art. Because in general the only difference design has from fine arts is its functionality. It is important for students to pay attention to detail so that they can come up with their own designs.
Last but not least, the big letters in the middle of the poster read: “Never Quit”. It is a motto that I live by and that I would like to pass on to my students.
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