How can you teach social justice through the arts?

To move towards a just world is to create the conditions for wholeness and for people to relate to each other as human beings. The arts are a natural vehicle for creative meaning making and a sense of wholeness. Creation is fundamental to revolution (Kwame Ture). When I teach social justice, though there are many important ideas and facts to know, students are transformed by co-creating meaning through expression and discovery. And even when they are challenged in their ideas, it’s imperative that they know we are moving towards wholeness individually and collectively. I find that students feel enlightened by new insight into a just wholeness or are transformed by redefining what they thought it meant to be whole.

In the arts, students may research and select interest points for positive change. For example, in music classes students might select music that they culturally identify with. If there are other students who share the same interests, they could work together in small groups to find music to perform together and share with the class. The class could select from the multicultural music list created to learn together for a performance. Students are excited to share their cultures and traditions with others. Learning about each other creates respect and acceptance with a final performance that is meaningful to the families in the audience.

Artists, musicians, and entertainers have always been at the forefront of social justice issues. Harry Belafonte, Aretha Franklin, Maya Angelo, and James Brown are just a few of the individuals who played critical roles in social justice movements. James Brown's anthem "Say it Loud: I'm Black and I Proud" literally gave birth to a new generation of young people who embraced the idea of being proud of their heritage. Dick Gregory, one of the world's greatest comedians marched along side of Dr. King. Whether its music, murals, story-telling, or photography, Young people have the opportunity to educate future generations on the past accomplishments of social justice heroes. Their understanding and use of social media can be transformative.

I firmly believe that the arts go beyond mere creative expression; they serve as powerful tools for fostering critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. Incorporating the arts into education provides a unique avenue for students to explore and express their identities, cultures, values, and perspectives. Moreover, the arts offer an excellent forum for addressing and conveying messages related to social justice issues, allowing students to engage with meaningful and impactful content through creative mediums.

Utilize a música, a dança e as artes visuais para explorar questões sociais, incentivando a reflexão crítica. Ao criar um ambiente onde os alunos possam expressar suas perspectivas sobre a justiça social, as artes se tornam catalisadoras de diálogos significativos. Essa abordagem não apenas educa, mas também inspira a ação e a busca por um mundo mais justo.

"Patterns repeated on a societal scale become culture. As teachers, looking at the cultures of our classrooms and schools helps us in acknowledging the internalized and/or socially expressed patterns we engage in. Upon further inquiry, the courageous teacher starts the process of breaking patterns of harm by asking “How might I unintentionally play out these patterns in my classroom?".....Many of our societal patterns have their roots in unexamined hierarchies. Based on centuries of unequal power and unchecked beliefs....We are functioning with ingrained ways of being.” Rankine, M., & Moreno, J. (2024). Do Your Lessons Love Your Students: Creative Education for Social Change. Routledge.

Start from where you are at. Use your skill set as an example to tell a story or parable to illustrate realities of life In America. Then illustrate why social justice is important to all of us. Why presenting the history of wrongs done historically and what steps are needed to repair those wrongs. So all of us can live peaceably and share in the bounty of this country.

In my teaching journey, I emphasize the importance of understanding social justice issues that resonate with my students e.g., mental health, eating disorders, bullying, cyberbullying, and suicide. To provide a comprehensive education, I actively seek reliable and diverse sources of information and perspectives on these matters. This ensures that I can facilitate meaningful discussions and create a learning environment that addresses the varied experiences and concerns of my students.

Teach what incites your curiosity and compels you. I teach to understand. Though it's important to critique, explore, and interrogate power; ultimately people have to learn how to come together for the greater good, hopefully underpinned by a real love for humanity. In the movie, Rustin, he says, "Either they want freedom and justice for all, or they do not."

Rather than thinking about social justice as a discrete subject I embody an orientation of social justice. Everything that I teach will come from a stance that is reckoning with old systems, assessing power structures, evaluating narratives, tending to lineage, and building toward futures of well being for all people.

In my teaching practice, I recognize the vast potential of using the arts to address various social justice issues, tailoring the approach to my students' age, grade level, background, interests, and needs. The spectrum is broad, encompassing topics such as ableism, addictions, classism, cyberbullying, democracy, eating disorders, environmentalism, homophobia, human rights, mental health issues, racism, sexism, sextortion, transphobia, xenophobia, and more. By incorporating these themes into the arts curriculum, I aim to create a learning environment that encourages critical thinking, empathy, and a deeper understanding of the world around us.

According to research, demonstrating social action art may ignite change, may elevate collective consciousness to social issues like environmental or cultural problems (Kaplan, 2007). Art can be useful in settings where conflicts arise. For example, in a class, art can be performative, written, or drawn as a means to connect and empathize with others that hold different religious beliefs, come from a different social and/or cultural background, or political views (Powell and Speiser, 2005). The responsibility of arts can be just as important as having faith after a collective tragedy or a personal traumatic experience (Rockwell, 2002).

In my teaching approach, I leverage a diverse range of artwork, encompassing both famous and unknown works, from domestic and international sources. This includes paintings, sculptures, photographs, films, songs, poems, and stories, serving as powerful stimuli for discussions, analysis, and reflections on social justice issues. These creative expressions offer a meaningful and engaging entry point for students to delve into complex topics, fostering critical thinking and encouraging thoughtful dialogue in the classroom.

I explore a variety of modalities case studies, documentaries, experiential learning, movies, podcasts, and readings. But, I have found discourse the most important modality, especially because some folx believe that we talk too much about systemic injustice. But, how else do we address it without talking about it? #Freedom&Justice4all

Methodology is endless when you center cultural and contemporary artists in lesson design. Observe and understand their methodology (artistic practice) and activate that methodology in the classroom for the lesson/unit you're teaching. For example, Latoya Ruby Fraser has beautiful work that draws attention to pollutants dumped in a Black community (hers) and the outcomes of those choices by local leaders. Using photography she maps local stories. The viewer/student learns about local government, environmental stewardship, the impacts of pollution on the body, and the impacts of that on home economies, etc. Lastly, always use thinking protocols!

Reflection through journaling, arts based, and otherwise. I also like to ask people at the end of sessions, "what will you continue learning about after today's session?"

Help them to define justice and injustice, both social and legal. Acquainting students with narratives present all around them, e.g., in film, television, and music, they can learn to think critically and to distinguish art and entertainment encoding that carries stereotypes, bias, discrimination and narratives that influence how justice and injustice are systematized.

In my experience, art assessments in a non-arts general ed class are a mix of a rubric and a self-assessment on the final product. Since art is subjective, and I'm not "grading" on the actual product but the E/LA skills behind it. Some sample rubric questions I have used in the past are: was the student able to complete the assignment on time? Was the student able to verbally communicate his/her/their ideas and answer the comprehension questions? Did the student identify 2-3 poetic devices in their project? The value of this unit, "art is social justice," for example would be demonstrated and discussed at length so majority of students would understand their contribution and would turn in something that they were proud to share.

"Our stance is that creativity assessments should not try to replicate the old standards of assessment... If we can begin the gradual release, let go of standardized assessment demands and see the learner as inherently creative, we can start to consider worthy measures of success, such as how the learner might approach a task or concept next time through application of greater degrees of divergent or convergent thinking. Let the learner learn to assess their own work. Let them complete and create their own rubrics. Let them write artist statements as assessment. Let them give peer feedback..." Rankine, M., & Moreno, J. (2024). Do Your Lessons Love Your Students: Creative Education for Social Change. Routledge.

"SOCIAL" Justice Isn't. To place anything ahead of Justice is to remove the actual meaning of Justice. Creating Socialist Constructs is truly Self Destructive.

Before initiating the idea about the social justice we first need to provide an insight to social awareness related to the equality and importance of each individual in the society. The art is one of the best medium to cater the social awareness. The group of individuals performing or participating in the event and collaborate with each other using the same platform.