Shades of Noir is a resource that I have already come across in the past as some of my colleagues are involved with it and creating content for it. The PGCert has also regularly prompted me to take a look. I am particularly interested in it a resource that can help me find links to other resources as I am collecting reading and content to inform a lecture and seminar that I’m planning. I want to avoid citing only (or at all) ‘straight, white men’ and am excited to start exploring the large amount of content, sources and references available.
Hahn Tapper (2013) starts his report about the theoretical and practical understanding of social justice education with the acknowledgement that it understands the huge impact of social inequalities in long-term outcomes. He goes on to draw on Paulo Freire’s work – who’s approach to education has accompanied for a while. Given my background and upbringing in very traditional education systems it was a paradigm shift for me to read about education as liberating, but also that there are alternatives to the ‘banking system of education’ as he calls it. I am intrigued by the prompt to create a structure where both the students and I as the teacher engage in critical reflection. I hope that I find a way to establish this practice in future units. Often I still struggle with being vulnerable in front of the students. The text goes on and introduces social identity theory – a theory I have not been familiar with. It appears to hold the potential to help groups overcome conflict. It is important to take students’ social identities rather than their individual identities into account. Other pillars or the pedagogy of social justice education (see Figure 1) are intersectionality – a theme I learned about only during this unit and which I explored in the development of my artefact – experiential education, and responsibility and empowerment. So far, I’ve included a lot of various experiences into teaching such as museum visits, guest speakers and interactive activities in almost every session. I will keep this diagram in mind when developing future teaching activities as my interests very much align with what has been explored here.
In a brief video-statement published by the UCU, Josephine Kwahli (2016) discusses the unconscious bias a get-out card of responsibility. There has been a lot of discussions around racism, even mandatory trainings at UAL, and so I can only agree that it is an excuse. Nevertheless, some simple storytelling exercises, where you visualise different people doing different things, such as a doctor or a pilot or a nurse, show that stereotypes about gender, race, ability etc. are still prevailing. At least for me. I sometimes catch myself, holding a stereotype or bias that might influence my decisions if I’m not careful. I still agree with Kwahli, that it is my responsibility to do better; and so is everybody else’s.
The report ‘Retention and attainment in the disciplines: Art and Design’ by Richards and Finnigan (2016) discusses how many students from different socioeconomic backgrounds attain high grades (first or second) in higher education, and how many withdraw. For example in the UK “31% of Black Britisch Caribbean and Black British African students gain an upper degree in comparison to 64% of White students” (Woodfield 2014, pp. 63-4). One aspect I found very interesting is the concept of cultural capital, linked to class, as discussed by Bhagat and O’Neill (2011). Despite Art and Design as subjects considering themselves as being more focused on talent that privilege, this calls it into question. Very often, students from higher classes are visiting museums or cultural events with their families from an early age, developing confidence and knowledge that many other kids may have had no chance of encountering. It is therefore important to support all students in developing this cultural capital. As already discussed earlier in the social justice education framework (Hahn Tapper, 2013), experiential education is an important pillar. As an educator I am planning to take students to cultural events and museum visits, but I’m also planning on sending a weekly newsletter with an overview of free industry-specific events as well as news articles for them to explore in their own time.
I flicked through the Shades of Noir resource ‘Peekaboo We See You: Whiteness’ (2018) and stopped after a few pages on the note from Linda Stupart, as Linda is a friend and artist whose practice I value very much and I can’t but stop and read her note. As being White South African I can already anticipate, that they have a valuable perspective on the White Academic. Again, as the previous resources discussed in this blog, they delve into the critical theme of cultural capital. “Perhaps you, now, the reader, are white […] but let’s be real who is reading my writing and seeing most of my performances and entering galleries with my work in them or being taught in my classes anyway????” (p.17) They give very practical advice on what a white academic can do. I want to print those instructions and stick them on a wall next to the desk where I prepare my new curriculum.
Bibliography
Hahn Tapper, A. J. (2013). A Pedagogy of Social Justice Education: Social Identity Theory, Intersectionality, and Empowerment. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 30(4), Summer. doi: 10.1002/crq.21072
Kwhali, J. (2016) Witness: unconscious bias, UCU – University and College Union. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6XDUGPoaFw [Accessed 18 July 2023]
Richards, A., & Finnigan, T. (2015). Embedding Equality and Diversity in the Curriculum: An Art and Design Practitioner’s Guide. UAL & The Higher Education Academy Scotland
Stupart, L. (2018) The White Academic, or growing a skin in the game. In Shades of Noir, Peekaboo We See You: Whiteness. Available at: https://issuu.com/shadesofnoir/docs/peekaboo_we_see_you_whiteness [Accessed 18 July 2023]