Since I began teaching in 1995 I have taught in 5 different schools encompassing grades K - 8. In that time I have held true to my strongest belief: When kids speak, listen to them. Take them seriously and treat them with respect and dignity. I pride myself on treating ALL students and parents this way. I find that this attitude is reciprocal. Respect is something you learn through upbringing, modeling and schooling. When kids see and feel respect, they return respect.
To be good at anything you must pursue it wholeheartedly and honestly. My Mother always said, "Anything worth doing is worth doing well". Ethical behavior is an understanding of one's greater role in a profession and as a citizen of a global society. My personal definitions of these "minds" as Gardner refers to them are important because this is how I deliver them in my daily teaching. I am respectful and build a community within my classroom everyday. My ethical treatment of students and subject matter are important in helping students to form their own respectful and ethical views of the world.
Art education is a wonderful vehicle to examine the differences and similarities among global cultures. We search for the meaning behind what makes cultural ceremonies, legends, adornments, artifacts and artworks contextually important. In an effort to be respectful we study all cultures with the same level of inquiry and acceptance. By examining what substantive practices make cultures unique, we can develop our ethical minds in an attempt to identify with similarities and differences in our own society. I always ask students the question after we study a culture unfamiliar to them, "How long do you think it would take someone from that culture to learn EVERYTHING you need to know to live in America?" My goal by asking this question is to help students develop an understanding and empathetic response to the plight of a newcomer to our society, school or neighborhood.
Julene Reed's article takes this notion one step further and suggests reaching out to create a collaborative learning experience with other cultures. Her goal of creating Global Citizens and Global Education can be realized more readily with the advent and advancement of digital media. I have learned in this class how easy it is to communicate with people from different parts of my own culture. All while recognizing, accepting and building on different beliefs and opinions within our own subgroup. Reed suggests that knowledge of other cultures leads to understanding and compassion. This in turn helps cultivate respectful and ethical students willing to take action to recognize and help solve global issues.
My initial thoughts are to create an online art gallery of student work and exchange email or blog addresses with a foreign culture and spend time corresponding and forging relationships. A Wiki or blog could be a great tool for this application. The two parties could progress to
video conferencing via webcams and podcasting. Through the exchange of artistic products and ideas students could begin to understand and form relationships with other cultures.
More specifically, students could create a self-portrait that depicts important aspects of their life. I am thinking a GLOG would be perfect for this application. Students could embed audio files (poems, quotes, a day in the life, songs) that are important to them. Images could be a pictorial representation of their current life. Students would also be required to upload images of personal artwork and perhaps a short introductory video and tour of their favorite place to socialize. Students could use first names only as a means of security OR enable viewing for only the corresponding institution. This virtual self-portrait would allow great depth of mutual understanding and enable students to begin to build global relationships.
No comments:
Post a Comment