Arts for Social Justice Education Readings
Teaching and Learning in Social Justice Education Adams, M., Bell, L., & Griffin, P. (Eds.). (2007). Teaching for diversity and social justice. New York, NY: Routledge This book looks at social justice education by analyzing numerous structures of oppression and pedagogical philosophies. It helps to articulate approaches in social justice education and provides an important framework for questioning and inspiring our teaching practice. Ahn, G., Nikundiwe, T. & Picower, B. (2015). (Eds.) Planning to Change the World: A Planbook for Social Justice teachers, 2015 -‐ 2016. New York: NYCORE and the Education for the Liberal Network. This newly developed resource has been designed for teachers who want to be actively engaged social justice educators. It is meant to serve as a guide for teachers to turn their teaching philosophies and ideas into concrete learning activities and lesson plans. The planbook includes weekly planning pages, online lesson plans, discussion questions to provoke meaning learning, and resources for teachers. Delpit, L., & Kilgour Dowdy, J. (Eds.). (2008) The skin that we speak: Thoughts on language and culture in the classroom. New York, NY: The New Press This book challenges the use of language to perpetuate hegemony. It draws light to how children are judged with class-‐ and race-‐biased language, and often discounted when they do not speak formal English in schools. Black Issues Book Review calls this book “an essential text.” DiAngelo, R., & Sensoy, O. (2011). Is everyone really equal? An introduction to key concepts in social justice education. New York, NY: Teachers College Press This book serves as a comprehensive introduction to social justice education and its pedagogy, covering discrimination, privilege, racism, sexism, oppression, power and white supremacy. It challenges future teachers to critically deconstruct all their practices to recognize bias and carry out anti-‐oppressive teaching. Racism Hurts. Toronto: Elementary Teachers’ Association of Ontario. http://www.etfo.ca/Resources/ForTeachers/Documents/racism%20hurts%20-‐ %20Junior%20Lessons.pdf ETFO and the Ontario Human Rights Commission collaboratively developed this resource for elementary students. The package includes posters and curriculum resources that assist Vibe Arts: Arts for Social Justice Project -‐ Resource List 2016
teachers in beginning discussions with elementary students about human rights, discrimination, and racism. The link below provides a document that details curriculum links (which includes drama), suggested activities, and related resources for grades 4-‐6. Awareness, Activism, Engagement: A Social Justice Approach. Toronto: Elementary Teachers’ Association of Ontario. http://www.etfo.ca/Resources/ForTeachers/Documents/Awareness,%20Engagement,%20Activ ism%20-‐%20A%20Social%20Justice%20Approach.pdf This document has guiding social justice-‐based themes, suggested lessons and activities, and curriculum links.
Teaching Social Justice Education through the Arts Albright, A. (2010). Choreographing difference: The body and identity in contemporary dance. Hanover, NH: Wesleyan University Press This book looks at the dancing body as a physical and cultural representation which negotiates axes of difference such as race, gender, sexuality, and physical ability. It calls into question how we look at the dancing body and think about identity, and how shows dancing bodies can overcome dominant compartmentalizations and hierarchies. Bell, L. A., & Desai, D. (Eds.). (2014). Social justice and the arts. Abingdon, UK: Routledge This book includes a range of arts-‐based pedagogies for challenging oppressive practices in schools, community centers and other public sites. This chapter discusses the challenges and benefits of social justice arts education and the importance of on-‐going critical reflection for this work. Benedict, C., Schmidt, P., Spruce, G. & Woodford, P. (2015) The Oxford handbook of social justice in music education. Toronto, ON: Oxford University Press This handbook provides an overview and intensive analysis of many issues within social justice and music education. It discusses much of the literature, themes, concepts, arguments, ideas and scholarship that underpin social justice inquiry in music pedagogy both in North America and internationally.
Beyerbach, B. & Davis, R. D. (2011). Activist Art and Social Justice Pedagogy: Engaging Students in Global Issues through the Arts. New York: Lang Publishing The book critiques approaches to using activist art to teach a multicultural curriculum. Each chapter gives light to an example of how art has been used for a vehicle of change in a school or community setting. The book highlights the transformative power of art, art as a process of developing voice and identity, and art as a means to engage students in citizenship.
Vibe Arts: Arts for Social Justice Project -‐ Resource List 2016
Bowles, N., Nadon, D-‐R. (2013) Staging social justice: Collaborating to create activist theatre. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press Artists, activists and scholars provide the reader with tools and inspiration to create their own theatre for social change in this collection of essays. Highlights include: writing the ‘victim’; community building; intergenerational dialogue and organizing in LGBT communities; and adapting space and working with people of diverse abilities. Brown, R., & Kwakye, C., (Eds.). (2012) Wish to live: The hip-‐hop feminism pedagogy reader. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing Inc. This interdisciplinary reader looks past common understandings of hip-‐hop to engaging performance, poetry, document analysis, playwriting, polemics, cultural critiques and autobiography. In reimagining this way, hip-‐hop can be a means of everyday feminism, transforming and sustaining community activism efforts. Desmond, J. (1997). Meaning in motion: New cultural studies of dance. Durham, NC: Duke University Press This book brings together a broad range of perspectives on dance and cultural meaning. The background of contributors range from dance history to anthropology to women’s studies, and present a variety of cultural dance contexts to propose new ways of approaching embodiment, identity, and representation. Dewhurst, M. (2014) Social justice art: A framework for activist art pedagogy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press Through interviews and observations of high school students in New York, this book examines why art is an effective way to engage students in thinking of how they can challenge social injustice. Led by connecting, questioning and translating, Dewhurst offers concrete suggestions of what art educators can do to incorporate activist art projects. An interview with Dewhurst on thinking about Social Justice Art can be found at : http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/14/11/harvard-‐edcast-‐social-‐justice-‐art\ Freebody, K., and Finneran, M. (Eds.). (2016) Drama and social justice: Theory, research and practice in international contexts. New York, NY: Routledge This collection combines theoretical, historical and practical perspectives to unpack the intrinsic relationship between drama and society. It gathers a range of social justice theoretical understandings to frame further discussions on drama for empower and development in praxis. Gablik, S. (1991). The reenchantment of art. New York, NY: Thames & Hudson This book offers an alternate vision of art-‐making based on Gablik’s theory of “connective aesthetics”. By better connecting art to the realities of daily living, she argues that art can be used effectively as an agent of social change, one that can capture the public’s attention through its creative, innovative approaches to society’s problems. Greene, M. (1995). Releasing the imagination: Essays on education, the arts and social change. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-‐Bass Vibe Arts: Arts for Social Justice Project -‐ Resource List 2016
Green re-‐defines the role of imagination in education, proposing that social imagination is “the capacity to invent a vision of what should be and what might be in our deficient society, on the streets where we live, in our schools.” She uses the arts as a tool to engage students in imagining worlds different from our own, which is essential to igniting a desire for change in students. Quinn, T., Ploof, J. & Hochtritt, L. (2012) Art and Social Justice Education -‐ Culture as Commons. New York: Routledge This is a resource for educators on how to integrate social justice education into the arts. Educators are encouraged move beyond from an art education that is based on the formal principles of design, towards one that teaches students to critically examine what they see. The last section of the book includes teachers’ essays on their practice in the classroom. Stone-‐, M. (Ed.). (2013) Culturally relevant arts education for social justice: A way out of no way. New York, NY: Routledge Emphasizing the arts as a way to make something possible, it explores and illustrates the social justice arts education as “a way out of no way” imposed on racialized, marginalized and oppressed youth by the prevailing hegemonic ideology. Lee, V., & Sims, E. (Eds.). (2008). Undoing whiteness in the classroom: Critical educultural teaching approaches for social justice activism. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing This volume examines educultural practices and teaching strategies that deconstruct hegemony, empower students with critical consciousness, and inspire them towards social justice activism. Educulturalism––which allows us to identify how whiteness hegemony functions to obscure the power privilege, and practices of the dominant social elite, and reproduce inequalities within education—is explored through music, the visual and performing arts, narrative, and dialogue. Lundy, K. G. (2008). Teaching Fairly in an Unfair World. Pub: Pembroke Publishers. This book is an excellent resource for teachers in helping them to create a safe and inclusive environment for students. It offers a wealth of activities and ideas that help to give students a voice while exploring social justice issues around the world. Vachon, W. & Stone Hanley, M. (2014, April 30) Culturally relevant arts education with Mary Stone Hanley. [Podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.c2ypodcast.org/e/culturally-‐relevant-‐arts-‐ education-‐with-‐mary-‐stone-‐hanley/ To frame Culturally Relevant Arts Education, Stone Hanley puts forward that “by teaching young people the arts, you are transforming the world.” This involves engaging the creativity of youth as critical change agents, especially in marginalized, racialized and oppressed communities. She also shares examples of culturally relevant art project she has partaken in.
Articles
Vibe Arts: Arts for Social Justice Project -‐ Resource List 2016
Brown, K. M. (2004). Leadership for social justice and equity: Weaving a transformative framework and pedagogy. Educational administration quarterly, 40(1), 77-‐108. This article presents a concrete approach to preparing teachers for work in equity and social justice. It offers three critical perspectives combined with strategies of reflection, rational discourse and awareness of policy. Hackman, H. W. (2005). Five essential components for social justice education. Equity & Excellence in Education, 38(2), 103-‐109. This article emphasizes the importance of social justice in educating and empowering students. It outlines five major themes of social justice content, critical inquiry, social change, personal reflection and group dynamics. Nagda, B. R. A., Gurin, P., & Lopez, G. E. (2003). Transformative pedagogy for democracy and social justice. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 6(2), 165-‐191. This article focuses on learning through engagement and focuses on multicultural education and critical thinking. The emphasis is on research, social interactions, active learning and social justice teaching.
Teacher Education
Braun, J. A. (1989). Reforming teacher education: Issues and new directions. New York, NY: Garland This book examines the philosophical assumptions and political influences of the education reform movement. It considers the role of teacher induction and classroom experience in education reform, and presents alternative approaches to teacher, humanistic approaches and multicultural education. Britzman, D. P. (2012). Practice makes practice: A critical study of learning to teach. Albany, NY: SUNY This classic text in teacher education draws on critical ethnography to examine what learning to teach does and means to newcomers in the profession and those who surround them. It shares poignant examples of the struggle for significance and the contradictory realities of teaching which creates a foundation for understanding social justice and arts education. Cochran-‐Smith, M. (2004). Walking the road: Race, diversity, and social justice in teacher education. New York, NY: Teachers College Press This book takes a closer look at issues in teacher education and calls for “participatory education as an instrument for social change.” Cochran-‐Smith challenges traditional views of teacher education and makes a compelling case for teachers to contribute to the research base on social justice in teacher education in a democratic and increasingly diverse society.
Vibe Arts: Arts for Social Justice Project -‐ Resource List 2016
Cornbleth, C. (2013). Understanding teacher education in contentious times: Political cross-‐ currents and conflicting interests. New York, NY: Routledge This book examines how public, professional, private and corporate forces influence teacher education. By contextualizing policy, and practice, this book offers possibilities for improvement in teacher education. Darling-‐Hammond, L., Griffing, G., & Wise, E. (1992). Excellence in teacher education: Helping teachers develop learner-‐centered schools. West Haven, CT: NEA Professional Library This book considers the implications of learner-‐centred schools on teacher education programs. It offers numerous ways to build strong educational communities of teachers through content, context, policy and governance. Dilworth, M. E. (1998). Being Responsive to Cultural Differences: How Teachers Learn. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc. This book outlines the importance of culturally responsive pedagogy and embraces new ways of broadening its definition. It focuses on issues of race, power, culture, multicultural education and teacher efficacy. Fecho, B. (2011). Teaching for the students: Habits of heart, mind, and practice in the engaged classroom. Teachers College Press. This book provides many examples of how to build an inclusive classroom filled with social interaction, critical inquiry and active engagement. Most importantly, it looks at the classroom as a “live” space for exploration and investigation. Gorski, P. C., Osei-‐Kofi, N., & Sapp, J. (2012). Cultivating social justice teachers: How teacher educators have helped students overcome cognitive bottlenecks and learn critical social justice concepts. Stylus Publishing. This book presents thought-‐provoking issues related to cultivating social justice in the classroom. Each chapter delves deep into the bigger picture of social justice and challenges teachers to reflect on their research and practice. Zeichner, K. (2009). Teacher education and the struggle for social justice. New York, NY: Routledge This book compels teacher educators and policy makes to engage in social justice education as a matter of building a strong public education system in a democratic society. While doing so, Zeichner emphasizes the importance of critically examining practices in teacher education to recognize possible consequences while striving towards goals in social justice education.
Personal Journeys Bond, E. (2012, August 2) Ebenezer Bond: Hip Hop for Social Justice and Equality [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKu61KnoTeM Vibe Arts: Arts for Social Justice Project -‐ Resource List 2016
Bond, founder of World Up (a global music and education non-‐profit organization), speaks to the impact of hip hop in search on social justice and equality. He discusses the power of music on youth today, and how hip hop can play an integral part of social activism in educational institutions Gruwell, E. (2007). Teach with your heart: lessons I learned from the freedom writers. New York, NY: Broadway Books This touching memoir recounts a teacher’s emotional journey empowering underserved students as Freedom Writers. Gruwell shares her emotions and learnings as an educator committed to awakening the power of students who others discount, while encouraging others to the same. Henry, L. (2012). Dancing through history: In search of the stories that define Canada Vancouver, BC: Dancing Traveller Publishing This book describes Henry’s travels across Canada as she explores how different cultures within it have evolved through their dances. Henry shares how dance can provide important insight into what people value most as culture, which she argues lends understanding and compassion to overcome historic divides. This list is not meant to be exhaustive, but used as a starting point for learning about the connections between the arts and social justice education.
Vibe Arts: Arts for Social Justice Project -‐ Resource List 2016
