Community, Culture, and Critique

Chapter 3 Reflection

For chapter 3, we start by delving into how different cultures view this idea of visual culture. There’s discussion about how some groups categorize visual culture by where the art is located and what its intended purpose is while other groups are so intertwined with their art forms that visual culture is not even separated into a different category. This chapter builds on this topic by introducing how art educators can introduce different cultures through their curriculum and the importance of teaching visual culture. The authors state “Teaching visual culture is a powerful way to deepen and broaden students’ diverse cultural knowledge” (Freedman & Boughton, 2023, ch.3 pg.10). One of the ways teachers can introduce these different ideas to their students is by helping them understand visual communities. The textbook mentions that introducing these communities will help students develop the knowledge needed to understand why visual culture has such an impact. The two communities discussed in this book are heritage communities, and interest communities. A heritage community is one where “visual culture is interdependent with the culture-at-large reflecting the values of that culture while at the same time creating communal bonds” (Freedman & Boughton, 2023, ch.3 pg.13). These groups also have a long history of using their visual culture to represent their values, beliefs, and who they are as a community. The other group discussed is interest communities. These are more modern than heritage ones and are centered around a common interest that connects the people within the community. Both of these are important to keep in mind when teaching visual culture because they can influence how a student perceives the knowledge being received. As the textbook say, “Art education occurs in communities outside the public school classroom in addition to the experiences students have at school” (Freedman & Boughton, 2023, ch.3 pg.17). This means we have to remember that what goes on outside of school can have a direct impact in the art classroom and if we use it to our advantage, we can keep students engaged and help broaden their minds. This chapter ends on a section talking about the importance of critiquing art with lists of different methods of critique that can be used in the classroom as well as how to introduce them.

Something that I found immediately compelling in this chapter was in the section on critique, where the authors say “Much of the visual culture students see has been made by adults for children and adolescents. Children now typically see visual culture that was originally intended for older students and adults” (Freedman & Boughton, 2023, ch.3 pg.21). I think this is something that can be often overlooked by most adults. For example, at home a parent sees their child watching cartoons and may assume that they are only consuming media intended for children. However, once that child steps out of their home and interacts with different students at school or starts looking at the other forms of visual culture all around them, what they are consuming now becomes a mix of things intended for their age groups and things that are not. I feel like because we are also surrounded by it as adults, we must actively take a step back to realize that children are also seeing the same things we are.

To this realization that students may be consuming visual culture that is not intended for their age group, it has strengthened my desire to introduce forms of critique in my curriculum. Like the chapter states, “It is imperative that children begin early in life learning how to critique the visual culture made by adults so that they are able to make reasonable judgments about its influence on them” (Freedman & Boughton, 2023, ch.3 pg.21). With these years being so imperative to their development, it’s important that kids receive the knowledge for how to take in the visual information around them in a way that does not end up being negative or detrimental. By introducing critiques early on, we can teach them how to start thinking more critically about what they are seeing to pass the correct judgement on whether a piece of their visual culture is positive or negative.

Ang BayaniJuan by Paul Hilario

References:

Freedman, K. & Boughton, D. (2023). Elementary Art Education: A Practical Approach to Teaching Visual Culture [Unpublished manuscript]. Art and Design Education, Northern Illinois University.

Hilario, P. (2019, December 27). Ang Bayanijuan by Paul Hilario. Fine Art America. Retrieved February 3, 2023.