Adapted with permission from Dewhurst, M. (2023). Social Justice Arts Education: A Framework for Activist Arts Pedagogy, 2nd edition (pp. 37 – 39). Harvard Educational Publishing.
If you listen to a group of artist-educators talk about their work, you'll notice that the following points are off: we In conversations about social justice education.It's very active we, an invitation to collaborate. We approach this with the understanding that we are committed to Social Justice Arts Education (SJAE). and Other people work together to create activist artwork. It is not a solitary practice; we. We cannot dismantle the deep legacies of oppression alone. We each need our own perspectives, skills, dreams, advantages, lenses, imaginations, and strategies. Each of us needs specific powers based on our social identity, our lineage, and the environment in which we have lived. experience. As Mariame Kaba reminds us, “None of us has all the answers, otherwise we would have already ended oppression. But if we If we keep building the world we want, if we keep trying new things, and if we keep learning from our mistakes, new possibilities will emerge.''To create work that has the potential to change the world for justice, we must each I need it.
Educator and scholar Robin Wall Kimmerer writes about the Three Sisters of Corn, Beans, and Squash, among many Native American approaches to agriculture, and explains the interdependence of these three different plants: It is explained as follows. It is multiplied in relationships. That's how the world continues. ''Kimmerer explains how each plant provides the elements he needs for all three to grow abundantly. The beans provide the nitrogen needed by the corn as it climbs, and the squash provides shade and stability. When he plants these three plants together, they grow based on the unique contributions of each. This emphasis on relationships is reflected in nearly all discussions of social moments that prioritize justice, community, and collective action. Social change occurs when people work, imagine, and create together, responding to collective power and a shared vision for the world. Karla Shalaby, writing about our need for collectiveness, says: This work requires a combination of collective imagination, community courage, and the skills of each member of the community. ”
This kind of intentional community engagement is not simple, easy, or neat. At best, it's messy, slow, complicated, challenging, difficult, and sometimes painful. This requires deep and lasting trust between people. It's the trust that we can remain connected despite conflict, disagreement, and inevitable change. Relationships take time and intention. Kimmerer points to the challenge that we are socialized into a transactional economy. Even in educational settings that rely on collaborative teaching and learning relationships, we are still embedded in a social system that views teachers as providers of learning, students as recipients, and the end result as a passing grade. I am. SJAE's reliance on collaboration means that special attention must be paid to building and nurturing relationships rooted in mutual trust. In the words of activist Adrienne Marie Brown, we must “move at the speed of trust.” For educators working within the constraints of bell schedules and funder demands, this is often a very difficult shift in pedagogy. You may need to rescale your artwork to move at the speed of trust and truly have the time and space to deal with the complexities of building and maintaining relationships. This may be debatable, but SJAE prioritizes people, not works of art. We must keep our commitment to the people we work with more than to the final work of art.
Intentionally focusing on our relationships with others requires us to be vulnerable and open to change—allowing ourselves to be challenged and changed by different perspectives and ideas. . Kaba writes: “Relating consciously to each other and being part of a collective helps us not only imagine new worlds, but also imagine ourselves differently.” , requires each of us to confront the powers and positions we embody and to be broadly open to how these intersect, bounce off, and collide in artistic production. This kind of cautious introspection can be exhausting, as we are constantly opening ourselves up to bumping into others. It also requires us to be kind to our own growth, knowing ourselves better and developing an understanding of how we are shaped by the internal, interpersonal, and systemic forms that surround us. is. In her discussion of The Three Sisters, Kimmerer reminds us that, like plants, we too must embrace “our unique gifts and how we use them in the world.” I'll give it to you. She goes on to emphasize the need for us to simultaneously preserve both individual talent and collective work, stating: Feel confident and ready to share with others. ” This kind of “both” mindset is the core of her SJAE. It’s all about both, we are both individuals and members of a community. We live in a world of both painful injustice and the possibility of liberation. We have much expertise to share and much to learn. We need both urgent solutions and patient community consensus. These generative tensions constantly shape how we relate to each other as we change and grow in our connections with those around us.