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1Multiculturally Responsive Strategies:Putting the culture back into multicultural artRosie MorganUniversity of Alaska FairbanksRichard Burmeister / EDSC 636December 12, 2007
 
2A professor asked me and another art educator to collaborate and develop questionsrelated to an upcoming topic presented by a guest speaker. The speaker would cover theinformation available on the Alaska Native Knowledge Network website. As we began thediscussion a question emerged; how do teachers provide multicultural art education without justmaking art that simulates culturally significant artifacts? Although the sample multicultural art projects we observe in publications and practice address different cultures, the treatment of saidculture is somewhat superficial. In effect, many who include multicultural art in their practicefail to use artwork to increase cultural understanding. Additionally, students who come fromminority backgrounds do not benefit from these lesson plans void of context and depth.I discovered this to be true during a mask-making project I taught in a high school artclassroom during my student internship. Two students who recently relocated to Fairbanks fromremote Alaskan villages were involved in this project. Even though mask-making could becategorized as a multicultural art experience, the level of engagement of these two students didnot improve during the unit. While showing a photograph of a dancing presentation at a Klingitceremony, I provided some details about the functions of masks within Alaska Native cultures; Iasked the students what was happening in the picture. One of the Alaska Native students raisedhis/her hand and said “a powwow”. Normally, this student would never speak up in class. Apartfrom the presentation, the student was similarly engaged with the mask-making project incomparison to other projects throughout the semester. The other Alaska Native student laidhis/her head on the desk throughout the presentation and treated this project with the sameapathy as other projects in class. This lesson was not properly developed to engage students withminority backgrounds, nor did it provide a significant opportunity for students to understand thecultures that traditionally use masks. How do we develop multicultural art projects intoopportunities for cultural inquiry? How do we use these projects to improve the educationalexperience of our students from diverse backgrounds? Kader (2005) eloquently describes thesentiments shared in the discussion previously mentioned;In spite of the plethora of literature pertaining to multicultural art education andaffirmations that the migration of vast numbers of people from Africa, Asia, SouthAmerica and the Middle East have forever changed the demographics of the UnitedStates, questions about how art educators should approach multicultural art education persist. What is multiculturalism? What makes art multicultural? Does a one-month-in-a-
 
3year adoption of Asian American culture make a curriculum multicultural? Does teachingrya rug-making to a class of Caucasian American students qualify as a multicultural artcurriculum? (p. 65)If increased social awareness is the intended goal for multicultural education, thenteaching the art processes of cultural groups is certainly not enough to promote understanding of the culture itself. Multicultural education should “make visible issues facing different socialgroups in our society” (Bailey & Desai, 2005, p. 40). The National Council for the Social Studies(1994) explained that students living within this democratic society must be enabled to makesense of the multiple perspectives they will inevitably face in their culturally diversecommunities (as cited in Bailey & Desai, 2005, p. 39). Based on students’ need for this life skill,an emphasis should be placed on student comprehension of multicultural perspectives so thatstudents learn to relate to persons with different cultural backgrounds. The art classroom provides a highly conducive environment for teaching cultural information. Kuster (2006) wrote,“By its very nature, art offers a rich bounty of cultural exchange. Cultural influences guideexpression in art, and art records and influences culture. Helping students view the world beyondtheir own cultural perspectives has potential to enrich them as human beings” (p. 33). Art contentcan be taught to prepare students to positively navigate through the culturally diverse society inwhich they live.The National Standards for Arts Education suggest goals in the visual arts that assistincreasing students’ level of cultural understanding. The Consortium of National Arts EducationAssociations (1994) wrote the following standard description for grades five through eight,“Students analyze, describe, and demonstrate how factors of time and place (such as climate,resources, ideas, and technology) influence visual characteristics that give meaning and value toa work of art (Visual Arts Standard 4, level 5-8). Notions of aesthetics are influenced by thesocial and historical backgrounds of cultural groups. Kader (2005) references several articles inthe magazine
SchoolArts
that are void of cultural context. One art lesson entitled “SchoolMummy” fails to address the complex traditions and funeral practices of ancient Egypt (p. 76).Kader partially blames this lack of historical information on the format and limited space for each article in the magazine, but also on the educators who submit the articles. In order for students to fully recognize the meaning and value of a work of art, background information must be covered within the lesson plans.
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