Blog 5: Deconstructing & Reconstructing Culture

Recently I read a critique by author Joni Boyd Acoff on multicultural art education. Though I knew that this was a serious issue in art education, Acoff did a great job in explaining why and how liberal multiculturalism can hurt nonwestern cultures.

In this stage of our society, teachers and students alike, now more than ever, depend on the Internet for vital information. Though this use of technology has its benefits in that it makes information accessible to a wide range of people, sometimes that information is nonconstructive and shortsighted. In summary, this unlimited spread of information often tends to promote hegemony.

Acoff reminded me of a previous article I read in my "Art for Life" class here at Florida State University about critical pedagogy. Out of all my studies on the three different pedagogies (public, critical, and cultural), I found critical to be the most interesting. I feel like teaching students to be mindful of their societies has a great real-world value that truly helps with producing critical consumers. If we are not constantly questioning the way things are, how will we ever improve?

Hegemony, in particular, is a social construct that was created to keep those who have power in power and those who don't do. It is a word that explains the political, social, economic, and military control over society. It is what maintains and dictates the "correct" ideology, religion, values, and perspectives of the population.

Art education, unlike any other subject, has the power to show students how they can question hegemony and become individual thinkers. It is because, with artmaking, students are constantly creating, using their imagination, and contributing to public spaces. However, most people do not see this value in the arts especially since they, more likely than not, have never experienced it before.

Here is what Acoff describes as "liberal multicultural art education". As opposed to the more critical viewpoint, a liberal multicultural-based art education leaves out "the much-needed critique of issues like cultural subjugation, cultural capital, and the systematic disparities that sustain economic inequity (Acoff, 2014, p. 306). Though its goal is to appreciate the art of multiple cultural ethnicities, it ultimately emphasizes hegemony rather than identifies privilege.

Rather than subjugating diverse perspectives into a particular "craft" or what the western perspective claims it to be, as art teachers, we need to do better in making students aware of these problems. We want our students to become critical and individual thinkers so that they can grow to create communities based on mutual understanding and acknowledgment. This is the dangerous power of art education; the power to give citizens of the world a voice and the power to know when society needs improving.

Citation:

Acuff, J. B. (2014). (Mis)Information highways: A critique of online resources for multicultural art education. International Journal of Education Through Art, 10(3), 303–316. https://doi.org/10.1386/eta.10.3.303_1