Open-ended questions guide our discussions, challenge us to think critically + creatively, + make us ponder possibilities. Though we may not have an answer to these questions, we read author's writings that make us question, practice an ongoing process of learning, unlearning, + relearning, take pause for self reflection, + formulate even more questions.
Questions*:
Accessibility, Accountability + Inclusivity
How do museum workers, especially curators, practice inclusivity?
How do we hold our leadership accountable? How do we hold ourselves accountable?
Actions/Activism/Artivism
What does creative resistance mean to me?
Is my art political?
What am I doing to personally improve your community (i.e. community of educators, communities of color, your neighborhood)?
How do I serve as agents of change in our community?
How can we - as voters, constituents + community members - creatively, constructively + critically communicate to our elected government officials?
Global Community
How is my daily life connected to the lives of others in our nation + the world?
What can I do to create a more just society + world through art?
Love + Memory
What is my relationship with teaching and love?
How do I teach love?
How do I remember our histories and ancestral histories?
Language + Privilege
What examples of language privilege can I think of?
What ideas do I have for confronting language privilege?
What are the definitions and differences between "underserved" and "underservedness"?
How do I learn about, speak to, embody, and practice otherism?
How do I acknowledge my privilege?
Power + Oppression
What is coloniality of power?
How do artists, community members, grass-roots organizers, and culture workers dismantel and deconstruct colonialism?
How have I internalized colonialism? How have I internalized the cultural history/ies engrained with colonialism?
How do I unintentionally + intentionally create unequal and inequitable power dynamics? What youth do I like/relate to the most? Who receives your praise and how often? Who do you send out of the room or punish?
How do I actively interrupt or question moments of oppression when class is in session? When oppression occurs within the administration or with parents?
How can art act as an agent of liberation in this particular class and in this institution?
Who is missing from our conversation?
What is the history and future of Ethnic Studies in the U.S.? How can the Ethnic Studies curriculum transcend borders?
Race, Class, + Gender
How does my race, class, + gender privilege impact the lives of others?
What is my story as it relates to race/class/gender/sexuality/culture?
Schools, Higher Learning Institutions, + Art Institutions
What do I know about this [art] institution? What is its history in the community?
How do schools and institutions receive funding? Who backs it? Who does not?
How does an art or cultural institution determine who has access, feels supported, has opportunity, uses power + who is ignored, punished or penalized?
Teaching Methodology
How do I evaluate the efficacy of my teaching through a social justice lens?
What teaching methods do I keep? What do I need to build? What do I need to change?
How do we practice love?
What are your reflections and revelations on failure?
What questions are you asking?
Share your critical questions about art education + social justice with us! Please email aesjbookclub@gmail.com.
*= Select questions may be directly taken from source readings.
Art Education + Social Justice Book Club Rights Reserved. 2016. Art Credit: Jane Mount.