Ink wash drawing. 18″x24″
In EDST 403 we challenged ourselves to think about what the difference was between something that we know and something that we believe. Figuring out how to be aware of our preconceptions helps us to deal with conflicting knowledge and belief all around us in the education system. There are many different ways of knowing, what a student knows about the people in their family can be very different from what they learn generally about families in school. What a teacher knows about science can contradict what a student believes to be true about the origins of the world.
In response to this course, I chose to do an ink wash drawing rather than a paper. This has to do with both my knowledge of art making and my belief that to be an effective art teacher I need to have an active art practice. I don’t often choose to make such literal work in my practice outside of school, so it was a useful challenge to me to try to be so direct in communicating my understanding of the class material.
So, what does it all mean? Let’s break down some of the imagery to get to the message.
I used three reference images for this piece, an image of Canadian students having their picture taken in the 1930’s, an old school house and an image of paper blowing in the wind. I took elements from each of the reference images and synthesized them into one image. The reason I chose to work from an old photo is to convey the sense of timelessness that these education issues span. Teachers, students, parents, administrators and government have been struggling to find common ground and best practices for as long as education has been institutionalized.
The papers that are blowing out of the school and over the heads of the students are there to represent the knowledge that is specific to schooling. This knowledge is available in one format to all of the students but is out of reach for some due to their individual differences. The other point I wanted to make with the paper is that the students still need to reach up and actively engage in the ideas and concepts to make use of them, otherwise information passes by them unused.
The storm that blows the students and the paper are forces outside their control, an example of this would be the current contract negotiations. The students are buffeted by strong winds but don’t have the power or voice to be heard. They band together and use their social interactions to navigate the complicated world of school sometimes unaware of the storm that rages and sometimes just surviving it. They are subject to the elements and educational forces outside of their control.
I also played with perspective in this piece. Both one point perspective and the idea of different players having different personal view points on education. Though for the most part, I obeyed the rules of perspective, there are subtle disagreements. The student on the far left is standing in conflict. He is at the same time in front of and behind the girl to the right of him. The shadows of the students and the shadow of the school are working at odds. These disagreements illustrate the differences of knowledge and belief between individuals and groups who are all attached to the realm of education and what they believe is the “best” way to do anything.
Ultimately, things are complicated in education, but no more or less than in any other part of our lives. All the more reason for us to keep asking questions and really listening to the diversity of answers swirling around us.