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FACILITATION SHEET

Title: Chapter 6: Curriculum as Process: Visual Culture and Democratic Education


Author(s): Kerry Freedman
Source/Date: Freedman, K. (2003). Teaching visual culture: Curriculum, aesthetics, and the
social life of art. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Main Idea/Purpose (2-3 sentences): Making changes to and being responsive to student
responses to lesson objectives and visual culture will help students gain a more comprehensive,
interactive knowledge base in art education. It is significant to discuss numerous cultures in the
classroom in order to be inclusive of all types of students. Students should be able to critique and
evaluate the visual culture they see everyday.
Short Overview (Including at least 2-3 important quotes):
According to Freedman (2003), Objectives can be planned, but important learning outcomes
cannot always be predicted and, in art education, the best outcomes are often those that are
beyond the box of the objectives in their creativity, imaginativeness, and originality (pp. 112113). As a future art educator, I believe it is vital to be flexible when it comes to following the
daily lesson plans that are written out prior to the lesson. By incorporating the students feedback
and reactions towards the lesson and visual culture, the students will feel more engaged. Also, I
will not become bored of teaching the same lesson since it can be taught a little different to each
class. Freedman asserted it is important to help students understand how to analyze and have a
critical mind of visual culture they see everyday (p. 106). Having a critical mind especially at the
middle school level is extremely important in order to not fall into the social norms of their
peers, society, and advertisements. As stated by Freedman, it is important for teachers to
remember to incorporate what the students have already learned in the classroom, plus including
new academic language and vocabulary in order for the students to assimilate new information
(p. 118). Freedman believes the main reasons why teachers should incorporate culturally
diverse art in curriculum is to promote an understanding of the richness of visual culture,
increase the acceptance of disenfranchised groups, help students learn about relationships
between traditional and contemporary art forms, and inform students about the aesthetic
influences of the realm of cultures (p. 125). Talking about different, diverse artists in the
classroom will give students the opportunities to learn from different cultures and will help to
break down stereotypes. Freedman concludes, Teaching visual culture requires that art
education be seen as fundamental to any study of culture and that culture is seen as foundational
to art education (p. 127). Culture has to be included in the art classroom because the students
will be influenced by a variety of cultures and will express themselves in their own way based on
their individual cultures.
Critical Response: Reflections and/or relevance to personal art educational experiences/or
teaching experience
If one of my future art students gets really excited about adding an extra material to their artwork

I will allow them to since not all art should be the same. For instance, I showed this flexibility at
St. Marys when some of my students did not want to add fabric or Sharpie markers to their
paintings. I allowed them to make their paintings unique and they expressed their culture through
their family experiences. Following Freedmans advice I will make sure to talk to my students
about analyzing visual culture so they do not go along with gender stereotypes which can cause
unhappiness. Also, I will make sure to review with my students the academic language and art
terms so they will remember the information in future art classes. After observing Chris
Grodoski's classroom at Franklin Middle School, I learned an effective way to encourage
students to incorporate new knowledge with old knowledge is to put up word charts. Every time
a student used an academic art word they wrote it up on the wall, which made them feel good
about themselves and helped them to remember the information. While being a Community
Advisor at NIU, I have learned the importance of being inclusive to all people and will continue
that as a future art educator. Talking about diversity and marginalized cultures can help students
gain a new viewpoint and make change (p.125).

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