The rationale for the lesson DIY Patches and Pins: Confronting Social Issues Through the

Concerns and Beliefs of Students was designed using an integrative approach to curriculum. James Beane,

educator, designed the integrative approach to curriculum and is a major influence for the structure of the

lesson. I discovered this design of teaching from a research based study done by Pennisi (2013) in

conjunction with an art education middle school teacher in an eighth grade classroom. A lesson was

taught to eighth graders in which the students negotiated the curriculum. Pennisis research reflected in

Negotiating to Engagement: Creating an Art Curriculum with Eighth-Graders used Beanes model of

integrative curriculum and was called The Self Project, which began with students developing questions

or concerns they had about self (Pennisi, 2013, p. 132). I began my lesson in a similar way having my

students write down their personal beliefs and concerns before beginning the lesson. Pennisi and the

middle school teacher also began their lesson by asking students the question, What is art (Pennisi,

2013, p. 132)? Some of the answers they provided were:

something is art if it has meaning to the artist, something is art if it has meaning to the

viewer, art is about creatively getting an IDEA across, something is art if it portrays a state of mind,

something is art when it expresses a feeling, something is art if it uses color imaginatively, art helps us see

things in unique ways, artists use art to portray culture and what goes on in the world. (Pennisi, 2013, p.

132)

The response of these students led me to the formation of my lesson.

In Paolo Frieres Pedagogy of The Oppressed (1970) he states that students, as they are

increasingly posed with problems relating to themselves in the world and with the world, will feel

increasingly challenged and obliged to respond to that challenge (p. 81). Because of the concept of

Freires problem-posing method, I too wanted to create a lesson that would pose a challenge to students

that related to them and their world. The idea of communicating a message about social issues through

students concerns and beliefs emerged in turn of my research. James Beane organizes curricula around

significant problems and issues, collaborative identified by educators and young people without regard for

subject-area boundaries (in Pennisi, 2013, p. 131), which I knew I wanted to do with my lesson. I find

it very important for youth cultures to be exposed to subjects that extend beyond the classroom and make
sense of their world through the exploration of ideas and different media. I think too often curricula is

isolated and restrictive. Curriculum needs to be relevant to the world students live in and be taught in an

interdisciplinary manner with subjects and matters of the world. Students are the future and to make them

aware of worldly matters will in turn broaden their consciousness of themselves and others in the world

not to mention the perspectives that they will gain.

In her article New School Art Styles: The Project of Art Education (2013), Artist and educator

Olivia Gude relays Arthur Eflands description of how schools often seem to operate as a game-like,

conventional, ritualistic, and rule-governed environment and observed that the school art style does not

seem to be a pedagogical tool for teaching children about art in the world beyond school, though this is its

manifest function (p. 1). I agree with her reflecting on my own art class experiences. Efland as cited in

Gudes text states that art projects made in schools can provide opportunities for students to truly explore

personally meaningful subjects while supporting clear learning objectives about art content (p. 1) which

supports the rationale for my lesson.

Wachowiak (1993) states students of this age often are unusually sensitive to other peoples

problems, but do not know how to help(p. 113). By creating an art lesson where students produce social

issue patches and pins about their beliefs and concerns provides an opportunity to teach students how to

communicate their social message. Beyond the social issue aspect of this lesson, teaching students about

do it yourself culture related to producing art, showed students the accessibility and simplistic approach

for creating meaningful artwork.

The DIY method of creating art to communicate a message is an important aspect of this lesson

because building a knowledge base art room is essential for students growth and connection to the art

world. Students learning about social issues DIY artists and movements creates a connection to the

serious profession of being an artist and opens students windows to the understanding and opportunity to

explore art as a career. In sum, students connecting their concerns and beliefs to a social issue of interest

and communicating their message through the creation of pins and patches using knowledge of principles

and elements of design and influence of artist is most important for a socially aware world.