Mind the Gap

'School reformers sometimes resemble the characters in Dr. Seuss's Solla Sollew, who are always searching for that mythical land "where they never have troubles, or at least very few."'(p. 3)
While it's an admirable thing to strive for excellence in education, the empty hope of a quick fix that will address every issue is unrealistic. I have never read the particular Seuss book that Ravitch references, but I'm guessing the lesson learned is that there are troubles in every land, and that the "grass is always greener" somewhere else. As most teachers know, having a structure and a plan in place is imperative, but the willingness to be flexible and adapt to particular situations and students is equally important.

"[Corporate reformers] think they can fix education by applying the principles of business, organization, management, law, and marketing and by developing a good data-collection system that provides the information necessary to incentivize the workforce-principals, teachers, and students-with appropriate rewards and sanctions."(p. 11)
This particular quote struck a chord with me because of my experiences visiting a variety of schools over the past eight years or so. Through artist-in-residencies or subbing for other teaching artists, I saw a range of public schools including charter or "small schools". Some had major corporate sponsors, such as the Gap (where the students wore Gap uniforms complete with khakis), and others provided incentives for elementary students for good grades/behavior such as video game consoles. Although there seemed to be positive things happening, especially for the poorest communities, I couldn't help being concerned about the obviousness of the corporate-consumer messages.

Ravitch's description of the well-educated person is probably what most people would agree with, though I would say it is incomplete. Today there is so much information, and so much of it easily obtained, that it becomes impossible (in my opinion) to dictate exactly what will be valuable and relevant to each and every person. Of course, developing knowledge and understanding in the general areas that Ravitch listed is important, but I would say that of equal value is coming to the realization that there is a world with people of multiple viewpoints, and actually physically experiencing that world as much as possible.

Regarding the Ravitch reading assignment (discussion), I would have liked to say: I found it very interesting that the author seems conservative on the one hand, and critical of the conservative politics of the reforms at the same time. I do not find this a negative trait, as a matter of fact I am impressed that she was so willing to admit being mistaken, or at least not well informed. I agree with Ravitch regarding the idea that consistently reviewing information and re-contextualizing is not a sign of weakness.

Sources to "fill the gap":

http://www.favelapainting.com/favela-painting

Hardy, S., Norman, O., Nkosih, L., Schwartz, N. (2013). Cape Town: Stephen Lamb. Elephant, 14, 140-145.

Smith, T., Enwezor, O., & Condee, N. (Eds.). (2008). Antinomies of art and culture. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.


The "gap" in my content knowledge is: who are the present-day artists that are integrating social awareness into their work (and what are they doing)? Although all of the sources listed above were very helpful, the most exciting thing I came across was the website called "Favela Painting". The projects described are massive in scale as well as in community involvement. Not only does the website show beautiful images of the murals and process, it also features short videos with interviews with local residents.

An article that was particularly useful to my line of inquiry was the one listed above from the magazine, Element. There were several articles written about artists in Cape Town, South Africa, and the one about Stephen Lamb was relevant to my guiding question (and the gap in content knowledge). Because Lamb is a technically a designer and not a visual/fine artist, I almost excluded it from my list of sources. However, after reading about his amazing work and its impact on the community, I reconsidered what I would include, especially because I realized that design is central to art education in general and a valid career path for my students to pursue. I feel as if this article broadened my view of who is and is not an "artist", and strengthened my belief in creativity as a powerful tool.

Here are some images of Lamb's designs in Cape Town, where residents had their shacks converted to include vertical gardens.

 

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