NYU ART+EDUCATION CERTIFICATION

community

Plugged In: How do artists reveal the critical role social media plays in our lives?

by

Taught by: Kenzie Cuvelier & Emily Nodell

student artwork, person looks at sign that says "wall of shame"

In this class, students delved into the multifaceted role of social media in today’s society. As a powerful force shaping our social, cultural, political, and economic lives, social media serves as a platform for communication, news, community engagement, marketing, entertainment, and even activism. However, it also raises concerns about surveillance and control.

Participants explored the dual nature of social media through the lens of contemporary art, examining both its liberating potential and its harmful effects. Throughout the course, students engaged in critical discussions about how to leverage social media as an artistic tool to reflect on its impact and advocate for meaningful change.

The Art [Ed.] of Wellness Podcast

by

Research and Final Project Spring 2023 ItAG: Teacher Wellness

ItAG members: Janice Quiles-Reyes, Marianne Vormer, Vila Gao

Teacher burnout is a continuous conversation that is happening among educators everywhere. As an ItAG group, we were interested in looking at the different elements that lead to burnout, as well as resources and support for educators. We specifically looked at mental health, general responsibilities for teachers, and the increased stress with a lack of administrative support that teachers are experiencing. We also wanted to hear advice that current teachers have for new teachers entering the DOE to help subside some of this burnout. 

There are several reasons why our group wanted to focus on teacher wellness. As new art teachers about to enter the profession, it’s helpful to know what it’s like to be a teacher; questions such as the responsibilities, workload, and support from the community are just some of the things that we centered our conversations around. After learning about the burnout that teachers are experiencing, it was also essential to learn how teachers can actually work to overcome this burnout. Through research and interviews, our group was able to compile short podcast episodes that break down teacher wellness into the following episodes: teacher burnout, self-care rituals, and advice for new teachers. The podcast is meant to be supportive and helpful to new art teachers specifically, although new teachers in any subject area can benefit. Our team hopes that the podcast can inspire and shed some light on the profession as a whole, as well as prepare teachers for the role they are entering. 

Screenshot of Spotify page featuring the Art[Ed] of Wellness podcast with abstract visual.

https://open.spotify.com/show/0gGZxoIBwILSurxzWemNgw?si=68a61cb2351744df

We invite all those who listen to the podcast to record a sound bite or write a comment that connects back to our topic and can help generate a conversation around teacher wellness overall: https://www.videoask.com/fd7d1tsbu

Teacher wellness is a topic that everyone in the NYC Department of Education should be talking about, and we hope that this podcast not only serves as a resource for new teachers but also as a starting point for voicing concerns and opinions centering on teacher wellness.

(Re)Constructing Community, 2020

by

Sarah Sanders, Victoria Shek, Yuanyuan Xu

As graduate students in the Art+Education Initial Certification program at New York University, we entered the Spring 2020 semester with a transition into secondary student teaching where we were introduced to the concept of Restorative Justice (RJ) – a practice which seeks to proactively and reactively repair harm, relationships, and trust to strengthen community (Morningside Center 2019, New York Peace Institute 2018). Curious to understand more about this practice, we centered our research on discovering the relationship between the practice of Restorative Justice and the presence of community within and outside of the secondary school classroom in New York City. As March rolled around, the classroom learning structure was drastically altered from in-person teaching to online teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, we shifted our focus to the online community, posing the question “How can teachers share ideas through artistic practices and work to rebuild the school community through online learning?”

We created surveys which were sent to teachers and students within secondary schools in New York City. Responses indicated that there were feelings of isolation and hopelessness among students and teachers as well as a desire for increased communication among all parties and more opportunities for creative collaboration for students. Therefore, we sought to design strategies and workshops organized into an accessible online platform in accordance with the concept of Restorative Justice providing collaborative and visually stimulating activities for the virtual classroom and advisory sessions.

Rebuilding School through Origami Folding
Rebuilding School through Origami Folding

Our Rebuilding School through Origami Folding workshop offers prompts for remembering and reflecting on the nature and experiences of the school community. The Morning Marks and Mandala Making strategy provides space for daily check-in with students as well as an opportunity to understand teachers and peers at a deeper level. Our Remaking the Classroom Workshop provides a time for considering the relationship between space and community through imaginative annotation. These, along with additional workshops and strategies, can be found on our website. This collection of materials is grounded in the importance of (re)constructing community during challenging times and is driven by the desire to inspire creative collaboration among educators and students throughout NYC schools.

Morning Marks and Mandala Making
Morning Marks and Mandala Making
Image of students sitting around a table in a classroom
After
Remaking the Classroom Workshop, before
Image of students sitting around a table in a classroom , with reimagined edits drawn onto the image.
After
Remaking the Classroom Workshop, after

References

Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility. 2019. What are Restorative Practices?
https://www.morningsidecenter.org/what-are-restorative-practices

New York Peace Institute. 2018. Restorative Justice. https://nypeace.org/restorative-justice/

Research in Art + Education Guest: Tomie Arai

by Leave a Comment

Zoom class with Tomie Arai

Our Spring 2020 Research in Art + Education class welcomed artist and activist Tomie Arai. Tomie shared her experiences using oral history and interviewing for her series, Portraits from Chinatown, and as a co-founder of Chinatown Art Brigade with artists Betty Yu and ManSee Kong. In our discussion, Tomie shared examples of working within communities, the importance of sharing stories in native voice and language, and collecting stories that connect the personal and the political such as experiences of gentrification in New York’s Chinatown and the history of immigration in San Francisco. These topics are helpful to consider as students developing strategies to connect with communities for the final capstone project. Given the realities of social distancing as a result of the coronavirus we have had to dramatically alter the way we think about working in and with communities and connecting with people through the research process. One student appreciated how open and honest she was with us as a class, “I enjoyed how transparent Tomie was in regards to navigating the challenges of working with communities. It was really generous of her to share her time, insight, and even images of her upcoming project.” 

People’s L.E.S. Curriculum

by Leave a Comment

Critical Pedagogy, Artists, and the Public Sphere, Fall 2018

In collaboration with our community-based partner Fourth Arts Block (FAB), NYU Art+Education graduate students in the Critical Pedagogy, Artists and the Public Sphere class participated in a semester-long fieldwork project to create a collection of curricula for the People’s Lower East Side website. Inspired by FAB’s mission to strengthen the cultural vitality of the Lower East Side we identified four themes to explore through creative and critical engagement and artistic inquiry: 1) Gardens, Parks and Public Spaces; 2) Immigrant Communities, Language Access and Sanctuary; 3) Urban Planning, Architecture and Preservation; and 4) Housing Affordability and Displacement. Each curriculum was designed to engage LES residents, students and teachers, families and other stakeholders and researchers with relevant historical knowledge, opportunities for personal and collaborative reflection,  and an exploration of current, lived realities of the Lower East Side from diverse perspectives. Students drew from class discussions about critical pedagogy tenets, relevant artist projects and educational examples to inspire others to see and re-see the Lower East Side through these themes. Each curriculum includes a range of discussion prompts to promote critical thinking, creative activities that suggest extensions to action, related resources, and opportunities to learn through different modalities/senses and reimagine a LES that is inclusive and responsive to diverse community perspectives.  

Students in a classroom sitting and standing around tablesA dark room with a screen and students sitting belowA group portrait of a class

Gardens, Parks And Public Spaces >> “Rooted” In The Lower East Side

Image of a garden with text 'Rooted in the Lower East Side' layered on top

Created by Alex Mangus, Juan Pablo Sarmiento, Jennifer Smyczynski, and Jonathan Barry Wolf at the Art, Education, and Community Practice Program at NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development

“The Lower East Side (LES) in New York City has a rich history and is home to unique public spaces and community gardens. This guide offers various ideas and resources for teaching and learning about social activism in community gardens in the LES as well as suggestions for how to implement these lessons. Whether you are a teacher, a student, a community member, or just curious, there is something in here for you.”

“Rooted” in the Lower East SideDownload
 
 

Immigrant Communities, Language Access & Sanctuary >> Lower East Side: History & Diversity

Image of NYC urban landscape with text

Created by Prinita Thevarajah, Belen Contreras, Naisha Solomon, Constanza Valenzuela, Sarah Young Eun Sin, Jordyn Smith, and Tong Wang

Lower East Side: History & DiversityDownload
 
 
 

Urban Planning, Architecture, And Preservation >> What Makes A Place Special?

Image of city buildings with title: 'What makes a place special?'

 

Housing, Affordability And Displacement >> Reclaiming Space: Exploring Resistance To Gentrification In The Lower East Side

Drawings of protest and microphones with title: 'Reclaiming Space'

Created by Hannah E White, Francesca Diana Levy, Alexis Lambrou, and Amanda J Charnley

Reclaiming Space – Exploring Resistance to Gentrification in the Lower East SideDownload
 
Image of website screenshot with examples of curriculum and text
 

L.E.S. Walking Tour with Leora Fuller and Dakota Devereux Scott

by Leave a Comment

Tour stop in front of a LES community garden.

During one of the first sessions of the semester, students from Critical Pedagogy, Artists, and the Public Sphere went on a walking tour of the LES with Art + Ed alum Leora Fuller and Dakota Devereux Scott from FAB (Fourth Arts Block) NYC and People’s LES.

The tour began with a land acknowledgment, in which Leora stated that New York University, and Manhattan in general, sits on the occupied territory of the Lenni Lenape peoples. Throughout the tour, Leora shared the invisible histories of resistance in the neighborhood, and the group discussed the ramifications of gentrification in the changing Lower East Side. Between tour stops, the group participated in activities like creating found-word poems from words that were seen during the walk, and a trust walk, depending on other senses to experience the L.E.S.  

Tour group walking in the LES

Supporting contextual images shared during the tour: 

Manahatta, Lenape land.

Map of Lenape Villages.

L.E.S. Map

Cooper Square Mutual Housing Association.

Image from the 1988 Tompkins Square Riots

We the People Won't Go

Dreamyard Artist Educator Mixer

by Leave a Comment

Dreamyard Mixer group

Dreamyard, an organization that collaborates with Bronx youth, families and schools to build pathways to equity and opportunity through the arts, hosted a gathering for Social Justice Artist Educators. This event was part of a 3 part series of events hosted in the Bronx by different cultural organizations to connect the NYU community with arts-based initiatives and organizers that was funded as part of NYU/Steinhardt’s Diversity Innovation Grants. Dreamyard teaching artists hosted brainstorming and discussion sessions talking about teacher super powers and how we engage our students. Participants had a chance to partner across different organizations to learn about different approaches to social justice art education, and then had a chance to make original bags and wearable pins inspired by social justice warriors from the past and present.

Dreamyard Mixer buttons Dreamyard Mixer Ironing tote bags at the Dreamyard Mixer Button making at Dreamyard Mixer Dreamyard Mixer group