Culture, Racial Identity, and Agency:Mary Stone Hanley, professor, George Mason University

Probing the possibilities of culturally responsive arts education

I like the program because it made me have more confidence in myself. It made me believe in myself because I was so use to people putting me down telling me you can't do this, you can't do that. It was never to try and you will succeed, so I gave up on myself. Thank you. You helped me a lot…

---Torie, age 14

How do I commit myself to do work that is predicated on a belief in the power of the mind, when African American intellectual inferiority is so much a part of the taken-for-granted notions of the larger society that individuals in and out of school, even good and well-intentioned people, individuals who purport to be acting on my behalf, routinely register doubts about my intellectual competence?

---Theresa Perry on the dilemmas of African American students (Perry, Steele and Hilliard, 2003).

Many a person is unhappy, tortured within, because he has at command no art of expressive action.

---John Dewey, Art as Experience

What our children need is love and the arts—love to know they are valued and the arts to express that value.

Haki Madhubuti

“And this redefinition of educational equality means affirming that problems or shortcomings in learning are not so much in shortcomings in ethnic minority students as in inequalities in the schools they attend. It also means refocusing schools toward being more responsive to human variability, spending less time manipulating ethnic students to make them comply to institutional structures, and instituting programs and processes that empower students through access to high-quality knowledge and experiences.”

-- G. Gay

Culturally Responsive PedagogyCulturally Responsive PedagogyHeinz Foundation Literature ReviewHeinz Foundation Literature Review

Culturally Culturally Responsive Responsive PedagogyPedagogy

Positive Positive Racial IdentityRacial IdentityDevelopmentDevelopment

ResilienceResilience AchievementAchievement

RACIAL OPPRESSION

ALANA CULTURE AND EDUCATION

Culturally Responsive PedagogyCulturally Responsive PedagogyPedagogy developed using the culture of

studentsStudents are agents of change Inspires critical, imaginative, and creative

thinkingInspires affective learningEncourages active learningStimulates connections to the community

and community developmentDevelops knowledge of global, national,

and historical connections

Themes for Culturally Themes for Culturally Responsive PedagogyResponsive Pedagogy

Involve the community. Use culture and racial identity as an asset. Educate about racism and racial uplift. Develop caring relationships. Assume success. Promote active learning, problem-based

instruction and student involvement. Employ the arts. Acknowledge the challenges.

CultureCulture

…the web of significance that man himself has spun

Clfford Geertz

Drama Drama Discipline, Commitment, MotivationDiscipline, Commitment, Motivation 10 weeks, 3 hours/day, 5 days/week Learned performance skills and acting

techniques using culturally relevant content and form.

Created a script through improvisation and storytelling using culturally relevant content and form.

Performed for peers, educators, family, and community members.

Name Age/

GenderGPA Parental

OccupationLives with

Mico 13/male 1.5 sells clothes in K-Mart

mother

Toni 13/female 1.5 sells clothes in K-Mart

mother

Hakeem 14/male 2.5 teacher mother

Tori 14/female 2.5 beautician mother

Lateefa 13/female 2.0 retired grandmother

Ronnie 13/male 3.0 (m) office worker

(f) restaurant cook

mother and father

Delonn 13/male 2.0 unemployed mother

Sala 14/female 2.0 beautician mother

Olivia 13/female 3.5 pediatrician mother

Sheryl 13/female 3.0 postal worker father

Jaz 14/male 1.5 day care worker sister

David 14/male 3.5 paralegal mother

Trane 14/male 1.5 bank teller mother

Crystal 13/female 2.5 cosmetologist mother

Nile 14/female 3.0 telemarketer mother

Matilda 14/female 2.5 bus driver mother

Mona 14/female 1.5 nanny sister

Cassandra 13/female 2.5 unemployed guardian

May 14/female 3.0 (m) computer operator

(f) plasterer

Mother and father

Isis 13/female 2.5 (m) travel agent (f) county administrator

Mother and father

Culturally Responsive Arts Culturally Responsive Arts EducationEducation

EMPOWERMENTEMPOWERMENT

Creativity

RespectRespectRespect

Culture and Community

PowerlessnessImagination

CreativityAGENCY

R

E

S

I

S

T

A

N

C

E

P

E

R

F

O

R

M

A

N

C

E

Risktaking

Imagination

Risk taking

AgencyAgency

“the freedom of human beings to make choices in ways that make a difference in their lives”

J. Martin, J. Sugarman, & J. Thompson

…”the capacity to exercise control over one’s own thought processes, motivation, and action”

Albert Bandura

Artistic AgencyArtistic Agency

PERCEPTIONCONCEPTUALIZATION

EXPRESSIONTRANSFORMATION

Attributes of the ArtsAttributes of the ArtsImaginationCreativityProblem-Solving Higher Order Thinking Skills CollaborationIntrinsic MotivationCommunicationInterdisciplinary StructureObservation Skills Connection of Mind, Body, Emotions, & SpiritCultural HistoryEmpowerment

Active LearningAffective LearningRisk-Taking OpennessSensory AwarenessCommunity BuildingAlternative Symbol Systems Pattern, Rhythm Harmony, Balance, & Composition Critical ThinkingCultural ChangeCultural KnowledgePleasure (Fun)Concentration/Focus

Self-DisciplineHypothesizing (What if?)Mental and Physical Agility Research SkillsAesthetics: Study of Beauty Multiple PerspectivesEmpathyArtistic AgencyPerceptionConceptualizationExpressionTransformation

Achievement / Success through Achievement / Success through Culturally Responsive ArtsCulturally Responsive Arts

IMAGINATIONCREATIVITY

AGENCY

CULTURERISK-TAKING

EMPOWERMENTPLEASURE/FLOW

MOTIVATION