Shades of Noir website
Exploring the SoN website I can see that it is a great resource for students and teachers to explore issues of race, gender and faith in a variety of contexts. It has also been great for me in terms of my teaching practice as a point of reference I can provide to my students if they decide to explore issues of diversity as part of their practice.
If I was aware of this resource when I was working with a student who was exploring his Muslim faith in his project, I think it could have been helpful to share the site as a resource for him that could expand his idea of what faith means in an arts context.
A pedagogy of social justice education: social identity, theory and intersectionality
1:
One thing that I found striking about this text was in relation to Paulo Freire section was in regards to how he describes bringing in the experience and backgrounds of the students into the teaching environment. This is something that I often consider in my class, but I often think it is the most confident of my students who do this. I try and create an open and non-judgemental setting for my class in the hope that everyone can bring themselves into the class, but I’m not sure it always work. I am wondering if there are other strategies I could adopt to encourage this.
2:
Secondly, the discussion in regards to team work was quite interesting as a way of bringing students together from different backgrounds and experiences (Sherif et al. 1988). We do some group projects on my programme, however it isn’t under the basis of exploring the students’ backgrounds and beliefs, rather it is responding to something external.
Question:
How can a group project could be put together that looks into ideas of identity through the lens of graphic communication design?
Witness: Unconscious Bias
Very interesting video discussing unconscious bias. I think what really hits home for me watching this video is that unconscious bias is not unconscious anymore. As Josephine Kwhali mentions, universities, the media etc have all talked about how there is inequality towards the BAME community for a long time, it is thus something most are aware of and yet nothing has changed. It makes me sad and a bit angry as someone who is Middle-Eastern to think about this. I don’t know what the answer is to fixing it, but for me it has to be something that is driven by policy and thus law. We need more representation of minorities in prominent places and especially in the arts. As mentioned in the Retention and attainment in the disciplines: Art and Design report, the majority in arts education (76% are white).
Retention and attainment in the disciplines: Art and Design
The data highlighted in this report in regards to the demographic of students from non-white backgrounds is quite striking. Specifically how the vast majority of students are from white backgrounds. This isn’t something that is surprising to me as someone who teaches design and is aware of the demographic of people in institutions, but the numbers are lower than I expected (76% white, 2% Black British Caribbean, 2% Black British African, 2% Asian British Indian, and 1% Asian British Pakistani).
Reflecting on this, I think that for me there are two reasons for this. Firstly, one could argue that the visible individuals in art and design field are predominately white which could in turn make PoC feel like it is not an industry that they belong to. Secondly, one could argue that art and design is a field that is one that is for privileged individuals, as the applied nature of these fields and how they go towards a professional practice is not clear or articulated. This in turn could discourage individuals from entering the industry as they feel there isn’t a financially viable industry to enter into. Perhaps more education into how individuals transition from art/design education to a career would be helpful in educating individuals about this.
I Just Can’t Stand White Supremecy (SoN)
How could you apply the resources to your own teaching practice?
I think that part of what this article portrays is the importance normalising black people within authority. I found the section highlighting how Serena Williams and Edward Enninful’s positions were dismissed as particularly poignant. One way I think I can help to normalise PoC in authority is to highlight people of colour in the references for our briefs. Art and design is already consists of mainly while people, I hope that by highlighting PoC, students will begin to see diversity should be encouraged in our industry as well as the fact that they too can become successful.