Art and Social Justice Education: Culture as Commons

Art and Social Justice Educationoffers everything an educator needs to craft critical, meaningful, transformative arts education curriculum and arts integration projects -- from perspectives teachers can draw on to develop lessons and projects linked to principles of social justice, to images and quotes from contemporary artists, to practical ideas and resource information. The images, descriptive texts, essays, and resources are grounded within a clear social justice framework and linked to ideas about culture as commons (how culture and its products benefit from the free exchange of information). Essays and a special section written by and for teachers who have already incorporated these artists or ideas into their curriculum help readers to envision practical and imagine ways to use the content in their own settings, as arts integrated into other curricula or as arts-specific education. Proposing that art can contribute in a wide range of ways to the work of envisioning and making a more just world, this frontline book moves the field of art education beyond models of discipline-based or expressive art education through its focus on art education that is engaged with context, contemporary art, and critical social issues. It is enhanced by a Companion Website featuring artists and artworks, project examples, and dialogue threads for educators.