Violent Art In Classroom

The title: Reading Violent Images

Author: Gaye Green           

Date: March 2004

Link for the Article: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3194109

http://www.jstor.org.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/stable/pdfplus/3194109.pdf?&acceptTC=true&jpdConfirm=true-accessed July 16^th 2014

Synopsis (retell):

Green, a former elementary Art Teacher and Art Specialist who currently holds a Doctor of Art Education title at Western Washington University highlights the importance of exposing children to violent images in the Art Classroom in her article, ‘Reading Violent Images’. Using a combination of psychological statistics and reflecting on her own experiences working with students and violent images/topics, she stresses the relevance of teaching students to become critical consumers of violent visual and artistic media forms based on the sheer volume of violent images in society and the direct link they share with current Art curricula.

Green states that not only do violent images stir personal emotions and affect the subconscious mind (summarizing studies from the 1990’s which proved that viewing violent imagery can lead to crime, violence and increased aggressive behaviours), they are especially significant within society. Often times cultures, remember events through images and sometimes these images are emotionally or historically heavy (the example she used in the article is Nick Ut’s photograph of the nude Vietnamese girl running from a napalm bomb during the Vietnam War or art based war memorials). She does an excellent jobs of drawing conclusions about why classroom teachers struggle to plan or do not provide time for students to evaluate violent images within the classroom. She cites key reasons are simply deciding which violent images to study with students is a daunting task as millions of images that exist as they come in many mediums (newspapers, periodicals, internet or magazines) and that images often raise debates and controversy causing teachers to feel overwhelmed in both volume of images and criticism of their use within the classroom.

Green suggests that teachers evaluate and examine violent images with students based on what they feel the intended purpose was. She recommends students be directed to six categories, which are commonly used by producers (Glamorization and Celebrity, Minimization, False Justification, Trivialization, Desensitization and Misrepresentation). However, she cautions that some images are easy to identify their primary function while others represent several concepts.

Green suggests several ways to overcome the challenges of appropriately exposing students to violent images in Art Class. She suggests teachers can present violent or controversial images to students in two ways. The first, provide an image with a corresponding category and have students defend if they agree or disagree with the category the image has been placed in. The second, present students with multiple images and ask them to categorize them and defend their position and opinion to their peers.

Perhaps the biggest take away point of this article is that Green stresses through proper scaffolding and teacher support, students can begin to realize that anger is a contributing factor toward violence and that many artists constructively channel the creative art process to express their outrage and demonstrate to children that art is an effective way to deal with angry emotions. “The utility of art education to address powerful issues, generate meaningful analysis, and provide compelling instruction demonstrates the educative value that the study of such potent imagery can facilitate. The impact of instruction that employs both inquiry and production processes teaches children to constantly question, evaluate and address that which they see. Such pedagogy not only validates the importance of art education, but also demonstrates its indispensability.”

Relate:

I believe this article had many connections to our group’s specific inquiry focus.

What constitutes controversial art?  Does the nude figure contribute to the work of art being considered controversial? Are controversial artworks from the past still considered controversial today?

I would argue, based on the data included in this article about the long-term effects of exposure to violent images that violent art should be considered controversial. There were also many statistics showing an increase in violent images in current media and modern art creations. (Elsi Vassdal Ellis’s letters to terrorist Mohamed Atta “Dear Mohamed Atta”, 2003, Picasso’s “Guernica”, Eric Fischl’s “Tumbling Woman”, Kellan Robert Green’s drawings of Homer Simpson Strangling Bart were all controversial violent pieces Green mentions in the article.)

What is it about the artwork that creates a great deal of controversy amongst fellow classmates, parents, staff and school administrators? Is there hate material, propaganda or subliminal messaging that is found to be offensive to others in the piece?

Green provides a chart page 9 of the article that provides a structured framework for Evaluating Violent Imagery. This framework could be adapted/extended to all ‘controversial images’. It calls the evaluator/analyzer to consider five key areas to decipher the information contained in the controversial art work. It could be used as a supportive/guiding tool for students beginning to analyze Art History and Controversial Images.

Methodology for Evaluating Issues Raised by Violent Imagery

Image Context: How is this image different from or similar to other images within

its particular genre/ movement/ style? What makes this particular image significant for interpretation?

World Contexts: Which world realms such as sociological, Historical, psychological, aspects of interpretation can facilitate political, scientific, Geographical, Religious, literary, etc. could provide pertinent information for interpretation? What resources are needed to conduct research into these areas? How will the information garnered be evaluated for significance and accuracy?

Image Creator:  Are there writings/interviews of the artist that provide information regarding the work? Are the creators' views supported by the image? Do the general public, historians, critics, and/or other viewers agree with the creators' views? Do these individual perceptions correspond with those of other groups? Is there pertinent information regarding the creators' background, beliefs, experiences, up bringing, etc. that might influence the making and subsequent viewing of the image?

Image Content and Form: What is contained in the image? How was the image constructed? How does the content and form of this image compare with others that ares imilar? Which elements and principles of design contribute to the significance of the image?

Viewer: Consider the ramifications of individual viewers. Is there pertinent information about the viewer that influences the viewing ,i.e. religious beliefs, political affiliation, gender, and economic status?

I would say this article relates to both my experience as a student and as a teacher. I don’t recall a time where I was asked to critically analyze art work or if I was, it would have only been surface features or techniques the artist used. I think this is the reason why I have not necessarily done this type of work with my students thus far. I think additionally, there are not many “controversial” images which would be appropriate or draw a healthy discussion within the primary classroom that I am aware of.

This article’s content is directly related to the work we did last module on Bloom’s Taxonomy. Bloom’s Taxonomy requires that learners be able to critically evaluate and generate opinions based on the knowledge and understanding they have in a particular content area. Green’s methods for students to categorize controversial images into categories and defend their reasoning with support as well as time to both deconstruct existing controversial images combined with classroom time create personalized reconstructions exemplifies the ideal balance between expressing feelings about events and creating to memorialize events.

Reflect:

Something I thought about while reading the article is that I understand why teachers feel a lot of pressure to choose images carefully because we want to be sensitive to our students but also because research shows that exposure to violent material can have lasting psychological and behavioural effects.  I understand that there is a lot of value in having students critically evaluate violent images but perhaps a “next step” or an area which needs to be studied further is which images are appropriate for which age groups?

Additionally, perhaps included in the Art curriculum document there should be exemplars of not only student work for assessment purposes but also ways to inform parents that a controversial issue is going to be discussed and viewed in class. Since one of our goals for this Collaborative assignment is, “Students will examine specific examples of controversial artwork in the Art History curriculum, both historical and contemporary works, to make connections between art and social upheaval. Students can understand why works are controversial or were considered controversial within the context they were created.” An additional area of the reflection could be to discuss why parents had to be informed the class was studying a certain topic. Being able to not only evaluate the controversial piece from a historical point of view but also showing an ability to demonstrate how to appropriately deal with the controversy in today’s society is extremely valuable skill related to higher order thinking and critical inquiry. 

I think it is interesting that Green shares her “best practices” for presenting violent images in the classroom setting as well as student examples from these activities. A common thread that keeps resurfacing in course discussions and readings is how rushed Art production and discussions are in the classroom. Since classrooms are busy places with lots to accomplish, we, as teachers feel Art is something we have to “fit in” and often, our rushed timelines don’t do it justice. Perhaps one of the reasons we don’t ‘do art justice” is because we are thinking about get students started on a project, giving them time to create and reflect so we can assess. Thinking about pressured timelines and the constant end goal of assessment, the analysis of images in the classroom is often on the backburner. I think Green poignantly states that time is one of the key reasons teachers struggle with analysis of controversial pieces in the classroom and it often does not have and immediate assessment as student’s skills develop over time and as they are exposed to and make connections with different pieces. “Evaluating images that relate to violence is a lengthy endeavor and one whose process is not primarily about securing answers, but rather about engaging in the complexity of inquiry. Teaching students to consider many aspects of interpretation can facilitate informed responses and is a lifelong skill that can be used to analyze images in a variety of contexts.”