Art Integration and Identity: Empowering Bi/Multilingual High School Learners

Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals

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6

High School Students; Bilingual Students; Multilingualism; Art Activities; Art Education; Interdisciplinary Approach; Art Expression; Student Empowerment; English Language Learners; Visual Arts; Self Concept; Critical Theory; Educational Technology; Photography

10.1080/00043125.2022.2076543

0004-3125
2325-5161

Art integration has been used to explore "the relevance and approaches to arts education connected to [the larger] curriculum and instruction with learners of all ages, including teacher learners" (Cahnmann-Taylor & Sanders-Bustle, 2019, p. 2). Art integration utilizes commonalities among the many components of other disciplines. Moreover, art integration addresses the importance of creative production and promotes hands-on learning through artmaking as a powerful way for students to express themselves as learners and recognize themselves as engaged in meaningful learning (Berriz et al., 2019). This study aimed to explore how art integration, in combination with critical pedagogy, could be utilized to explore identity, and empower high school learners for whom English is not their first language. Using a case study methodology (Creswell, 2012, 2013; Yin, 2014) and working within a critical pedagogy framework, the authors designed a participatory visual arts study using classroom discussions of identity, instruction in Photoshop, and the participants' creation of collages as data-generation methods. The learning target for the identity unit was "I can list, and illustrate through Photoshop, aspects of my identity." Art integration was used to empower bi/multilingual students to not only construct their own definition and self-conception of "identity," but also present their identities visually.

ERIC

2023

EJ1360967