5 Ways Art Can Foster Equity in the Classroom
Creating a truly equitable learning environment is a complex undertaking that involves large-scale, systemic change, committed leadership, and a shared vision among stakeholders — all things that one classroom teacher cannot possibly be expected to tackle on their own. (We wrote more about the large-scale, systemic change necessary for truly equitable schools here.)
However, acknowledging the scale of inequities in education absolutely does not mean that individual educators can’t take meaningful action to promote equity. Every classroom is a community of its own, with a culture that influences the experiences and mindsets of the individual students who learn, grow, and come to understand more about the world together.
As with any community, art can be a valuable tool in shaping culture. Creating, experiencing, and sharing art can bring adults together and help them find shared ideas or feelings despite differences. The same is of course true for young learners, who are perhaps even more inclined than their adult counterparts to be creative, be kind to one another, and celebrate togetherness.
For educators looking to provide students with opportunities to practice perspective-taking, respect, self-compassion, and other skills required to create a safe, equitable learning environment, art projects have endless potential. To aid in your planning, we’ve gathered a few ways to consider how art can be a tool for fostering the classroom culture you strive for, and we’ve included some examples of projects or crafts to try with your students.
Build Community with Crafts
To focus directly on building community, consider taking on an art project that the whole class can work on together. (Or, better yet, connect with other teachers to take on a multiple-class project!) Art projects that involve many hands and minds contributing to a shared vision will require students to engage in teamwork, collaboration, and respect. Of course, it will also expose them to branches of creativity or approaches to problem-solving that differ from their own.
If possible, consider displaying this collective art project somewhere prominent in your learning space. Or, you might even have students create something permanent in your school, such as a hallway mural. Select a theme that allows students to express their individuality in a collective work without sacrificing those elements of structure and cohesion that require teamwork. By creating something that is representative of themselves and their peers that serves as a visual centerpiece of their learning community, a collaborative, “always-on-display” art project is perhaps one of the most direct ways that students can contribute to their classroom culture.
For a few examples of collaborative art projects, try this list from We Are Teachers. Many of these projects are designed to be displayed in common areas at your school!
Get Creative with Self-Compassion
For every student to have the opportunity to thrive, they must also have the space to learn to love and respect themselves. Practicing self-compassion is sometimes an overlooked aspect of equitable, safe, and responsive classroom environments. If we expect students to extend respect, understanding, and compassion to their peers, we must give them the tools to extend that same grace to themselves.
Arts and crafts can be a wonderful medium for practicing self-compassion. Under the guidance of a positive and caring educator, older students may be encouraged to visually express (and perhaps even share!) what they love about themselves through abstract self-portraits. Students could also write and illustrate affirmations to display in the classroom or post in their lockers. Younger learners might explore simple aspects of self-compassion through symbolic craft lessons on making mistakes and forgiving yourself (we all color outside the lines sometimes!) and celebrating what makes us unique.
For more on self-compassion in children and teens, check out this article from social worker Kerrie LaRosa. Her approach to fostering self-compassion in young learners may spark the inspiration you need to develop the perfect art project:
Use Art to Practice Empathy
Practicing empathy, or proverbially “putting yourself in someone else’s shoes”, is often very difficult — for adults as well as for children! Art is a unique and longstanding access point for empathy; a way to convey emotions and perspectives to a powerful and lasting effect. Consider how exercises that require older students to review or reflect on art can provide opportunities for explicit conversations about empathy. Older students might reflect on the mood represented in existing art and create their own work by empathizing with the artist’s expression. Younger students might explore how people use colors to express emotions, and experiment with expression themselves. Plenty of simple crafts or exercises can also help younger students understand emotions and perspectives — such as optical illusions that can serve as a tool to explore perspective taking. (For example: the classic duck-rabbit illusion).
For more exercises and a few crafts to practice empathy, check out the free resources included in our Empathy Changes Everything virtual care package:
Reflect and Explore with Art Across Cultures
Using art to foster empathy can be particularly powerful when part of your equity goals are to foster respect for cultures different than those represented in your class, or to create an inclusive classroom for a diverse student population. Of course, it’s important not to oversimplify a culture or use certain aspects of a culture — like art or food — to avoid more difficult conversations about equity, culture, and the world in which students live. However, art can be a positive, celebratory component of these conversations. It can expose students to perspectives and experiences that they may have otherwise never considered, or help students better understand and be proud of their own culture’s rich history. Try adapting conversations about artwork across cultures and history into crafts for younger students to forge even deeper connections.
In the era of remote learning, many museums have developed fabulous virtual tour programs for easy access to art all around the world. Here are a few sites with art tours and resources to support your vision for a culturally responsive and inclusive classroom:
Make Art Relevant with Multimedia Projects
Learning doesn’t happen in a vacuum — students’ experiences outside of the classroom, in their local communities and in the context of national and global events — all influence their experiences in the classroom. Teaching with that holistic understanding of students as individuals and members of society is critical to fostering an equitable environment. To help students find their voices against such a large and complex backdrop to growing up, consider introducing multimedia art projects that allow students to work with digital platforms and tools that are relevant to their everyday lives. This may look different for every classroom, depending on available resources, but it is a great option if your equity goals involve helping students express themselves and practice leadership in their communities.
Art and STEM teacher Tim Needles gave an excellent presentation on using social media to share his students’ multimedia projects within their local communities. Skip to the 43-minute mark in this webinar to see his presentation:
SEL Speaker Series | The Future of Social and Emotional Learning — SEL in Contest
Under the guidance of a creative educator with an equity-first, culturally responsive approach to teaching, students can all have rich opportunities to grow, create, and even contribute to a respectful, thoughtful, and, ultimately, more equitable classroom culture.
