Upload
hofstrauniversity
View
216
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
8/2/2019 Art in Social Studies Assessments
1/6
A relatively new trend in assessment in American history
education offers interesting opportunities to inject the arts
into mainstream education in ways that could provide a catalyst
for engagement with social justice issues. Document-based
questions [DBQs] on statewide social studies assessments afford
art and social studies teachers interested in social justice issues
such opportunities. Long a staple of Advanced Placement exams,
DBQs are turning up on statewide elementary, middle, and high
school social studies assessments and have become an integral
part of social studies curricula and tests in New York. These
types of questions represent an authentic assessment, in that
students read and analyze passages and visual images and thensynthesize the information into a coherent essay. A pioneer in
creating DBQs, New York state suggests that documents should
include graphs, charts, maps, cartoons, photographs, artwork,
eyewitness accounts, and historical passages and requires that its
social studies assessment contain at least 2-3 visual documents
per DBQ (NYS Social Studies). The input of ar t teachers in the
creation and analysis of these exams (which are notconstructed
by a corporation but by New York teachers) is desirable if the
assessments are to realize their potential for fostering social
justice curriculum and instruction.
Why should art teachers committed to social justice issues care
about social studies assessment? The ar ts are now, and
historically, marginalized in American public education. In order
to graduate from high school in Germany, students need
7-9 credits of art; in Japan, they need 5; in American schools, 0-2
sufce (Fowler, 1996). The central role of psychology in
educational theory and its strong emphasis on language help
account for this de-emphasis of art in American education
(Crain, 1992; Cremin, 1976; Kliebard, 1995). Additionally, freedom
of expression, available to American artists, may engender a view
that educating for social justice is an endeavor that belongs to
the history teacher. Teaming with colleagues to select art images
for state assessments provides an avenue to place the arts on an
equal platform with text in childrens hearts and minds as they
engage in interpreting American culture and history.
A Cy f C Tkg
Art teachers engagement with the selection of images for
social studies assessment is also important because the arts
promote alternate perspectives on historical events. By
stimulating emotional connections to the past, art works
motivate young people to relate past issues to those in theirown lives and potentially make connections to events in the
present. Issues of power, the legacies of slavery and Japanese
internment, questions of legal justice, and justications for war
are some of the complex issues in American history that have
inspired artists to create provocative works. Adding images to
the teaching of history is an acknowledgment of the increasingly
visual world of our students. In our visually oriented culture,
where students knowledge of the contemporary world, and
even of history, is as likely to emanate from television and lm
as it is from reading, it is critical that educators assist students
in social studies assessments:An Untapped Resource for Socia l Just ice Educat ionart
By: S Zw & A Lb
A vy w
A hy
g pp j h
wy
h pv y f
gg wh j .
8/2/2019 Art in Social Studies Assessments
2/6
31
31
ArtEducation
[September2010]
30
analysis of images. Art has the power to reframe public
debate about the past and help transform popular memories
and histories (Desai, Hamlin, & Mattson, 2010, p. 11).
Art that exemplies the complex contradictions of history can
be found in a series of 80 paintings created by Ben Sakoguchi
(2009) called Postcards from Camp (1999-2001). Studying family
photos to substantiate his childhood recollections of his time in
a Japanese internment camp in Rohwer, Arkansas, Sakoguchi
authenticated his recollections by examining military, civilian,
and internee photographs. Like an historian, this artist studied
media of the time, as well as writings by internees, military, and
governmental leaders, to reveal social, cultural, and political
perspectives. The painting Rohwer, Arkansas (Figure 1) (1999-
2001), shows children playing marbles outside their barracks.
The text on the painting belies the cheerful scene: IF IT IS A
QUESTION OF THE SAFETY OF THE COUNTRY (AND)
THE CONSTITUTION WHY THE CONSTITUTION ISJUST A SCRAP OF PAPER TO ME. JOHN J. McCLOY,
ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF WAR, 1942. Our current war
on terror was similarly promulgated in ways to justify a loose
interpretation of constitutional rights. This painting offers
tantalizing opportunities to stimulate empathic understanding
of people in history and today.
It would be extremely difcult to establish a direct causal link
between critical thinking skills resulting from the contextual
analysis of art images and an increased propensity for young
people to work toward social justice. However, we can posit
that the analysis of artworks provides opportunities to consider
issues of social justice. DBQs are designed to prepare students
to consider multiple perspectives, reconcile differing positions,
and evaluate the strength of particular arguments. Developing
critical thinking skills in children is a necessary rst step to
nurture an informed citizenry. Calls for social justice canemerge only from an informed population.
Hgh Sk g Oppy
Recent experiences in American educational policy provide
ample evidence that high stakes testing gets attention. The No
Child Left Behind legislation has only exacerbated this fact
(Chapman, 2004). How can ar t teachers, concerned with social
justice, make this reality work for us? First, we have to ask
ourselves whether all testing is negative. Leaders in the eld of
social studies education applaud the inclusion of DBQs, rst
introduced in 1973 (on Advanced Placement exams), because of
their potential in stimulating authentic assessment for informed
citizenry (Grant, Gradwell, & Cimbricz, 2004; Rothschild, 2000).
For example, a recent New York State United States History
and Government examination administered to 11th-graders
(January 2009) contained a DBQ that asked students to
[D]iscuss how decisions of the Warren Cour t affected
American society. Two of the nine documents included in the
case were visual images. The rst, a photo (Figure 2), depicted
Mrs. Nettie Hunt explaining the signicance of the U.S. Supreme
Courts May 17, 1954 desegregation ruling to her daughter
Nikie, age 3. Two other powerful photographs depicting an
gure1
Rohwer,
Arkansas,BenSakoguchi,
1999-2
001.
gure2[lef]
Mrs.N
ettieHuntexplainingthe
signicanceoftheU.S.S
upreme
CourtsMay17,1
954
desegregationrulingtoherdaug
hter
Nikie,a
ge3.
8/2/2019 Art in Social Studies Assessments
3/6
aspect of the Civil Rights Movement appeared
on the June 2008 exam: (a) A mob surrounds
Elizabeth Eckford outside Central High School
in Little Rock, Arkansas on September 4, 1957.
(Figure 3); (b) On September 25, 1957 federal
troops escort the Little Rock Nine to their
classes at Central High School (Figure 4).
Requiring analysis and synthesis of textual and
visual documents on the tests, as opposed to
the familiar reproduction of information
required by multiple choice items, can give
classroom teachers the impetus to use more
thoughtful materials in their own teaching. Thus,
as Rothschild points out, DBQ[s] and
especially the emphasis on primary sources
have profoundly changed instruction at all
levels of American history (2000).
Vzg W Rg f D
Since the New York State Regents Examination
became a high stakes test whose passage is a
requirement for graduation from high school,
the state has archived all past examinations on
the New York State Department of Education
website. We were able to access all 24 exams
given from June 2001 through January 2009,
the period when the DBQ became one of the
two required essay questions on the exam.
Our analysis of these United
States examinations reveal
that there were 192
documents on the 24 tests,
each containing an average
of 8 documents. Out of
those 192 documents, 51
(26%) were visual
documents. Forty-two of the
51 visual documents could
be categorized as arts
documents. Thus, of the 192
total documents, 42 or 22%
could be labeled as arts
documents. Viewing the 42arts documents, there were
17 photographs, 17 political
cartoons, 7 advertisements
of some kind (posters, yers,
broadsides), and 1 illustration
(State Assessment History:
Social Studies Regents
Examinations).
This list of images is remarkable for what it
does not include: images generally considered
to be ne art. Most of the images are what
Rothschild refers to as informational images
(Rothschild, 2000, p. 555), the types of images
that art history tends to ignore. Working in
isolation from art educators, social studies
educators are the sole selectors of all DBQ
images, which helps to account for the dearth
of ne arts on these tests. Studies of secondary
teachers in New York have found that, since the
advent of DBQs on the state social studies
tests, teachers are more attentive to the use of
primary source documents, including images
(Grant, Derme-Insinna, Gradwell, Lauricella,
Pullano, & Tzeto, 2001, 2002; Schwartz, Blue,
Klemann, Kramerson, & Perielli, 2002).Standardized tests have become important
drivers of curriculum and instruction.
Classroom teachers are turning to art and
museum educators to assist them in preparing
students to interpret DBQs (Richner, N.,
personal communication, May 1, 2010). There is
no reason why social studies teachers should
not turn to their art teacher colleagues down
the hall as well.
Because social studies assessments in New
York State are created, piloted, and edited by
groups of teachers, it is entirely possible thatart teachers could be part of those groups.
Just because this has not occurred to date
(Larson, J., personal communication, April 12,
2010) does not mean it cannot be considered.
Even if no art teachers were included among
the test-creators, art teachers can still have an
effect on test construction and classroom
instruction, albeit from a slight remove. If art
teachers and their social studies colleagues
work together, students in U.S. History classes
can benet from analyzing images in lessons
and assessments.
If h h
g wk
gh, U. S.Hy b
f yzg g
.
gure3
AmobsurroundsElizabethEckfordou
tside
CentralHighSchoolinLittleRock,A
rkansas
onSeptember4,1957.
gure4[below]
OnSeptember25,1
957federaltroopsescort
theLittleRockNinetotheirclassesatCentral
HighSchoolinLittleRock,A
rkansas.
8/2/2019 Art in Social Studies Assessments
4/6
33
33
ArtEducation
[September2010]
32
P Dv S JI
Studies of elementary assessment in New York
State in English Language Arts and Mathematics
have found that the tests, which require more
writing and problem solving, have driven
instruction and professional development
programs that also focus more on writing and
problem solving (Cizek, 2001; Cohen & Hill,
2000; Firestone & Mayorwetz, 2000; Dutro, Fisk,Koch, Roop & Wixson, 2002; Mathison &
Freeman, 2003). Thus, proponents of critical
thinking have concluded that the easiest way to
reform instruction and improve educational
quality is to construct better tests that
emphasize critical thinking (Yeh, 2001; Firestone
& Mayorwetz, 2000). Closely linking
professional development to analysis of
statewide assessments and the creation of
DBQs may become a means for teachers to
insert more documents, both textual and visual,
that encourage critical thinking into their
classroom instruction.
If well-constructed assessments and their
concomitant professional development
programs can foster critical thinking instruction,
there is every reason to believe that
assessments can also foster social justice
instruction through the opportunities to read
visual culture provided by DBQs. A critical
examination of social studies assessments in
New York State and the possibilities for the
intersections of social studies, art, and social
justice provide art educators with a signicant
opportunity to emphasize the critical role of art
to reect and shed new meaning on history and
culture. We invite art teachers to become
involved with selection of images that will require
students to analyze issues of power and social
justice for DBQs on state assessments and in
classroom lessons.
Teachers of global histor y may be more
accustomed to showing works of art than their
counterparts who teach American History. Thestate core curriculum has many more references
to works of art through the Renaissance, though
few in the most recent centuries, as written
works come to dominate the suggested
documents list in the 20th century (NYS social
studies Core Curr iculum). In New York States
United States History core curriculum, there are
many fewer references to art documents; the
emphasis of K-12 education is for students to
understand the structure and function of
governments and to learn how to take on their
roles as citizens (NYS social studies Core
Curriculum). Indeed, the only overt references to
art are found in the Gilded Age with Thomas
Nast cartoons, the Progressive Era with Jacob
Riis photographs, and in the culture of the
Depression/New Deal time period (NYS social
studies Core Curriculum). The scarcity of
artistic documents may be attributed to the fact
that New York States U.S. History course
emphasizes the Constitution and its effects
throughout history, with little emphasis on what
is revealed through cultural production.
gure5
Slavery,Slavery,
KaraWalker,1997.
8/2/2019 Art in Social Studies Assessments
5/6
Rohwer, Arkansas, Ben Sakoguchi, 1999-2001
(Figure 1) See pages 3-4 for a discussion of this painting.
Sakoguchi, born in California, has created several series
of paintings that include the subjects of Japanese
internment, slavery, baseball and race, and other aspects
of American culture. A prolic ar tist who has chronicled
controversial historical and cultural issues, Sakoguchis
series of 80 paintings, Postcards from Camp, portrays life
before, during and after Japanese internment.
Sacco and Vanzetti, Ben Shahn, 1931-32
Following World War I, nationalistic zeal was reected in
an emerging artistic style that produced many potent
images, stimulated calls for social and economic justice,
and came to be known as Social Realism. A Jewish
refugee from Lithuania, Shahn examined his ethnic roots
while the Depression developed, which reinforced a
concern for the plight of workers. Shahn is particularly
known for his series on the Sacco and Vanzetti case that
grappled with the trial and execution of Italian
immigrants. In addition to chronicling the central issue of
his time, Shahns art suggests compelling comparisons to
issues confronting todays immigrants and other working
class Americans.
Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, Grant Wood, 1931
Reared in a small shack in Iowa, Wood is considered a
Regionalist painter who claimed that his best ideas came
while on a farm. The painting conveys a fable-like quality;
the dwellings look like doll houses with a rocking horse.
The artist presents the vantage point of the viewer in a
way that makes the viewer feel omniscient, as we look
down on the monochromatic, dramatic scene. Patriotic
fervor can turn history into a fable that ignores
inconvenient truths.
The Migration of the Negro,
Jacob Lawrences Migration series, 1940
In 1941, at a time of pervasive and legalized segregation,
Lawrence was the rst African American to be
represented by a major New York City gallery. Lawrence
confronted contemporary themes affecting the lives of
African Americans, such as migration, work, and family,
with powerful, simplied shapes and color in a way that
included strong social commentary.
Slavery, Slavery, Kara Walker, 1997
(Figure 5) Motivated by her love of history painting,
Walker strives to move from the pomposity and
inaccuracy endemic in historical paintings to a brutal and
meticulous kind of art that explodes racial stereotypes in
disturbing images. (Desai, et. al., 2010). Inspired by the
antebellum South and 18th- century silhouettes, this
installation commands an entire room with images of
blacks and whites of all ages, some engaged in disturbing
poses. Drawing from slave narratives as well as her
imagination, her research of Southern life, and even the
novel Gone with the Wind, Walkers artwork compels
the viewer to engage with history in a visceral, wrenching
way (Desai, et. al., 2010).
The Death of General Wolfe, Benjamin West, 1771
The compelling story of this tenth child of an innkeeper
includes that he was taught to mix paints by Native
Americans in the region. The depiction of the Native
American warrior is an idealization of the concept of
the noble savage. In opposition to the images in
twentieth century cowboy lms, Wolfe por trayed the
main Native American embodying deep thought. This
painting was extremely controversial at the time, as it
ignored the convention of dressing gures in classical
attire. Wolfe has re-written the actual event as no Native
Americans were present; they were ghting for the
French against the British.
linin imaes and social ustice issues
8/2/2019 Art in Social Studies Assessments
6/6
35
35
ArtEducation
[September2010]
34
Analyzing images, including ne ar ts, can support the growth of
basic historical literacy abilities by stimulating students to analyze
artistic ideas, take positions and defend them, examine the world
of visual images they live in, and ask new questions and produce
historical information in novel ways (Desai, et al., 2010). Here
are some possible examples by American artists that reveal
volumes about their subjects. The rst image reveals the bias and
role of story in historical painting, the purpose of which has
been largely usurped by photography today. Other artworks
that offer rich possibilities are noted on the previous page.
T Pw f A S h
F Tghf Cz
The small sample of artworks above reveal glorication of the
past, the impact of slavery on its victims, and the injustice faced
by Americans. Art stimulates emotional connections to the past
and understanding in unique and profound ways that can never
be duplicated by mere words or graphs. DBQs should includeworks of contemporary and traditional artists, as their creations
offer alternate perspectives on historical events.
Art teachers strive to teach children how to read the visual
signs of past and present cultures. DBQs offer art teachers
intriguing openings to extend their inuence beyond their own
classrooms to those of their social studies colleagues. If art
teachers contribute to the creation of social studies assessments
and instruction, they will have greater opportunities to challenge
social studies teachers and students to analyze artworks for
what they reveal about societal values and power structures. In
the process, they may nurture students to become more visually
literate and help create informed citizens who have the tools
to analyze and critique their society.
References
Cizek, G. J. (2001). More unintended consequences of high stakes testing.
Educational Measurement 20(4), 19-27.
Chapman, L. (2004). No child left behind in art.Arts Education Policy Review,
106, 2, 3-20.
Cohen, D. K., & Hill, H. C. (2000). Instruction policy and classroom
performance: the mathematics reform in California. Teachers College
Record, (102) 2, 294-343.
Crain, W. (1992). Theories of development. NJ: Prentice Hall.
Cremin, L. (1976). Traditions of American education. New York: Basic Books.
Desai, D., Hamlin, J., Mattson, J. (2010). History as art, art as history. New York:
Routledge.
Dutro, E., Fisk, M. C., Koch, R., Roop, L .J., & Wixson, K. (2002). When state
policies meet local district contexts: standards-based professional
development as a means to individual agency and collective ownership.
Teachers College Record, (104), 4.
Firestone, W. A., & Mayorwetz, D. (2000). Rethinking high-stakes: lessons
from the United States and England and Wales. Teachers College Record,
(102) 4, 724-749.
Fowler, C. (1996). Strong arts, strong schools. New York: Oxford University
Press.
Grant, S.G., Derme-Insinna, A., Gradwell, J., Lauricella, A.M., Pullano, L., & Tzeto,K. (2001). Teachers, tests, and tensions: Teachers respond to the New York
State global history exam, International Social Studies Forum, 1(2), 107-125.
Grant, S. G., Derme-Insinna, A., Gradwel l, J., Lauricella, A. M., Pullano, L., & Tzeto,
K. (2002). Juggling two sets of books: A teacher responds to the New
York State Global History Exam,Journal of Curriculum and Supervision,
17(3), 232-255.
Grant, S. G., Gradwell, J.M., Cimbricz. S. K. (2004). A question of authenticity:
The document-based question as an assessment of the students
knowledge of history.Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, (19)4, 309-337.
Kliebard, H. M. (1995). The struggle for the American curriculum 1893-1958.
New York: Rout ledge.
Mathison, S., & Freeman, M. (2003, September 24). Constraining elementary
teachers work: dilemmas and paradoxes created by state mandated
testing. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 11(34). Retrieved September 24,
2003, from http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v11n34/.
New York State Social Studies. Learning Standards and Core Curriculum: Global
History and Geography, United States Histor y and Government, Grade 12
Social Studies. Retrieved January 26, 2010, from http://www.emsc.nysed.
gov/ciai/socst/pub/sscore2.pdf.
New York State Social Studies. What are document-based questions and why
are we doing them?Retrieved March 28, 2006, from http://www.emsc.
nysed.gov/ciai/ dbq/iione.html.
Regents Exam in U.S. History and Government. (January 29, 2009). Albany,
NY: New York State Education Department. Retrieved May 25, 2009
from http://www.nysedregents.org/testing/socstre/us-109/us-109.pdf.
Rothschild, E. (2000). The impact of the document-based question on the
teaching of US history, The History Teacher, (33)4, August, 495-500.
Sakoguchi, B. (2009). http://www.bensakoguchi.com/series_postcards_from_
camp.phpSchwartz, S., Blue, S. Klemann, M., Kramerson, A., & Perielli, J. (2002). Using
document based questions (DBQ) as a research tool for the teaching and
learning about young adults. Paper presented at the annual conference of
the National Council for the Social Studies, Phoenix, AZ.
State Assessment: Social Studies Regents Examinations - U. S. History, http://
www.nysedregents.org/testing/socstre/regentushg.html
Yeh, S.S. (2001). Tests worth teaching to: constructing state-mandate tests that
emphasize critical thinking. Educational Researcher, (30)19, 12-17.
Susan Goetz Zwirn is the Graduate Director and Associate Professor
of Art Education at Hofstra University. Her research areas include
the marginalization of the arts in American education, arts
integrated curriculum, and the artist teacher. In addition, she is a
painter and arts program evaluator. E-mail: [email protected]
Andrea S. Libresco is Associate Professor and Graduate Director of
Social Studies Education and Associate Director of the Center for
Teaching and Scholar ly Excellence at Hofstra University. She has
written on a variety of topics, including citizenship, current events,
and gender and conducts ongoing research on the effects of the
New York State elementary and secondary social studies tests on
instruction. E-mail: [email protected]