There is such a vast amount of visual culture that we can teach our children, it is hard to choose where to begin. However, working with students and asking them what they are interested in is a great way to start exploring visual culture. "If we intend to develop interpretive skills in children it is important for them to have opportunities to study topics that are of deep interest to them since learning is motivated best if interest is already established the child (Boughton & Freedman, nd, p. 1)." In addition to that, categorizing the types of visual culture into themes can provide a great way to organize what tools can be used to teach students in a focused and interdisciplinary way. A " thematic approach provides infinite possibilities for the development of ideas that builds upon the interest of students (Boughton & Freedman, nd, p. 24)." As an art teacher, I hope to connect what I teach to what students learn outside of the classroom, and in that way, they can apply their learning to their lives.
Even though I have yet to have formal teaching experience, I do remember as a child learning lessons from my visual culture that I was not aware of learning until much later in life. For example, one of my all time favorite fantasy movies, Labyrinth, has a female protagonist that overcomes a powerful male adversary to save her brother. Her tag line "You have no power over me," is her secret weapon she uses to thwart his attempts to control her. As I watched this as a young child, I had no idea that this was highly influencing me to recognize the control I have over my own life, and as a female, it also had important strong undertones for me to learn such as feminism, female empowerment and self confidence. These topics were a big part of my identity formation, and still influence me today.
For my tech class this semester, we have to create a video game (will post link below once it is completed). I decided to base my game on the movie Labyrinth. It will feature the main character, Sarah, in a scene where she is trapped in a bubble in a ballroom setting. Although it is a beautiful fantasy, and her foe, the Goblin King, has set it up to make her forget about attaining her true goal, she knows in her heart something is not right. After some time spent dancing, she runs away and uses a chair to break the bubble and escape. The game will feature this same theme, but as a teacher, I can discuss how this also mirrors social issues that are part of our lives today. We often hear about how everyone lives "in a bubble," satisfied to be unaware of what is happening outside of our lives, communities and cultures. By breaking through those boundaries, we see that there are many challenges, but they are worth the ultimate goals we can achieve. In the movie, Sarah was able to not only get her ultimate goal, but she also was able to gain friends she didn't expect and realize the strength she has, giving her more self confidence and self love. Using these types of visual culture artworks, we can combine art making with identity formation, life skills, community involvement (or the inspiration to reach outside of your own bubble) and eventually, the power to change the world.
Although I have had a great life, I wonder how different it could be if I had been able to explore my interests in school at a young age, and taught to think critically of the things I was able to watch and see on a daily basis outside of school. Seeing both the bad and the good of visual culture is important, even at a young age, and I look forward to helping my students take their interests to the next level.
References
Freedman K., and Boughton D. (e-version) Elementary Art Education: A Practical Approach to Teaching Visual Culture.