Rationale
I have been privileged to teach visual art to 9-12 graders at RCHS for the past two years. My students are bright, creative, and driven despite facing a variety of challenges. They’ve taught me a great deal too - about perseverance, about family, and about unconditional love.
My students know me to be social justice-oriented. I do my best to design meaningful and relevant units that push students to confront their implicit biases, to consider other perspectives, and to use visual art as a way to communicate meaningfully. I’ve found that having authentic relationships with students is foundational to initiating discussions on difficult topics in the classroom. The close bonds I have with my kids set up this unit in particular, because of its heavy themes, for success.
Because I am a white teacher of students of color in a predominantly black school district in a predominantly black city, the unit I’ve designed is tailored specifically for the community of students I serve. It is my intent for white teachers to use this unit in predominantly black schools. However, a teacher of color could certainly tweak some aspects of the unit to better fit their circumstances and student demographics. Likewise, a white teacher of predominantly white students could also manipulate this unit to better match her goals. The objectives in each of these circumstances will vary, with all variations being equally meaningful. Regardless, it is important that the thread of white supremacy throughout American history and into the modern day remains in focus and in constant critique, as it is a foundational concept to the work of anti-racist teaching and specifically to the content of this unit.
This unit will be taught to my Art II class and will span approximately ten 90-minute classes. I intentionally chose this group because it will likely contain an equal number of students whom I’ve taught and students who will be new to me. Due to the controversial and potentially triggering nature of the content I will be teaching, I will prepare a letter home to parents, which will explain in detail what we’ll be studying, why it’s relevant, and how it connects to the Visual Art, English Language Arts, and United States History curriculum by citing specific state standards. I will create an opt-out clause for students whose parents don’t want them to participate. My plan to notify parents in advance of the unit will give parents/guardians an opportunity to make a well-informed decision about their child’s participation. Communication with my principal about the content of this unit will also be of the utmost importance.
Comments: