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What Does Inclusion REALLY Mean in the Arts Classroom?

Presentation for OATK12 Summer 2022 by: Trinity Villanueva

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“Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance.” �

Verna Myers

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Why is Inclusivity Important?*

Acceptance, respect, and validation have a crucial impact on a student’s learning potential
Make an effort to demonstrate that you see and value them as unique individuals because the weight of fear and insecurity can lead to an unsafe learning environment

Students must learn from a variety of perspectives to become a well-rounded artist
Strive to include everyone, whether your student population reflects each diverse group or not.

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Be Aware, Understand + Check

Dominant culture(s)
Privilege(s)
Bias(es)

These are three things that you must be aware of at all times, understand, and check on a consistent basis. If you don’t have the check these things all of the time, then that is a privilege. To be surrounded in environments that cater to you – it can be very easy to write off.

I’ll use this simple example. I am left-handed, and growing up, especially in school, I did not realize how much of a minority I was due to the simple fact that I am left-handed. Now when you look at me, you don’t know that I am left-handed, until I start to write. And even then, most people don’t really think much of it. But when you look at all of the things in our world that were designed for right-handed people – especially when I was younger – like scissors, doors, cars, circular tables, desks (until more recently), notebooks, watches, belts… And if you are a right-handed person, you probably would have never thought about those things.

That’s what a dominant culture is. And if you are a right-handed person, that’s a privilege that you had, maybe without ever really knowing it. Imagine trying to borrow golf clubs or even a baseball mit if you’re left-handed. Or a guitar. But if you’re a right-handed person, you would have so many biases that you might not be aware of until you have a child who is left-handed. And then you realize how difficult it is to find certain things for the left-handed child. That there’s almost a part of you that wants to have them assimilate and become right-handed, but now you know that studies show that it’s not beneficial for the person to assimilate because it can cause problems for them in the long-run.

That is just one simple example. But there are lots of things that are apparent and maybe not so apparent. These can include gender, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, political beliefs, religious and spiritual beliefs, the ways one learns, neurodiversity, abilities, so on and so forth.

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Culture Add OVER Culture Fit

Culture Add: Looks for people who value the culture but bring something additionally positive to the community

Culture Fit: Preserves comfort and familiarity

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Traits Needed to Lead in an Inclusive Fashion

Self-awareness
Curiosity
Courage
Vulnerability
Empathy

Sustainable over performative

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Actionable Steps*

Start a conversation to create deeper connections.
Consider your actions and reactions
Model empowering behavior
Consider whose voices are and are not represented
Use inclusive language

*Borrowed from from Love Has No Labels

Some of these actionable steps are easier to be done from day 1. When you first meet your students in the classes, it is imperative to create a brave or a safe climate where open ideas and structure (whether that’s flexible or not) is done from the start. This way, once you’re ready to take these more actionable steps, it is much easier to do so.

As educators, your job is to model the behavior that you want to instill within your students and learners. Understanding that the arts is a pathway to spark independent learning and really promote creativity, you must empower your students. This sort of empowerment will allow students to feel more included and counted.

Remember that teacher that gave you an opportunity? Remember that professor that took time in getting to know how you learn? Be that teacher with your students.

The fourth bullet can go in so many directions. This could be voices in your classroom, artists that your students are learning about, community voices. Taking note of what has been notoriously included in your classroom can many times be eye-opening.

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Our Role in the Ecosystem

Understand your role and who you are innately
Understand how your role has changed and continues to evolve
Treat your students as part of this larger ecosystem
Understand that your students are growing and needing your support to even better understand who they are
What role does art play in your classroom within the collective and the individual students?

This is a Social Change Ecosystem Map by Deepa Iyer.

I placed this in here because in order to get to belonging and liberation and equity – understanding your role in the ecosystem is paramount within inclusion.

Not everyone can be an experimenter or a builder. Disrupters have a place. Weavers and storytellers as well. Once you understand what your role is as the art teacher in your classroom – then think about how you have understood your role to have changed throughout the years and how it continues to evolve.

Like you, your students also have a role in the ecosystem. If we stick to the ecosystem at this point within the classroom, think about which of your students this past year fit under some of these? You’re usually not only just one, you are a few. Which of your students were the caregivers or the frontline responders? Which were the disrupters and which were the builders? I’m certain you are able to almost instantly think of this, because it is true.

And every person has a role in this ecosystem. When you start to understand who your students are within the ecosystem, you can better include them, and ultimately better support how they learn and interact with others in the classroom dynamics.

Further, what role does art play in your classroom within the collective and through each individual student? How do your students utilize art to help their role within the ecosystem? It’s a deep question, but it’s worth an ask.

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Examples of What This Can Look Like

Create support systems (don’t blame on lack of motivation/interest).
Learn more about your students on an individual level (as much as you are able) that is appropriate and uplifting student agency.
Co-create in the classroom. You can do this by choosing some of the standards already set within your curriculum and activities and making room for student ideas.
Use gender neutral language
Elevate diverse artists (race/ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation) so that students can see their future selves or folx who identify within their communities – whether you are aware of this or not in how they identify
Create accessible spaces for your neurodiverse students