Culture Racial Identity and Agency Mary Stone Hanley

Culture, Racial Identity, and Agency: Mary Stone Hanley, professor, George Mason University Probing the possibilities of culturally responsive arts education

I like the program because it made me have more confidence in myself. It made me believe in myself because I was so use to people putting me down telling me you can't do this, you can't do that. It was never to try and you will succeed, so I gave up on myself. Thank you. You helped me a lot… ---Torie, age 14

How do I commit myself to do work that is predicated on a belief in the power of the mind, when African American intellectual inferiority is so much a part of the taken-for-granted notions of the larger society that individuals in and out of school, even good and wellintentioned people, individuals who purport to be acting on my behalf, routinely register doubts about my intellectual competence? ---Theresa Perry on the dilemmas of African American students (Perry, Steele and Hilliard, 2003).

Many a person is unhappy, tortured within, because he has at command no art of expressive action. ---John Dewey, Art as Experience n What our children need is love and the arts— love to know they are valued and the arts to express that value. Haki Madhubuti

“And this redefinition of educational equality means affirming that problems or shortcomings in learning are not so much in shortcomings in ethnic minority students as in inequalities in the schools they attend. It also means refocusing schools toward being more responsive to human variability, spending less time manipulating ethnic students to make them comply to institutional structures, and instituting programs and processes that empower students through access to highquality knowledge and experiences. ” -- G. Gay

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Heinz Foundation Literature Review RACIAL OPPRESSION Positive Racial Identity Development Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Resilience Achievement ALANA CULTURE AND EDUCATION

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy developed using the culture of students n Students are agents of change n Inspires critical, imaginative, and creative thinking n Inspires affective learning n Encourages active learning n Stimulates connections to the community and community development n Develops knowledge of global, national, and historical connections n

Themes for Culturally Responsive Pedagogy n n n n Involve the community. Use culture and racial identity as an asset. Educate about racism and racial uplift. Develop caring relationships. Assume success. Promote active learning, problem-based instruction and student involvement. Employ the arts. Acknowledge the challenges.

Culture …the web of significance that man himself has spun Clfford Geertz

Drama Discipline, Commitment, Motivation n n 10 weeks, 3 hours/day, 5 days/week Learned performance skills and acting techniques using culturally relevant content and form. Created a script through improvisation and storytelling using culturally relevant content and form. Performed for peers, educators, family, and community members.

Name Age/ Gender GPA Parental Occupation Lives with Mico 13/male 1. 5 sells clothes in KMart mother Toni 13/female 1. 5 sells clothes in KMart mother Hakeem 14/male 2. 5 teacher mother Tori 14/female 2. 5 beautician mother Lateefa 13/female 2. 0 retired grandmother Ronnie 13/male 3. 0 (m) office worker mother and (f) restaurant cook father Delonn 13/male 2. 0 unemployed mother Sala 14/female 2. 0 beautician mother Olivia 13/female 3. 5 pediatrician mother

Sheryl 13/female 3. 0 postal worker father Jaz 14/male 1. 5 day care worker sister David 14/male 3. 5 paralegal mother Trane 14/male 1. 5 bank teller mother Crystal 13/female 2. 5 cosmetologist mother Nile 14/female 3. 0 telemarketer mother Matilda 14/female 2. 5 bus driver mother Mona 14/female 1. 5 nanny sister Cassandra 13/female 2. 5 unemployed guardian May 14/female 3. 0 (m) computer operator (f) plasterer Isis 13/female 2. 5 (m) travel agent (f) Mother and county administrator father Mother and father

Culturally Responsive Arts Education P EMPOWERMENT E R F O Risk taking Respect Powerlessness R E S I S R Imagination AGENCY Creativity T Creativity M Imagination A A N N C C E E Culture and Community

Agency “the freedom of human beings to make choices in ways that make a difference in their lives” J. Martin, J. Sugarman, & J. Thompson …”the capacity to exercise control over one’s own thought processes, motivation, and action” Albert Bandura

Artistic Agency PERCEPTION CONCEPTUALIZATION EXPRESSION TRANSFORMATION

Attributes of the Arts Imagination Creativity Problem-Solving Higher Order Thinking Skills Collaboration Intrinsic Motivation Communication Interdisciplinary Structure Observation Skills Connection of Mind, Body, Emotions, & Spirit Cultural History Empowerment Active Learning Affective Learning Risk-Taking Openness Sensory Awareness Community Building Alternative Symbol Systems Pattern, Rhythm Harmony, Balance, & Composition Critical Thinking Cultural Change Cultural Knowledge Pleasure (Fun) Concentration/Focus Self-Discipline Hypothesizing (What if? ) Mental and Physical Agility Research Skills Aesthetics: Study of Beauty Multiple Perspectives Empathy Artistic Agency Perception Conceptualization Expression Transformation

Achievement / Success through Culturally Responsive Arts RISK-TAKING CULTURE EMPOWERMENT PLEASURE/FLOW MOTIVATION IMAGINATION CREATIVITY AGENCY