Full Description
School communities identified these children as the "throwaways"-children who often experienced bullying, abuse, foster care, juvenile detention, and special education services. In this book, children with learning differences engage in artmaking as sensemaking to deepen their understanding of what it means to live on the margins in U.S. public K-12 schools. Their artmaking calls upon educators, school leaders, and policymakers to actively engage in addressing the injustices many of the children faced in school. This book is revolutionary. For the first time, children with learning differences, teachers, staff, and school leaders come together and share how they understand the role artmaking as sensemaking plays in empowering disenfranchised populations. Together, they encourage school community members to examine pedagogical practices, eliminate exclusive policies, and promote social justice-oriented work in schools. Their artmaking inspires new ways of knowing and responding to the lived experiences of children with learning differences. They hope their work encourages school communities to make authentic connections to improve their learning, capacity to love others, and of most importantly, to value oneself. Authors' first-tellings capture the human experience of navigating through oppressive educational systems. Authors urge us to consider what it means to be empathic and to engage in the lives of those we serve. Their truths remind us to that standing still should never be an option.
Contents
List of Figures
1 Introduction: Artmaking as Sensemaking as a Portrait of Resilience for Children with Learning Differences
Christa Boske
PART 1: Children Voices
2 You Can't Get in My Shoe
S
3 The Cage
N
4 One of the Best (Because I Worked so Hard on This)
C
5 "Acception"
T
6 Princess
A
7 The Flame of Anger
L
8 I Want People to Listen
J
9 Animal Land
L
10 Helping Hands
M
11 Treat Women Like Flowers-They Are Gentle
J
12 Magna Shoe
P
13 Deep Blue
L
14 Barricade
A
15 My Story
S
16 Freedom
V
17 The Cycle #Dark Side
The Old Me (Author) and the New Me (Author)
18 I Look Fabulous
A
19 Born for Bred
M
PART 2: Adult Voices
20 Born for Bred
A
21 The Tension of Duality
B
22 Diversity Is My Degree
C
23 Adversity
D
24 The Sky Is the Limit
E
25 They Lived Their Art
F
26 The Children Touch My Heart
G
27 Raw: The Thread That Connects Us
H
28 Confronting Anxieties on a Small Scale
I
29 Leading through Artmaking: Recognizing the Power of Arts-Based Approaches
J
30 Developing My Approach to Working with Children
K
31 The "Red R" Kid: Disrupting My Deficit-Laden Label
L
32 Living the Dream
M
33 Afterword: The Power of the Artmaking as Sensemaking
Christa Boske
