Annotated Bibliography & Course Connections
Updated: Aug 25
Reflections on my enlightening journey in the MA Art Education program, paired with a detailed list of resources that inform my practice.
Class Reflections
I entered the MA Art Ed program rather recently, this being my very first semester (Summer 26). I have taken a total of three courses: ARTEDUC6000, ARTEDUC7795, and ARTEDUC5795, which as a combination have refined both my practice and identity as an educator.
ARTEDUC7795: Art, Place, and Praxis: Geographic and Spatial Approaches to Art Education
This course, taught by Gloria Wilson, was extremely insightful and challenged my creativity in the best way possible. With an overarching theme of Space, Place, and Aesthetics we explored the essential question: How can educators formulate a spatially aware teaching practice? Diving into the ways in which our lived environment has an effect on our movement throughout the spaces we inhabit.
The weekly readings paired with the meaningful art-making prompts urged us to consider not only the space our students come from, but also the space we as educators derive—reminding us our artistic pedagogy is directly shaped by our everyday surroundings. The most significant learning experience I had in this class was that spaces determine the choreography of our bodies, and how different spaces promote different choreography. Pushing us to notice that structure is not random, but strategic and packed with meaning. After taking this course I understand space is not neutral, but instead molded by its history and the cultures that continue to reside. Bringing this understanding to the forefront of my mind as I carry out my teaching practice will allow me to connect with my students on a deeper level and create meaningful art.
ARTEDUC5795: Special Topics: Arts Integration
I really enjoyed this course because we were given a chance to explore the Arts in more broader terms. Each week we explored the different carousels of art (Visual Arts, Theatre, Dance, Communal Art) and completed a project reflecting our learnings. The biggest challenge by far was a group project where we were required to formulate an interpretive dance, virtually. Initially I was extremely intimidated by this assignment, it really brought me out of my comfort zone and pushed me to utilize my creativity in a new, unfamiliar way. As a shy, introverted person, I felt really awkward at first. However, I had such an amazing group that it took no time for me to warm up and feel comfortable. After meeting my partners and getting a better understanding of the project, my apprehension slowly turned into confidence.
My biggest takeaway from this course was seeing the importance in cross connecting with other subjects (history, literature, SEL, etc.) and how this teaching method really creates a stronger foundation of knowlegde for our students. When we formulate coursework emphasizing the integration between subjects, we nuture the understanding that much of everything is connected. Adopting this approach in my teaching method supports my purpose as an educator and underlines this reoccurring theme of offering a bridge between art and the real-world.
ARTEDUC6000: Reflective Practice, Research & Portfolio
The nature of this course has allowed me to reflect on the insight gathered throughout my time in the program. Not only am I given a chance to ponder key concepts explored within both my courses, but I also have a chance to examine my identity as an educator. The coursework provides a moment of self reflection that has led me to a place where I can clearly define my mission as a Title I Elementary Art Teacher.
Annotated Bibliography
Teaching art within the very community I was raised has directly contributed to the strong bond my students and I share. As I work as an educator within an unpredictable environment, my role has become to demonstrate the ways in which art can be used as both an expressive and productive tool. The following list of annotated sources support a teaching pedagogy centered around the setting in which our practice takes place, and how the consideration of circumstances positively inform our practice. These resources share an overarching theme of environment, and reveal the importance of cultivating a spatially aware practice—as it fosters competencies across subjects beyond the arts.
Elderbrock, E., Russel, K., Ko, Y., Budd, E., Gonen, L., & Enright, C. (2024). Evaluating Urban Green Space Inequity to Promote Distributional Justice in Portland, Oregon. Land, 13(6), 720-. https://doi.org/10.3390/land13060720
Urban green space is often unequally distributed throughout cities, this scholarly journal establishes a process to assess intra-urban green space inequities at the city scale. With access and exposure to urban green space being associated with various health benefits, it is crucial to draw our attention to the ways in which our students’ lived environment affect their learning and overall success.
The findings of this selected case study for the city of Portland, Oregon, USA is a direct reflection of a larger global design— specifically the greater North America. Because of this, the discussion of distributional green space justice must be associated within similar socioeconomic contexts. According to this study, from 2014 to 2020 lower income communities, as well as communities with greater non-white population densities, experienced significant decreases in tree canopy cover compared to whiter and wealthier communities in Portland, Oregon, USA. Similarly, in Montreal, Canada, neighborhoods with greater low-income and minoritized racial populations had significantly less tree canopy cover overall as well (p. 2). This finding mirrors the environment of my own, as well as that of my students. These findings underline clear evidence of disparities in tree cover based on race and income. This study also points out that while numerous city and national scale assessments have found evidence of urban green space inequities, they stop at providing data-informed, spatially explicit recommendations for addressing existing disparities (p. 3). This scholarly article takes things a step further by addressing these gaps, proposing a multi-step process towards identifying and combating these green space inequalities at a city scale.
Understanding how urban landscapes affect human health is imperative when working as an educator for children existing in these particular environments. This scholarly article reveals that urban environments have been linked to serious public health concerns (poor mental health, physical inactivity, air pollution, extreme heat, etc.) all of which being risk factors for premature mortality. This source speaks to the ways in which spatial circumstances impact our students, as well as our teaching.
Forster, I. (2017). Julie Mehretu in Politicized Landscapes. Art in the twenty-first century (Season 5, Episode 4). https://art21.org/watch/extended-play/julie-mehretu- politicized-landscapes-short/
This Art21 Episode introduces us to the profound work of Julie Mehretu, who reminds us the land we occupy is not neutral, but instead infinitely influenced by it's history. Julie Mehretu’s work in Politicized Landscapes urges individuals to slow down and analyze the meaning buried within the structure of their surroundings. Adopting Mehretu’s approach as we engage in classroom discussions regarding the community will force students to consider how they are affected by the circumstances of their environment.
In this Art21 episode we are given an opportunity to closley examine a large-scale interperative map created by Julie Mehretu. She thoughtfully iterates her thought process and offers a behind the scenes breakdown of her profound map making approach. "The actual landscape is politicized by the events that take place on it"(Mehretu, 2017, 00:30). As Mehretu builds this extensive map she considers the violent expansion of the American West, war, colonialism, and abolition as well as the ways in which these events have effected us as humans. Overlapping blurred images of the past, the colorful scattered pixels combine to symbolize the origins of our land. Julie Mehretu considers the narrative of our colonial history along with the social dynamics directly driven by this narrative, posing the attentive question: "What does it mean to paint a landscape and try to be an artist in this political moment?" (1:10). Responding from a more personal, deeper place Mehretu utilizes a combination of images representing the coexistence of annihilation and preservation. Remind us that on our land these two exist simultaneously. She teaches us that when dealing with things we don't have the proper language for, as artists, we can turn to "visual neologisms" (7:05)— that the strategic repetition of marks can work to invent something meaningful, when language is simply not enough.
As an educator, it is imperative to mirror Mehretu's level of consideration. Placing the social dynamics of my community at the forefront of my teaching practice will establish a productive classroom environment, directly contributing to the enrichment of competencies within my students.
Marshall, J. (2019). Part III: Art-Based Strategies for Creative Inquiry. Integrating the Visual Arts Across the Curriculum: An Elementary and Middle School Guide. Teachers College Press.
In part three of Integrating Visual Arts Across the Curriculum, Julia Marshall describes the ways in which we as educators can promote learning through creative art-based inquriy. Marshall goes in depth about how to lead productive conversations promoting constructive dialogue and meaninful artmaking. Adapting these inquiry-based teaching methods centered about creativity will grant students an opportunity to exercise their participation competencies within the art room.
Julia Marshall explains applying art-based inquiry in the classroom offers a series of exercises "that encourage learners to explore ideas in personal ways and to build meanig and understanding for themselves"(p. 15). We learn that Creative Inquiry "embraces the more adventuresome creativity of experimental and imaginative play with ideas and possibilities. This play, which generates imaginative leaps, fresh perspectives, and unexpected connections" which serves as a primary method of learning (p.16). Marshall further elaborates that art-based inquiry is so effective because it allows for information to be applied and engaged with simultaneously— "The learner uses information to formulate something new, to make new inferences, or to approach something from a fresh vantage point. In doing so, learning is amplified because, in a creative endeavor, a learner not only applies what she is learning but also plays with its possibilities" (p.16). We learn that our role as educators is to provide a teaching structure that is stimulating enough to generate profound thinking and pushes learners to go deeply into what a body of knowledge means and why it is important. Generating productive dialogue in the classroom and teaching students how to create art directly related to their own lives, adding foundation to the bridge connecting what is learned in the classroom to real life.
Applying these ideologies to my own teaching practice will refine my approach and enrich classroom discussions. Favoring art-based inquiry when introducing new ideas to young learners will give them an opportunity to thoughtfully discet information and apply it to their own lives, creating a deeper understading of the world around them and how art can be used to descibe our unique experiences.
Nelson, S. (2016). Theaster Gates in Chicago. Art in the twenty-first century (Season 8, Episode 1). https://art21.org/watch/art-in-the-twenty-first-century/s8/theaster-gates- in-chicago-segment/
In this Art21 episode, Theaster Gates introduces art as a form of intervention. We are taken to his childhood neighborbood on the southside of Chicago, where has has began a profound project focusing on the revitalization of his community. With an aim to combat violence and crime, Gates walks us through his decision making as he combines art and culture to counter the conditions of his environment.
In Chicago, Theaster Gates reminds us that the "things we imagine have no value, are things we simply have stopped seeing as having value." He emphasizes this perspective through the repurposing of abandoned buildings on the block he was raised, naming this project of renewal Buildings on the Block: House for Repositories. With a mission to slow down violence and an act to see beauty where it lives without pretense, Gates transformed these forgotten spaces into art intervention establishments: Album Collection House, Black Cinema House, Mixed Income Housing for Artists, and most importantly, the Stoney Arts Bank. These houses stand as a new repository for the Black image and the Black American historical experience. As we watch this video, we are urged to consider the ways in which we can create spaces ample in culture and impactful art making. The use of rejuvenation as a tool of resistance speaks to the profound question Gates leaves us with at the end of his interview: "What would the Black world look like if we invested in Art?"
Considering the work of Theaster Gates as I teach art at two Title I schools, reminds me to cultivate such a space within my classroom. Emphasing the importance of art as a tool within my teaching practice establishes an understanding that, in the words of Theaster Gates, when art and culture are present it serves as a magnet for possibilities.
Wieczorek, L., Scholten, N., & Bienert, N. (2025). Pupils as Spatial Citizens: Design Principles for Education for Sustainable Development Projects to Promote Pupils’ Participation. In M. Hardouin & C. Leininger-Frézal (Eds.), Curricular Changes in Geography Education (pp. 171–186). Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-96551-7_13
Our social climate is increasingly complex, and the need for youth participation in addressing these challenges is also increasing. This scholarly article describes an educator's role in enhancing the competencies necessary for active youth engagement, examining current participation practices that directly strengthen a student's ability to engage more deeply in societal discourses. This journal provides us with ten design principles to consider when aiming to formulate sustainable development projects.
This journal informs us that Participatory Competencies can be defined as "the ability to gain knowledge about various forms and opportunities for participation and to utilize them effectively; this encompasses the capacity to articulate and express personal interests, share them, and contribute to public discourses" (p.172) Wieczorek, Scholten, and Bienert stress our duty as educators to implement these processes within our classrooms, as schools are "pivotal institutions for education and socialization and aim to prepare young adults to become responsible citizens, which encompasses the fostering of participatory competencies." Putting these processes into play can be seen as aligning classroom content closely with our pupils' everyday experiences, which allows us to address their needs and recognize them as experts of their own world. (p. 180). Such practices will establish a learning environment where young adults feel more motivated to "engage actively with spatial issues through practical methods (hands on) that facilitate more profound and sustainable learning experiences" (p.181). This scholarly article emphasizes the importance of spatial awareness and the profound impact it has on both a student's learning and participatory competencies.
Adopting a teaching method that directly contributes to a young adult's participatory proficiencies is imperative as an educator. This source speaks to the importance in preparing our students for real-world engagements through the use of meaningful art making.
Wilson, G. J., (2018) “Global Consciousness in Art Education: Utility and Problematics of Curriculum Development within a Critical Postmodern Relational Praxis”, Journal of Cultural Research in Art Education 35(1), 13-25. doi: https://doi.org/10.2458/jcrae.4860
In this scholarly essay, Gloria WIlson builds upon Olivia Gude's postmodern principles of art, and describes how the application of these priniples look when applied to our cirriculum. Wilson demonstrates how educators can tackle complex questions around culture within the classroom utilizing Gude's postmodern tactics, and inturn strengthen competencies within young learners.
Gloria Wilson informs us that "Gude’s (2004) postmodern principles of art [appropriation, hybridity, layering, reconceptualization, juxtaposition, gazing, interaction of text and image, and representation], are presented to the field of art education as a fresh way to engage with 21st century art curricula. To these ends, these concepts push beyond standardization and the use of traditional elements/principles of art and disrupt the essentialist system of logic of designing curricula, which fails to de-center the strict use of traditional elements and principles of art" (p. 17). Wilson urges practitioners of art education to "critically reflect on how Western patterns of thought and practice re-inscribe a colonialist mindset and privilege" (p. 13). She teaches us that when we examine and understand the ways in which cultures are affected by colonial structures, we begin to notice a pattern in the denial of agency and a flattening of narratives. We learn that fostering Olivia Gude's postmodern principles in the classroom serve as "provocations for challenging reductionist intercultural views, ideologies, and narratives" (p. 17). This critical postmodern lens offers space for our pedagogical practice to illuminate, critique, and de-center the static discourse of traditional elements and principles of design, teaching students to pull back the curtain and reveal complex narratives of people whose cultures have been reduced, marginalized, and submerged.
Applying Gude's postmodern prinicples using the approach of Gloria Wilson will strengthen my ability as an educator to lead complex conversaions necessary within global narratives, strethening stuctural and cultual compentencies that work to disrupt dominant narratives (p. 23).
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