Teaching and learning critical citizenship through visual arts in the intermediate phase at three primary schools : the South African paradigm
Art education at school could contribute to the holistic development of learners by creating opportunities to develop, hone and improve life skills that remain relevant throughout life. Visual Arts as a subject can create safe learning environments where learners can engage with critical issues related to their own lives, leading to the development of critical thinking through interactions with a learning community where learners regard and examine their own and others’ perspectives and opinions. Schools are not only institutions of academic performance, but also spaces where natural, real-life situations, conflicts and engagements occur. When learners receive social justice and critical citizenship education, they are able to learn beyond the learning material, procuring tools that will empower them now and as future adults who will be the architects of a future democratic South Africa. Our connection to our community governs our actions, and it helps us relate to and connect with one another. South Africa has had many hardships that brought division to the foundations of its community. When citizens struggle to develop a sense of belonging due to such divisions, it has an impact on their identity, role and participation in the community. The study asserts that schools are able to provide critical citizenship learning experiences, and that Visual Arts facilitates this exceptionally well. The study employed participatory action research (PAR) in which three schools participated. The research was designed to help learners and educators experience critical citizenship education. Learners investigated critical citizenship and social justice by brainstorming conceptions of citizenship in the local, national and global community and completed research independently to further their engagement. Learners underwent an embodied creative process and produced artwork to create a message or to comment on their community. Reflection occurred at the end of the PAR project when the educators were interviewed to give feedback and reflect on the learning experience. The participating learners potentially benefitted from the research by acquiring critical citizenship skills. The hope is that they will apply these skills in more subject disciplines, in broader contexts beyond school, and that they will also transfer them to future situations and generations. The educators benefitted by learning how to incorporate critical citizenship into their teaching and to become more aware of the impact Visual Arts can have on learners’ educational journey. Primary school learners’ conceptions of citizenship initially focused on team sports, animal cruelty, drinking and driving, people in service of the community (firefighters, police officers, doctors and nurses), violence and fighting, helping others, homelessness, kidnapping, loud neighbours, pollution and littering, stealing, hijacking, break-ins, watering trees and plants, rudeness, kindness, protecting the ocean, honesty, listening to parents and educators, donating money and food, criminals in prisons, deforestation and loadshedding. At the end of the project, conceptions of critical citizenship deepened to include child abuse and kidnapping, bullying, active participation in the community (working together to solve problems, helping one another, uplifting the community, assisting people with disabilities), environmental issues caused by irresponsible behaviour (climate change, overfishing, deforestation, littering, arson), unemployment and homelessness, animal cruelty and abuse, negative behaviour (being disrespectful, selfishness, affecting others with our bad choices), positive behaviour (kindness, good moral values, forgiveness, being considerate, honesty), crime (stealing, robbing, home break-ins, drunk driving), racism and prejudice, a lack of effective communication and connection (not listening or being distracted by devices), loadshedding, corruption and poverty. The impact of the research is a contribution to the literature on what learners grasp as essential issues in citizenship in contemporary South Africa and to show the application of critical citizenship education in Visual Arts.
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