What Can Schools Learn from Artists?

The world and its challenges are complex, says Flossie Chua, Ed.M.’08, Ed.D.’16, a principal investigator at Project Zero, and it’s not always easy to make sense of these challenges and act constructively to address them. But, she says, as interconnected members of society moving through the world as both individuals and as members of communities, we have a responsibility to figure it out. 

And looking to artists and the way they approach their work could be a good starting point. Artists, she says, question the world around them and create ideas that can inspire people to consider the world in new ways. 

With this in mind, Chua co-created Cultivating Creative & Civic Capacities (C4), a project in collaboration with Cindy Foley, the director of education at the Columbus Museum of Art, and K–12 public school teachers. The project offers a set of classroom-ready ideas and resources for teachers to explore with students as they think about negotiating the complexities and tensions of living together in shared societies.

“We hypothesized that creativity could empower us to imagine how our world could be otherwise, explore and uncover the complexities of living together in society, and help bring our ideas into the world in thoughtful and sustainable ways,” says Chua. C4 is organized around four “I” words: investigate, imagine, influence, and interconnect that should help students “push beyond business-as-usual ways” and nurture civic-mindedness. “The idea is not to just keep making things,” she says, “but to slow down the thinking and doing processes so that whatever we create is sustainable and just.”

C4 resources are offered on the Columbus Museum of Art website, including this exercise for teachers to help students reflect on their assumptions, beliefs, and values regarding the purpose of school — not just for themselves, but for society overall. The exercise starts by exploring the question, “Why do you go to school?”

1. Towards the beginning of the year, ask students, “Why do you go to school?”
   • Individually write or draw responses on large post its (hard-copy or virtual).
   • Brainstorm and record answers in groups, followed by individual written responses.
   • Interview each other and record each other’s answers.
2. Facilitate a discussion using something called the “see-think-wonder” routine:
   • What do you notice about the different responses?
   • What do they make you think or wonder?
   • What makes you say that?” Record the responses on chart paper.
3.  Ask students to create a map or other visual representation of the answers.
   • Post the map in the classroom with the date. Occasionally return to the map throughout the year as ideas or questions arise that either support or challenge the ideas represented. Post them in a different color or using a post it
4. On another day, facilitate a discussion along the lines of, “Why are there schools?” or “What would society be like if most of us didn’t go to school?”
   • Record highlights from the discussion and post them next to the map.
5. At the end of the year, revisit the earlier responses with the students.
   • What do they notice? Ask them to complete the prompt, “I used to think the purpose(s) of school was … Now I think the purpose(s) of school is …”

Variations for this exercise:

• If students would be more comfortable responding anonymously, ask them to choose an
  alias to identify their responses.
• You can also respond to the same question from the perspective of your role as teacher
  and/or learner.
• Share the responses of one class with another (grade, subject) and ask what students
  notice.
• Ask caregivers to respond to a similar question. (“Why does your child go to school?”) In
  advance, ask caregivers to predict how their children would respond to the question about
  why they go to school, and ask students to predict what their caregivers would say.

Questions for teachers to ask one another about this exercise:

• Is it important to have a conversation with students about why they go to school? If so,
  why?
• What do you want students to see as the purposes of schooling, and how might you help
  them see it that way?
• Is there a connection you want students to be aware of between why you teach and why
  they go to school? If so, what is it?
• How important is it that students and teachers share similar purposes for being in school?
• How does compulsory education change the context for thinking about this question?