Introduction
Artistic Literacies Can Engage and Inspire
This book Artistic literacies; Creative and Imaginative Learning in a Global Era provides a theoretical and practical base for understanding the value of integrating artistic images in teaching English language arts and related disciplines. I take the position that multi-modal literacies enrich and deepen our understanding of texts in ways that can potentially empower and inspire. Transcultural and interdisciplinary learning are vital in an increasingly connected and complex world. The ability to understand, decode, negotiate, and interpret art images is an essential skill in a digital and visual culture. While many of the chapters have relevance to Senior High educators specializing in English language arts, psychology, history, and environmental education, educators across different disciplines and at different levels can find value in applying visual arts in their work. Creative learning and transformative learning can be developed through Artistic Ways of Knowing (AWoK). Artistic ways of knowing evolved out of different theories of multiple ways of knowing and multimodal literacies ( Gardner, 1983; Kalantzis & Cope, 2012; New London Group). Artistic ways of knowing refer to skills, competencies, and knowledge in artistic disciplines such as visual art ( sculpture, photograhic, graphic arts) drama, storytelling, creative writing, music, dance, and other expressive arts. Artistic ways of knowing extend knowledge to include a greater awareness and valuing of affective knowing, spiritual dimensions of knowing, and imaginative and symbolic ways of knowing (Gardner, 1983, New London Group, 1996). Learners can also develop skills in interpreting, applying, and expressing one modality of learning to another communicative modality (e.g. a written poetic text can be inspired visual details in a painting). Multimodality is a theory that explores the way oral, written, gestural, tactile, and spatial /visual ways of knowing are interconnected (Kalantzis & Cope, 2012).
A major focus in this book is to highlight the complementary dynamic between visual art and written texts. One form of art can illuminate and inform another to include “the stimulation of imagination and perception, a sensitivity to various modes of seeing and sense making, and a grounding in the situations of lived life” (Greene, 1995, p. 138). Frank Serafini (2014) identifies four processes that individuals use to interpret and analyze visual images and multimodal texts: 1) perception, 2) representation, 3) interpretation, and 4) ideology. He explains that our personal histories as well as socio-cultural factors influence our perception and interpretation of different modalities. “Our experiences and perceptual apparatus serve as lenses through which we experience the world….Perception and interpretation are not separate mental operations, but rather thoroughly interconnected social processes, and any approach to understanding visual images or multimodal texts must acknowledge this interconnection” (Serafini, 2014, p. 32). Visual thinking skills, for example, can help learners create visual metaphors for complex themes and plot twists in a novel or drama. This book will provide examples and resources to help navigate analyzing and “reading” varied artistic texts.
This book includes theoretical analysis of the way artistic literacies can encourage and enhance social and emotional learning, reading comprehension, and transcultural literacies. One chapter connects the Ukiyo-e style of Japanese art with Japanese Haiku and Tanka. A chapter like this might be a catalyst for further research into the unique artistic styles of different cultures. Social, cultural, and historical learning can be encouraged. There are chapters highlighting Indigenous and African American themes in art, transcultural perspectives, and the use of art to explore themes in poetry, short stories, novels, and drama to highlight themes and delve more analytically into characters. Science fiction stories are complemented with visionary art and futuristic artistic styles. Conventionally academic classic short stories are thematically connected to art images from similar historical time periods.
Encouraging environmental awareness by reading poems with nature art images can also encourage learners to appreciate the beauty, wonder, and vibrancy of poetic words that are used to describe place-names. Re-visiting poetry by William Blake, William Wordsworth, Emily Dickinson, Christinna Rossetti, Bliss Carman, and John Clare might encourage a sense of wonder and respect for the land and nature today. Paired with complementary art images, learners have an opportunity to reflect more deeply on the way nature has changed as a result of human impact. In his book Landmarks, Robert MacFarlane (2015) explains that the vibrancy of poetic language to describe landscapes can be a catalyst for imaginative thinking:
I do not, of course, believe that these words will magically summon us into a pure realm of harmony and communion with nature. Rather that they might offer a vocabulary which is ‘convivial’ as the philosopher Ivan Illich intended the word–meaning enriching of life, stimulating to the imagination and encouraging creative relations between people, and people and nature.’ And, perhaps, that the vibrancy of perception evoked in these glossaries may irrigate the dry-metalanguages of modern policy-making. (p. 9)
My hope is that connecting art images with poetry and related texts will be a catalyst in developing a “vibrancy of perception” (MacFarlane, 2015) and the motivation to inquiry and explore artistic and literary connections further. There are times in this text where “learners,” “educators,” and “students” are used interchangeably. The use of the term depends on the context of the specific section; educators are also co-learners, co-creators, co-researchers, and co-investigators. The term “learners” can also apply to educators., There are sections of this text that are designed more for educators who may wish to apply and adapt some of the ideas. I provide links to resources for further research and inquiry. I support Paulo Freire’s (1994/2021) assertion that building “pedagogies of hope” (Freire, 1994/2021, p.5) is grounded in critical dialogic discourse that reduces polarities between “students” and “teachers.” Knowledge and practices aimed at both individual and social agency requires a valuing of multiple perspectives and experiences.
Increasingly, research indicates that artistic literacy can improve learners’ reading comprehension and writing skills. Encounters connecting art and literature can open new possibilities for creative learning. Each chapter in this book is an invitation to further research. The section on (WHAT) might be a catalyst for students to explore art from different cultural perspectives. I have included specific ways that art images can be used to complement teaching short stories, poetry, novels, and other texts. In “A Close Look at Vincent van Gogh” through his art and letters, learners can explore the psychological landscape of the artist’s work. Learners can skim over the chapters and find a theme that interests them. Questions for research and further inquiry are provided with each chapter. I organized the artistic images, poetry, and related texts according to themes. The Appendix includes ideas for more detailed inquiry and research. Links to virtual art gallery and museum tours as well as the teaching resources provided by varied museums and art galleries are also provided.
The second book Transformative Approaches to Teaching English Language Arts Through Poetry, Art, and Related Texts is meant to provide complementary art-text resource guides that are theme-based and that further exemplify the possibilities of integrating art in literacy courses at the secondary level. Book Two includes themes such as Myths and legends, A close look at the sea, and Fantastical creatures and mythic monsters. The theoretical and practical foundations of Book One (Artistic Literacies) inform the themes in Book Two. The themes align with specific curricula from the Grades 9-12 ELA curriculum in Manitoba and other Canadian provinces Creative learning is an important part of global competencies and by integrating artistic literacies more intentionally into the curriculum, global competencies can develop further (https://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/cur/framework/docs/globalcompetencies_eng.pdf).
These books invite an exploration of innovative ways that arts-based pedagogies can be catalysts for creative learning in diverse educational contexts and in the larger classroom of life.
References
Freire, P. (1994/2021). Pedagogy of hope: Reliving pedagogy of the oppressed. Bloomsbury Academic.
Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. Basic Books.
Greene, M. (1995). Releasing the imagination: Essays on education, the arts, and social change. Jossey-Bass.
Kalantzis, M., & Cope, B. (2012). Literacies. Cambridge University Press.
Macro, K.J., & Zoss, M. (2019). A symphony of possibilities: A handbook for integration in secondary English language arts. National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
MacFarlane, R. (2015). Landmarks. Penguin.
New London Group (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Learning: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, No.66, 60-92.
Serafini, F. (2014). Reading the visual: An introduction to teaching multimodal literacy. Teachers College Press.
