Resources:

• Shades of Noir website
• Hahn Tapper (2013) ‘ A pedagogy of social justice education: social identity, theory and intersectionality’
• ‘Room of Silence’ from Rhode Island School of Design
• ‘Retention and attainment in the disciplines: Art and Design’ Finnigan and Richards 2016.
• SoN Terms of Reference: Race

Shades of Noir

Shades of Noir is an independent program that was set up in 2009 to support:

1. Curriculum design
2. Pedagogies of social justice through representation
3. Cultural currency
4. Accessible knowledge

The SoN website provides a multitude of resources to assist with implementing inclusivity, social justice and diversity in education and the arts. The resource page alone, hosts the largest creative and BAME database I’ve ever come across. One particular aspect of the SoN website I find particularly useful is the Publications page with contains the Terms of Reference journals. These journals cover a variety of social topics which are valuable references for both academic staff as well as students. Other resources include articles written by other UAL students, staff and alumni.

Another service highlighted on the SoN website is their Safe Space Crits. This is a space where creatives who want to produce work about identity, race/inclusion or marginalisation can get critical feedback in safe space where their work can be critiqued on it’s own merit by experienced creative teaching practitioners ‘who have lived experience, historical understanding of marginalisation and a commitment to social justice pedagogy.’

From an Academic viewpoint, I see the SoN website as a brilliant resource for my own teaching practice. I teach on a course where the student demographic is extremely diverse and we also have a very high number of international students. The SoN website has a number of articles and links to resources that I can use to communicate and better understand my students, as well as providing a number of resources I can direct them to if they are in need of further help. There are still several areas of inclusivity that I am still learning myself and I don’t want to profess to my students to already know everything there is to know. I find that learning can be even more effective when it is done together, so I am more than willing to use the SoN website to access resources and learning alongside my students.

Hahn Tapper (2013) ‘ A pedagogy of social justice education: social identity, theory and intersectionality’

The first thing I learned from reading this text is that conflict resolution in education is ineffective unless social justice education is implemented within its pedagogy. There needs to be a foundational knowledge of social justice, especially on the teachers part, as they would be responsible for the education of students from a wide variety of backgrounds and students identities need to be taken into account in all educational settings. An ideal teaching environment would be one in which the teacher has formed a relationship with their students, rather than one of hierarchy, where the teacher is simply ‘depositing knowledge’ into the students without actually applying any real, relatable lived experience. The only way that relationship can be formed is through trust and that trust can only be gained if the teacher makes an effort to teach inclusively and show sensitivity to diversity.

The second thing I learned from the text was the theory of contact hypothesis (Allport 1954). After reading the case study and theory behind it, it reminded me of a similar ‘conflict resolution’ strategy I have had to employ in the past with my own children. It has made me aware of the importance of the environment in which my students have to engage. It also highlighted some of the problems that could occur if elements such as the exploration of social identities and power dynamics are not addressed within those spaces. I believe it is possible to create a positive environment, but we need to be aware of why we are trying to create it. Are we trying to orchestrate a distraction to any animosity that students may have towards each other? Because distractions can only last so long…

Room of Silence

This documentary highlighted the experiences of students (including students of colour) who tackle subjects around race in their work and the responses they get from their tutors and peers. Art that addresses topics such as race, religion, sexuality etc… always seems to create some sort of discomfort when being critiqued. Maybe it’s because it hits a nerve with people who feel uncomfortable with a specific topic, maybe it’s because some people deem certain topics as socially taboo. In many cases, the topic of race makes people uncomfortable because it highlights their own prejudice & privilege and makes them question the way they really feel about race.

Artists are essential to society. They are needed to be the creative voice of many social issues. To stifle their voices and dismiss their experiences so early on in their development is a total disservice to society. This is why it is important to have spaces like the SoN Safe Space Crits, so that art students can have their work critiqued in a non-judgmental environment. As one of the students in the documentary said, how are they supposed to know if their work is good or not, if the tutor is scared to critique the work or simply skims over the concept?

‘Retention and attainment in the disciplines: Art and Design’

This report looks at the differences in retention and attainment of students from diverse backgrounds and also looks at case studies that illustrate how changes can be made to address the differences. The data within the report shows that although the percentage of Art and Design students from diverse ethnic backgrounds in the UK is relatively low, the percentage of those students leaving with a low mark or without a degree altogether is worryingly high.

It would seem that although arts educational institutions are seen as spaces that encourage tolerance, risk-taking and democratised spaces, the reality is that some students soon find out that this is not the case and that enrolling on a subject that should ordinarily be very open to self expression and interpretation becomes something where they find themselves under scrutiny, discrimination and subject to dismissive attitudes towards their work. It is important for educational institutions to have staff from diverse ethnic backgrounds as well as make sure all staff have adequate training in diversity, inclusivity and social justice.

SoN Terms of Reference: Race

This SoN Terms of reference edition looks at race and racial experiences from both a factual, data-based perspective and through personal testimonials from white people and POC. It addresses racism within academia, activism as well as the role and purpose of the Teaching Within programme. I wouldn’t call it a ‘handbook’ for anti-racism per se, but I do think that anyone needing or wanting to challenge racism would definitely benefit from reading it.