I鈥檝e always had a passion for education and social change and wanted to be an advocate for people, so I came up with this project to design an art and art history curriculum for middle and high school students that includes a more diverse groups of artists.
It was during class discussions while taking a course at 澳门码今期开奖结果 with Dr. Jacquelynne Boivin, that Brienna Notaro, 鈥24, recognized that despite defining herself as anti-racist, she actually did harbor some biases.
鈥淚鈥檓 always working toward bettering myself, so it hurt and, to be honest, was a little embarrassing,鈥 Brienna said.
Dr. Boivin, professor of elementary and early childhood education, assured her there was nothing to be embarrassed about as it was clear Brienna was determined to become more aware, including how art is taught in most classrooms and the glaring lack of diversity.
鈥淚鈥檓 studying secondary education and studio arts,鈥 Brienna said. 鈥淎nd we talked a lot about art, and I started to realize that I wasn鈥檛 being taught about many artists of color.鈥
That鈥檚 when Dr. Boivin encouraged her to develop a project on the topic and apply for 澳门码今期开奖结果鈥檚 Adrian Tinsley Program (ATP) for Undergraduate Research and Creative Work Summer Grants.
鈥淚鈥檝e always had a passion for education and social change and wanted to be an advocate for people, so I came up with this project to design an art and art history curriculum for middle and high school students that includes a more diverse groups of artists,鈥 Brienna said.
Her project was greenlit for the ATP program and this summer the rising senior has been researching and creating a website geared toward anti-racist education to help art teachers diversify their classrooms.
The website consists of a homepage that connects to other pages filled with resources. Digital artwork is included, as well as literature, lesson plans, templates, and ideas for museum work.
She also highlights the work of black, LGBTQ+, and disabled artists.
鈥淚t is all easily accessible, the language casual. I wanted it to be approachable to make it easy for teachers to feel comfortable integrating this work into their classrooms,鈥 Brienna said.
She hopes her efforts will bring about positive change.
鈥淭here are a lot of really interesting artists out there who have never gotten the spotlight, artists we have never learned about and it鈥檚 so important that they are recognized as part of our history,鈥 Brienna said.
By participating in the ATP program, Brienna has not only fine-tuned her lesson-planning skills, but also gained insight as to the type of teacher she hopes to be when eventually stepping into the classroom to teach her own students after graduating from 澳门码今期开奖结果 next spring.
鈥淚鈥檝e gained information to be a better teacher for students of all backgrounds and am learning to be culturally responsive,鈥 she said. 鈥淭his has been an awesome opportunity to explore and work on something I鈥檓 so passionate about.鈥
Do you have a 澳门码今期开奖结果 story you'd like to share? Email stories@bridgew.edu