Breaking cultural boundaries through artistic expression and education

¶ … relationship with culture has been mixed in terms of benefit. The word "cult" is the root word of culture and by nature, it is exclusionary. Culture provides boundaries between groups of people to set them apart, for better or for worse. Just because something is different does not mean it is better or more appropriate in terms of culture.

The culture that was impacted upon me was based in dogmatic religion. The arts, music and limited dancing all surrounded the idea of the martyrdom of Jesus Christ. In essence, my Christian background celebrated death instead of life. Much of the music that was presented at Church was depressing and spoke of great trials and tribulations. This culture was given to me by parents who in turn received it from theirs.

The culture handed to me was not sufficient as I grew older, and found that true expression was at the heart of artistic endeavor. The best pieces of art were often found outside normal cultural barriers suggesting the limitations that culture can often have. Being exposed to new and different music as a result of music videos on TV helped in developing new tastes that transcended my normal understanding of how humans express themselves.

My creativity has been enhanced by staying curious and trying to find new ways of doing things. Other cultures can help us learn about our own special gifts and talents. Sharing these gifts with one another allows the growth and evolution of culture into a something more practical. Not one culture is better than another and including some cultures must also mean excluding others. Finding a useful balance in exposing students to culture requires experience and wisdom that is gained only through learning about other cultures and experiencing them first hand.

Children are responsible for maintaining their own cultural ties. My role as a teacher is not to teach an "approved culture." As a teacher, it is important to have my students learn to think for themselves and find their own way of doing things in this world. Our own unique gifts and talents will often be squandered if there are collectively washed away in any single cultural approach. Honesty is the best way to learn about other cultures. Some things work for some people and some things don't. What is important is that students are exposed to new ideas to experiment for themselves. If families want to become involved in this part of their student's education, it would be welcomed, but not solicited.

Part 2

Activity 1 Art

The first activity to assist students reach their creative potential in a multicultural environment is to have the students perform art reports on a foreign born artist. These reports will focus on the artist's culture and explain how it impacted the work chosen. These reports will be brief but essentially ask the student to intellectually comprehend the idea of culture and how it manifests. Learning about culture through art becomes one avenue of approach to engage the student in different ways pertaining to culture and how it can affect others. Student's will be encouraged to select artists from cultures that they are unfamiliar with so to assist in this awareness project.

Activity 3 Dance

The third activity will pair students off as dancing partners. Each couple of students will be assigned a dance from a specific culture. The students will interpret the dance in pairs with accompanying music. The students will perform their dance for 3 -5 minutes, with a question and answser period following the performance. The students will be evaluated on their ability to express themselves in terms of dance of another culture. The use students being used in pairs will also assist in the exercise as sharing in these types of activities leads to greater and higher quality learning.