💡 M E T A C O G N I T I O N 💡

Thinking about thinking

The first half of this video I was consistently checking the time to see if it was almost over. That was a real bummer. I felt like the talk was spiraling in tiny circles. It was challenging to not have access to all of the images he was projecting on the screen.

Here is a list of terms I found myself grappling to put into context:
Public Pedagogy
Critical Pedagogy
Culture Jamming
Visual Culture
Cultural Condition
Actuarial Gaze
Neoliberalism
Impossible Possibilities

My mind was swimming, searching for a firm footing to put down some understanding.

At about the halfway point in the talk I realized that the presenter was actually doing the very same thing: laying a foundation in order to move forward. Basic definitions of media and Visual Culture came together to form the premise of some fundamental, but quite complex, concepts.

We, as art educators, are teaching students how to see.
Are we reinforcing or challenging dominant (default) ways of seeing?

Seeing is also thinking.
Are we exhorting our students to consider where they are seeing things, whom they are seeing them with, and why?

Art education is attempting to understand Visual Culture.
Are we cognizant of this and nurturing an environment in which we can contribute to the overall public pedagogy in an effortful and positive way? How are defining good in our teaching spaces?

So long as we have the privilege of influencing young minds we simply must be aware of the impact that has, not only on the life of each individual, but on our culture and society as a whole. Are we challenging thought processes, encouraging consideration of the interest of the greater good, building up people who are able to build up others? Paradoxically the most valuable, yet ubiquitous, currency today is visual imagery. As art educators we are on the front lines of a battle for young minds. These young people might not be much more than brains in jars, programmed by the swift current of the culture which is shaping them. With the right consciousness they might stand up to become people who are choosing: will we use our artistic powers for good or for evil? Let us be a catalyst for the self-awareness of young minds. Let us give them the tools to use for the greater good.
Well, either way, choosing is better than not.