Image of a student’s artwork created for the exhibition. California State University Fullerton. Courtesy Sharon Verner Chappell and Drew Chappell, “Building social inclusion through critical arts-based pedagogies in university classroom communities.”

In 2016, professors Sharon and Drew Chappell set their humanities students the task of creating art installations on important problems faced by bicultural youth in the U.S. They found that these art installation projects allowed space for marginalised perspectives to come to the forefront and created platforms for new voices to be heard in an institutional setting.

The parameters involved conceptualising and executing art products (2-D pieces such as posters, paintings, or comics; 3-D sculptures; digital pieces; creative writing; performances; etc.) in small groups. The students also wrote short essays on their creative processes. They then brought the papers and artworks with them to class to share their projects. The class began with a gallery walk so students could observe the 2-D pieces and the 3-D sculptures, discussing the artworks that were the most conceptually engaged. Some of the student groups had created performances and these were then presented. After the performances, the class engaged in a structured discussion to reflect on how the projects had engaged the students and called on the artists to explain their processes to the class.

The main outcome of this arts-based pedagogical tool was an increased sense of classroom community and social inclusion. The project emphasised a student-centred, bottom-up approach, which encouraged the students’ expressions of their own culture, knowledge, and experiences. The images and actions in their art “destabilised any sense of certainty, single truth, or dominant perspective”, encouraging empathy and social inclusion within the classroom.

‘Don’t erase me’. Student performance installation in the exhibition. California State University Fullerton. Courtesy Sharon Verner Chappell and Drew Chappell, “Building social inclusion through critical arts-based pedagogies in university classroom communities.”

Sharon Verner Chappell and Drew Chappell. “Building social inclusion through critical arts-based pedagogies in university classroom communities.” International Journal of Inclusive Education, Vol.20 No.3 (2016): 292-308. DOI: 10.1080/13603116.2015.1047658