ERIC Number: EJ1231170
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0950-0782
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Visual Arts: A Multimodal Language for Indigenous Education
Language and Education, v33 n6 p521-543 2019
Visual arts and other modes and media of communication are vital to Indigenous People, yet multimodal forms of representation, such as those prioritised in the arts, are often poorly understood and excluded from Indigenous education. This article describes cross-cultural, participatory community research enacted with an Indigenous school in Australia. Indigenous elementary students were taught by Indigenous community leaders to engage in visual arts through paintings and other forms of artistic representation (e.g. dances, rap video). These artistic expressions were coherent with Indigenous ways of learning and communicating. The multidimensionality of Indigenous students' paintings was analysed, and the significance explained in relation to the language of transgenerational Indigenous Lore. The results demonstrate how Indigenous visual arts enabled powerful representations of transgenerational knowledge and understandings. The findings also provide generative illustrations of a culturally informed and responsive multimodal literacy pedagogy, highlighting the need to respect the multimodal dimensions of representation that have cultural meanings for Indigenous identity and education practices. The article challenges Western, privileged forms of literacy, while highlighting the need to respect visual arts as language in the English curriculum for equitable and culturally responsive education for Indigenous students.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Indigenous Populations, Elementary School Students, Painting (Visual Arts), Dance, Music, Multiple Literacies, Semiotics, Culturally Relevant Education, Equal Education
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A