Ally Zlatar
Listin sem hreyfiafl: Verkfæri til að efla raddir nemenda
“Art is not an accessory on gallery walls but, a highly valuable tool for change-making.”
— Ally Zlatar
Um fyrirlesturinn
Hvernig getur listin farið úr því að vera skraut yfir í að vera tæki til breytinga? Ally Zlatar kynnir hagnýt og aðlögunarhæf verkfæri sem kennarar geta notað til að hjálpa nemendum að breyta upplifun sinni í skapandi baráttumál. Frá örherferðum innan kennslustofunnar til sjónræns frásagnarramma fara þátttakendur heim með skipulagðar æfingar sem efla sjálfstraust, samkennd og borgaralega þátttöku fyrir nemendur á öllum aldri.
Hver er Ally Zlatar
Dr. Ally Zlatar er fræðimaður, listakona og aðgerðasinni sem trúir því að listin sé ekki skraut í skólastarfi, heldur afl til að skapa betri heim. Hún er stofnandi The Starving Artist, þar sem hún nýtir listsköpun til að knýja fram kerfisbreytingar og gefa jaðarsettum hópum rödd í gegnum sköpun.
Í störfum sínum hefur Ally skapað vettvang fyrir ólíka hópa til að segja sögur sínar, hvort sem það er í gegnum bókmenntir eða listrænar herferðir á borð við „This Body of Mine“, sem varpar ljósi á reynslu listamanna með flóttamannabakgrunn. Ally starfar á alþjóðavettvangi sem fræðimaður og fyrirlesari og hvetur okkur til að sjá sköpunarkraftinn sem verkfæri til að dýpka skilning okkar á sjálfum okkur og heiminum í kringum okkur.
Spurningar og svör frá Sli.Do
How can I reach out to a child who does not seem to want to do anything constructive on the playground or in any artistic field at all?
It’s hard , but I find any branching point; whether it be their favorite color or a cartoon character on their backpack. Try to notice the small details and ask them questions. Reaffirm they have ‘expertise’ like, wow I didn’t know that about that football team…. So what do you think makes them good? Ahhh… yes… (and so on…) Until you have a good branching point to link back to the task. Making them feel confident or like they are valued makes people want to open up in my experience.
What is the core difference between Creative advocacy and Art therapy?
Art therapy is often a wellbeing tool, very introspective , but not used for systemic reform. Art advocacy is using these lived-experience insights to help reach outside the community, key decision makers, educators who can learn from (& with!) the creative voices to foster people centered change.
Where does the line run between teaching and therapy in this approach? How does a teacher recognise when a conversation has gone beyond their role and the student needs to be referred on?
Teaching is an educational tool to use both wellbeing models and yes, therapy at times too. I hate to be the person to say there is truly no clear line, but when you see someone is struggling beyond the task that is when you can refer them. Always check in after with as many as you can & pay close attention to the content people are making. Art is vulnerability and it gives us glimpses into their wellbeing as educators you are not therapists, but you can support within your capacity and making spaces and providing aids like art, music (even philosophy helped me in highschool whether my teacher realized it or not) to help students both succeed in the class and onwards.
Do you recommend any artists to present to students to mirror themselves in, in a way to use art in healing and gaining confidence etc. (edited)
It depends on age and interests to be honest. I think you have to be a chef and find the right ingredients (artists, methods, messages). I am someone who likes raw and honest conversations so say before highschool/university transition I use Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog (1818) by Caspar David Friedrich. Sure it is deeply about Romanticism and the Sublime, but I think it really showcases that in order to make change, what we must do is step out into the unknown, from what is comfortable and what we know. This is not an easy journey , but there is so much good and world to explore, we just have to be brave. Hope that helps or feel free to message me for any specific examples or contexts (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-ally-zlatar-81597b120/)
Do you give your students a choice, what topic they want to work on and can they choose medium they work with?
Time, resources and topic matters. If it is graded, sure there needs to be a tighter scope. However, if it is an inclass activity say on marine animals, why not help students reaffirm things they are confident in! I sometimes see spoken word poems or collage pieces that are far more interesting than I could have.
Whereas topic sometimes needs a loose guidance, creativity especially in students can’t be too restrictive like ‘make an african inspired mask’ and you will get tons and tons of the same. I think what I like to do is loose reins i.e. look up an artifact that resonates with you from any of the African Tribes to create a new piece on how you would create it today. The exploration is often the most exciting part for students (as long as they don’t use CHATGPT).