Unit 3: VULNERABILITY Lapastora 1

Rachel Lapastora

ART 133 5/6

October 05, 2017

Unit 3: VULNERABILITY Lapastora 2

Everyday many students come to school to learn, receive, and achieve an education.

Teachers do all they can to guide and teach their students in the best way possible, but every so

often students are in need of more than just teaching. Just like many people, students often in live

vulnerable lives. Behind closed doors, many students experience the stresses of poverty and

failed family systems while still pursuing an education. This leaves students to possibly feeling

vulnerable during class time. Twenty first century art educators need to go about these matters by

using holistic integration approaches in their classrooms. Laurie A. Eldridge (2012) takes on this

approach by a technique she calls heart connection in which she makes sure to talk to each

student individually and acknowledges that person separate from the group. Having social

connections are good in a person so simple acknowledgments can go a long way for a student to

feel included and not alone. Another approach art educators can use are Visual Thinking Strategy

(VTS) discussions. According to Housen and Yenawine (n.d.), Nothing encourages

participation more than being heard and respected. Individual growth results from participation

(p. 66). Students would feel as though they have made a contribution to the discussion and that

their opinionated views are accepted.

An activity I would do to approach vulnerability with my future students would be to

make a classroom scrapbook. Students would be instructed to bring in several meaningful objects

that create a story of a time they felt vulnerable. They will then glue, staple, or pin these objects

onto 8.5 x 11 cardstock paper along with other items they would like to use as decorations.

Students will also have the option to draw and/or paint on the paper to help with the aesthetic

they wish to portray on their art piece. Once the students have finished creating their art, they

will slide their art piece into a laminated sheet and placed into a classroom binder creating a class

scrapbook. Each page will have a story of its own each contributed by the students.
Unit 3: VULNERABILITY Lapastora 3

Reference

Eldridge, L. A. (2012). The ethic of caring holistically for art students: Esmeraldas boutique. In

L. H. Campbell & S. Simmons III (Eds.), The heart of education: Holistic approaches

(pp. 287-296). Reston, VA: National Art Education Association.

Housen, A., & Yenawine, P. (n.d.). Visual thinking strategies: Understanding the basics.

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