Children Art Up: Bilingual Spaces for Collective Decolonial Arts Pedagogical Interventions in Trumpist Times

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 1:45 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Art, Creativity, Intersectionality And Participatory Approaches To Decolonial Education

Abstract

This paper describes an alternative educational space where Latinx bilingual children make sense of the Trumpist political landscape in the Midwest through co-created arts pedagogical tools they used to 1) name the harm perpetuated in themselves and their communities, and 2) develop the "medicina" to both heal and dream of better futures through poetry, collective song, Rainbow of Desire, and piñata-making. Based on the Noy-Meir's Theater that Reconnects framework, the authors/maestras examine the curricular process, pedagogical co-creation, and elementary-aged children's responses to difficult conversations and emotions about deportation, racism, xenophobia, and violence through art expression. Findings show that this arts pedagogical praxis provided a safe space for students to express their ideas while channeling their emotions and hopes through collective art-making.

Authors

• Blanca Gabriela Caldas Chumbes, University of Minnesota

• Mariane de Araujo Batista-McCulloch, University of Minnesota

• Claudia Patricia Mesa-Villa, Universidad de Antioquia