Running head: ARTS CHANGE VISUAL CULTURE
How Can the Arts Change the School Culture?
Hannah M. Stahulak
Northern Illinois University
ARTS CHANGE SCHOOL CULTURE
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Introduction/Rationale
American society today provides a very limited depiction of what our world actually is.
Media skews world views in favor of their own corporate concerns by controlling the images and
messages we receive. Advertisers are especially guilty of this behavior; vendors today want to
target children everywhere including school classrooms (Traverso, 2006). Advertisers do not
provide children with reality, they shape the way “normal” society looks and acts in order to get
people to buy things. Schools however should be a place of learning created by teachers, not by
advertisers. Arts can change school culture by providing an accurate and wider variety of
depictions how people look and their daily life.
Literature Review
Children in American society are bombarded more than ever with media and advertising.
This is why Traverso finds it appalling that advertisers are working their way into making
advertisements in classrooms. He believes “That schools should be setting an example, not
pitching to kids” (2006). Vendors do not have good intentions to want to be advertising to
children, many advertisers view children as objects to be manipulated by their imagery. They do
not concern about enhancing education with their advertising in classrooms; but about making a
profit off of these vulnerable youngsters (Traverso, 2006).
Advertising is not the only aspect manipulating children; television shows are as well.
Television shows depict people in certain ways and give children skewed information about our
society. For example, while Disney is well known for being wholesome family entertainment; it
is a transnational media conglomerate and in the end care about making a profit (Traverso,
2006). Disney movies and television shows are a huge part of American children’s visual culture,
and Disney is responsible for shaping the children’s imaginations. Tarvin and Anderson (2003)
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point out that “Female characters in Disney animated films are traditionally placed in one of
three positions: that of an idealized teenaged heroine, wicked middle-aged beauty, or nurturing
post-menopausal woman” (2003 INSERT PAGE NUMBER). Scholars are concerned that these
movies provide children with a bias point of view on women.
Disney is also known for its lack of racial inclusion (Traverso, 2003). The movie
“Tarzan”, for example, takes place in Africa, yet all of the characters in the film are white. In
movies such as “Aladdin” that are located in exotic places, the main characters are given white
voices and appearances. This gives children the idea that this is the ideal human being. Disney
seems to be providing children with one type of person, and not showing the diversity in
American society (Tarvin and Anderson, 2006).
Media can also be used to sway adults’ opinions as well. Take, for example, the film
“Waiting for Superman”. The film, created by Guggenheim (2010), shows the faults in the
American education system and proposes a way to change these issues. His solution mainly has
to do with charter schools. While this sounds like a good proposal, Barbara Miner knows that the
movie had ulterior motives other than bringing to light the challenges of the American education
system. Miner discusses how the film was funded by the Success Charter Network, and how this
perhaps has swayed the view of the American education system that the movie provides (Miner
2010).
Personal Thoughts/Discovery
Through the above review, much of the information that we receive is skewed because of
someone else’s ultimatum. It’s unfortunate that children are so bombarded with constantly
imagery telling them how to look and act. While Disney movies provide great entertainment and
some valuable lessons, one cannot deny that their depiction of men and women and their
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relationships can alter a child’s mind. Children are educated by the media to believe that they are
going to find a beautiful/handsome significant other and that they should put their whole lives at
stake to live happily ever after. While this is a nice idea, it’s a bit far fetched.
It’s not just Disney movies that provide faltered information; documentaries such as
“Waiting for Superman” are guilty of the same behavior. While the movie gives viewers insight
to some serious issues in our education system, it also has the backings of corporations and
individuals that wanted their two cents in the movie. When I read Miner’s article, I was surprised
and slightly upset that the movie was funded by the Success Charter Network. When viewing the
movie I thought that Guggenheim had a possible solution to the faults of our education system,
when really he received an endorsement from charter schools and therefore had to include their
name into the movie.
Summary
It seems fairly evident that the media influences us to look and think in a certain manner.
They are now managing to work their way into classrooms and the minds of young individuals.
As a future art educator, I feel that we can work towards educating children on how to properly
analyze these visual cultures. When children create or view imagery, teachers should talk about
the many ways children can depict people, not just the Disney princess prototype. It’s also
important to show them multiple versions of the same story. For example, many children think of
the Disney version of “Cinderella” so perhaps read them a story using a different Cinderella to
show that Cinderella does not always have blonde hair and a sparkling white dress. Give children
a variety of visual culture to pick from and it will help expand their imaginations beyond the
staple ideas that schools and media are feeding children today.
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References
Anderson D. and Tavin K., (2003) Deconstructing Disney in the elementary art classroom.
Retrieved from https://webcourses.niu.edu
Guggenheim, D. (Director). (2010) Waiting for “Superman” [Film]. Santa Monica, CA: Electric
Kinney Films.
Miner B. (2010). The ultimate superpower. Retrieved from https://webcourses.niu.edu
Traverso, M. (Director). (2006). Culture, politics & pedagogy: A conversation with Henry
Giroux [Film]. Chicago: SCI Television Productions.