Locked Up In America
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
This project explored the issue of incarceration in America. Starting with the fact that per capita the United States locks up more people than any other country in the world, we investigated how incarceration affects individuals and families, communities, and, finally, our nation as a whole. Our capstone project was an exhibition coordinated with the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) that answered the essential question: How does incarceration affect us?
We started our project by exploring how individuals are affected by incarceration. We read several first hand accounts of what life is like in prison, from the perspective of both prisoners and guards. We also examined the effect that incarceration, particularly solitary confinement, can have on an individual after prison. Lastly, we looked at how people outside of prison - wives, children, and families - are impacted when a loved one is behind bars.
This project explored the issue of incarceration in America. Starting with the fact that per capita the United States locks up more people than any other country in the world, we investigated how incarceration affects individuals and families, communities, and, finally, our nation as a whole. Our capstone project was an exhibition coordinated with the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) that answered the essential question: How does incarceration affect us?
We started our project by exploring how individuals are affected by incarceration. We read several first hand accounts of what life is like in prison, from the perspective of both prisoners and guards. We also examined the effect that incarceration, particularly solitary confinement, can have on an individual after prison. Lastly, we looked at how people outside of prison - wives, children, and families - are impacted when a loved one is behind bars.
Once we had read about the topic, students engaged in a World Cafe discussion style to make connections across all of the texts. Afterward, they were asked a simple question: What is your big idea? Students shared their big idea of how incarceration affects individuals and added it to our tree of knowledge. The next day, students were grouped together based on their big idea and tasked to create a collaborative art piece representing their big idea (See the slideshow at right for images of the art pieces). Students had two days to prepare their piece and develop an artist statement explaining their process. At the end, we convened together to share our ideas, celebrate our work, and offer kind, helpful, and specific feedback.
After our initial inquiry, students dug deeper into the topic by investigating a burning question they had about incarceration. Working in partners, students research articles and summarized their findings to share with the class.. Furthermore, we learned about the issue up close by visiting the Chula Vista Police Department and City Jail, as well as by speaking with prison guards, families members of incarcerated individuals, and even a previous inmate who served for 30 years in San Quentin. Lastly, our class visited the Cardiff-Miller exhibition at MCASD to draw inspiration for our final art pieces. Using ideas that we generated after the museum visit, students organized into groups based on similar themes and began working on an art piece to communicate their ideas to the audience. Over the course of several weeks, students refined their ideas for an installation style art piece with the help of peers, High Tech High teachers, and teaching artists from MCASD. At the end of the project, we gathered together at the museum to present our work, as well as inform our guests with a discussion panel and artist talk. You can view the final pieces in the slideshow below. |
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TEACHER REFLECTION
This project contains many brights spots, but it also presented several challenges along the way, several of which helped me to better understand the nature of projects and to grow as a teacher. First of all, the project launch was expertly structured, as I was able to draw students into the topic through several different activities (photo gallery walks, mystery art pieces, triad conversations) that I had learned during the High Tech High Teacher Odyssey which I attended prior to beginning the school year. I've since built on these techniques, but I learned a lot as a teacher by putting them into practice right away and my students benefitted by diving deeply into the topic and coming out with a strong understanding of the essential question. Secondly this project was my first attempt at arts integration, a theme which has become more present in my practice in the years since. I applaud myself for taking such a big risk by planning an art project as my first major exhibition without having any training or background in the visual arts. My interest in the arts and work as a arts integration teacher have developed steadily over the years, but I would not have made it as far without taking this big first step. Yet, in some ways, this project fell short of my expectation. After the initial launch of the project, I struggled to find a direction beyond reading articles that would help my students go deeper into the content. While I was successful at reaching out to a few community members, I wasn't able to reach out to other organizations and expand my students knowledge of incarceration beyond the struggle of the individual. I've since learned to make outside community involvement a priority in the early planning stages of a projects so as to allow more opportunities to make the issue relevant and thus dive deeper into the project. Also, when we transitioned into the art making, I found that I was uncomfortable with the scope of the project and the lack parameters that I had given to the students. While some groups smartly took on projects that were manageable in terms of the time and resources allotted, a few groups took on big, unwieldy installations that were far too ambitions for our exhibition. That wasn't a problem in and of itself, but since I didn't foresee it happening, I didn't direct students in the right direction soon enough, which resulted in uncomfortable conversations (and tears) when I had to inform students that they would need to start a new project. I wasn't happy with the way that I handled the situation, but it taught me the importance of looking ahead to potential trouble spots and giving clear guidelines about the scope of a project. In addition, I gained insight into the perspective of my students and better grasped the personal investment they put into their work, which was a valuable takeaway. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised at the exhibition as the final pieces came together well and the diversity of projects created an entertaining gallery environment.
STUDENT REFLECTIONS
"We focused on the effect of people becoming anti-social in our art piece, but there are many other effects confinement can cause such as sadness and loneliness. After being in confinement these negative effects change people and it is hard for them to go back to the person they used to be." ~ Adrian V.
"We were really intrigued by the way solitary confinement can change a strong individual. Our main point, was to look at the bigger picture. To look past the inmate contained in the cell, to look at the people around them who are also affected. We took in mind, that most prisoners are mothers and fathers. Therefore, their children grow up without a parental role model. These inmates could be a number of possibilities in society, whether its a son, niece, mom, dad, sister, they are someone. It is hard to learn how to live without someone who you love, who has done wrong." ~ Cynthia N.
"We determined that jail changes people, generally for the worse. It has a negative effect on the mind. This is not only true for the inmates who were incarcerated, but for the guards who work at the prison. Prison makes lasting effects on people, and changes them from who they really are." ~ Danny S.
PROJECT RESOURCES
Project Handout
Project Roles and Assessment