Globalization & Me
It is undeniable that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted art education since its onset and continues to present challenges in the present day. As a current middle school art teacher in Gwinnett County Public Schools, a metropolitan school district just outside of Atlanta, I have experienced a unique point of view on the many ways the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the area as well as how art education for my students has also been affected. Through the lens of personal experience, research, current statistics, and contemporary approaches to art education, I will examine the impacts and inequalities of the COVID-19 pandemic both in the early onset of the pandemic and the present situation in my local area. This information will seek to acknowledge the unprecedented challenges and seek to inform best practices for moving forward in art education.
Gwinnett County Public Schools (2020) announced a transition to digital learning, meaning that all students and teachers would be remote on March 13, 2020. Worth noting in the communications posted on the Gwinnett County Public Schools (2020) website, there was no mention of time or training for teachers to plan for this adjustment, no mention of a mode for synchronous instruction delivery, nor was there mention of technology assistance provided to students or families. After a tumultuous learning experience for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year, Gwinnett County Public Schools (2020) announced that the 2020-2021 school year would involve a full return to classrooms for teachers, with families choosing to either send students to return to the classroom or remain at home for virtual learning. As detailed by Gwinnett County Public Schools (2020), all teachers provided concurrent instruction, meaning that they held live instructional delivery for virtual students, while simultaneously providing instruction to the students in the classroom.
For the 2021-2022 school year, Gwinnett County Public Schools (2020) has called for a return to learning plan that calls for all students and teachers to return to traditional face-to-face instruction, ensuring that families may opt for an online format, but that teachers will not be expected to deliver instruction concurrently. WSB.com News Staff (2021) reports that since the return to learning occurred in August of 2021, there has been a steady increase of COVID-19 cases and deaths. The Gwinnett County Public Schools (2020) plan also requires masking for all people inside school facilities. As of October 6, 2021, Gwinnett County Public Schools (2021) is reporting a total of 184 new cases, 970 total active cases, 19 of which are occurring at my school, Berkmar Middle.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (2021) there are known inequities and challenges such as wealth gaps, housing, discrimination, and healthcare access that uniquely apply to minority groups resulting in disproportionate rates of infection and deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to these facts, according to Bach (2020), Atlanta is home to the largest gap of income inequality in the continental United States. Consequently, these same inequities exist within Gwinnett County Public Schools. Berkmar Middle School (2021) reports that 90% of students qualify for free or discounted lunch, nearly 70% of students are Hispanic, and nearly 19% are African American. By contrast, in the same district, North Gwinnett Middle School (2021) reports that only 11% of students qualify for free or discounted lunch, nearly 45% of students are White, 29% are Asian, and only 12% are African American.
Based on these statistics and information it is safe to imply that the learning experience for students in these respective schools has been profoundly different during the COVID-19 pandemic. In my experience teaching at Berkmar Middle, I have witnessed many of my students experience high levels of anxiety and apprehension since the return to learning. I can recall only having to remind a student to wear their mask correctly only a handful of times. By contrast, according to Lance (2021), there is a group of parents in the district seeking legal action to remove the mask requirement, with student anxiety being a main component of their argument.
In addition to these differences, I have personally experienced a divide in the equity of technology since the onset of the pandemic. When comparing the statistics of free and discounted lunch between North Gwinnett Middle School (2021) and Berkmar Middle School (2021), it can be implied that the abilities for families to have access to technology and an internet connection was a vastly different experience. As the 2020-2021 school year began, and the district was operating under a concurrent model, all students at school and any student at home who requested, was provided with a Chromebook and hotspot for internet access. However, in my personal experience, since the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, the technology previously available has either been damaged or not returned. So much so, that I have no current access to any technology for my students, aside from my single employee laptop.
The divide in technology has been experienced by teachers all over the United States. Kinnard and Dale (2020) cite similar circumstances noting that students most affected are students of color, from low-income families, and that the digital divide further widens the achievement gap between students in well-funded areas. Art educators across the country must reflect and assess our challenges as we navigate our way into the future. Delacruz (2009), highlights some of these challenges, noting that introducing technology into education is implementing new thinking on an old system.
Despite the infinite challenges art educators are still facing during the ongoing pandemic, there is evidence of the critical importance of art education in schools as we navigate toward the future. Smith (2020) explains that traditional art can feel very solitary, whereas digital medias provide opportunities for communication and collaboration. Meeken (2020) further explains that digital media lowers the fear of error, facilitating more play and experimentation. Additionally, Hildebrandt (2021) describes how important art making was for her students during lockdown, citing the many ways that students showed their investment in the creative process.
In my personal experience, despite the challenges previously described, I recognize a need to implement technology into art education in a sustainable, meaningful way. Doing so will require districts to acknowledge the income and demographic inequities of various school populations. I also echo the sentiments described by Hildebrandt (2021); my students have shown a need for creative expression. Many of my students still grapple with anxiety but have demonstrated a personal investment in their creative learning. The video and artworks shared alongside this research brief provide the visual evidence of my students and I both using art as a mode of self-reflection and expression during the pandemic. Perhaps when the day, hopefully, comes that the COVID-19 pandemic is behind us, art education will have proven once and for all just how meaningful and important it is in schools.
References
Bach, T. (2020, September 21). U.S. cities with the biggest income inequality gaps. U.S. News.
Berkmar Middle School. (2021, August 16). SchoolDigger. https://www.schooldigger.com/go/GA/schools/0255003385/school.aspx
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, April 19). Health Equity Considerations and Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/health-equity/race-ethnicity.html
Delacruz, E. M. (2009). Art education in the age of new media: Toward global civil society. Art Education, 62(5), 13-18.
Gwinnett County Public Schools. (2020). COVID-19 Letters/Communication. https://publish.gwinnett.k12.ga.us/gcps/home/public/about/content/covid-19/letters
Gwinnett County Public Schools. (2021, October). COVID-19 Reporting Daily Report. https://www.gcpsk12.org/cms/lib/GA02204486/Centricity/domain/12783/october%202021%20covid-19%20reports/10.6.2021_COVID-19_Daily_Report.eq.pdf
Hildebrandt, H. (2021). Creativity and resilience in art students during COVID-19. Art Education,
74(1), 17-18.
Kinnard, M. & Dale, M. (2020, March 30). School shutdowns raise stakes of digital divide for
students. AP News. https://apnews.com/588cc887c8a949c874841ef489c80184
Lance, N. (2021, August 5). Attorney says schools can’t mandate masks, parents threaten lawsuit against GCPS. 11 Alive. https://www.11alive.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/mask-mandate-lawsuit-gwinnett-schools/85-1e5ee732-d49c-4a7a-830c-8fee12092fb8
Meeken, L. (2020). System error: Versatility and facility as empowering values for the digital arts classroom. Art Education, 73(3), 22-28.
North Gwinnett Middle School. (2021, August 16). SchoolDigger. https://www.schooldigger.com/go/GA/schools/0255003945/school.aspx
Smith, T. J. (2020). Critically reframing Post-Internet art toward the future of art education
curriculum. Art Education, 73(3), 38-44.
WSBTV.com News Staff. (2021, September 25). COVID-19 deaths have risen nearly 1,000% in Georgia since Aug. 1. WSB-TV Channel 2 - Atlanta. https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/covid-19-deaths-up-nearly-1000-georgia-since-aug-1/R7MRHPNKB5FC7BGCQIXLVFAT6Y/
