When art informs : a case study to negotiate social stereotypes and stigmas through art at Taung Junior Secondary School

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: While every Botswana national can claim to be a citizen legally within the framework of the modernnation-state, some (minority groups in the main) are perceived by others (among the majority Tswanagroups especially), as less authentic nationals or citizens. There is a hierarchy of citizenship fosteredby political, economic, social and cultural inequalities, such that it makes some individuals and groupsmuch more able to claim and articulate their rights than others. Ethnic identities seem stronger than'national identities' as they work at the very macro level and on an immediate and daily basis. Thusthe multicultural and linguistic diversity of Taung compels us to view every group as heterogeneouslyunique and important in its own ways, since students become marginalised as a result of individualcircumstances, by being members of historically oppressed social groups.The main aim of this study was to explore visual art as a learning platform to negotiate social andcultural meanings and inform understandings of self. A qualitative approach towards the study wasconsidered the most suitable way for conducting the research. An interpretive analysis was used togain insight into how students made sense of their experiences and the significance of art as aplatform to negotiate stigmas and stereotypes in class and school. Using the case study drawn fromTaung Junior Secondary School comprising of twelve students from different ethnic groups, twomajor themes of difference and discrimination were identified. The sub-theme discussed underdifference includes sub themes race, ethnicity and nationality, and language; while stereotyping andstigma, feelings of discomfort and feeling outcast, and Othering and marginalisation were discussedunder the theme discrimination.My study revealed that art can be an especially effective catalyst for developing a critical awarenessof issues of race, immigration, difference, and privilege. Art practices can become a platform for thenegotiation and construction of meaning and lobby for removing the historic inequalities andinjustices created by a stratified society. For this reason, it is important to understand culture andcultural diversity because culture provides beliefs, values, and the patterns that give meaning andstructure to life. It enables individuals within the multiple social groups of which they are a part tofunction effectively in their social and cultural environments, which are constantly changing. Groupstry to maintain social hierarchies and individuals maintain their position within such hierarchies byexcluding others, to deny difference and try and enforce homogeneity and reproduce current socialrelations. As such if forces such as, differences in race, culture, gender, language, and religion arewell understood, the students will engage in the process of identifying ways to manage them to shapetheir own educational practices.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University