Monday, October 6, 2014

Oct 7, 2014_TRANS (Transformative Education)_Reading Response

The readings from this course are constantly and gradually expanding my thoughts and ideas about (dis)ability. Rake’s argument from this week’s readings stimulated me to take another perspective on examining the notion of disability. While claiming that the examination on intersections that feminist philosophers/theorists focus on tends to be based on their own identities and experiences, Rake cites Rowe’s idea of “cartographies of belonging” as to think how we “map the ways in which we are turned toward and away from others and how this positioning and ir/relationality are central to the construction of subjectivity itself.” Rake introduces the argument made by Clare to dig deeper into this notion of “ir/relationality” to identify the “normalizing force” that perpetuates the idea of viewing impairment as “always already disabled.” Positioning self on a map that loosens or even reduces our conceptualization within this reductive binary system is crucial in disability studies.

From an art educational standpoint, the HEARTS model, suggested by Kraft and Keifer-Boyd, presents effective ways to shift the “normalizing” perspective towards impairment by implementing “art’s ability to maximize individual differences as a strategy for empowerment.” While proposing practical methods to bring modifications for different needs, such as the utilization of digital technologies, the model also puts weight on the importance of devising directions and structure that are flexible enough to visualize or make tangible of the participant’s “strength, interests, and expressive modes” through art. By engaging both typical and different-abled participants in the process of making art, it carries out inclusion strategies based on reciprocal communications between the educator/typical-abled/different-abled students. The model fosters further thinking of how the distinctive values of art could be utilized in developing a more relational mapping of identity (an identity as an ongoing process) based upon the intersection of diverse experiences and perspectives.

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