Beyond the Traditional in Art: Facing a Pluralistic Society

Abstract

content of this book is based on the United States Society through (USSEA) Symposium held in Columbus, Ohio in 1991. According to Peter Smith (1999), some ways the symposium can be seen as a milestone event that showed that education had moved beyond simplistic arguments about self-expression versus discipline-centered education and had begun to realize that educators must function within social and cultural (p. 22). layout of the book suggests that the editor was concerned about the accuracy of the Symposium's content as an historical document. It is divided into five parts: overview of the symposium, general session addresses, specific session papers, evaluation, and one appendix containing the original announcement of the Symposium. Once the reader gets past the overview and some of the general session papers that are transcriptions by note takers, the meaning and purpose of this anthology begins to unfold and the social and cultural realities that affect the study of education become apparent. Included in the back of the book are participant evaluations and impressions of both content and symposium activities and Saunders's reflections as symposium facilitator. Like all handwritten evaluations, a spread of comments range from too bad there was no art (p. 150) to excellent presentations and speakers (p. 151). This part of the book gives the reader a feeling of being present at the Symposium and adds clarity to the chapters. At the end of most chapters, the authors present afterthoughts that contain additional comments and up-dates. reader can experience both the theoretical approach of the first writings and a very practical, realistic and expectant urging in the later chapters that the concepts be put to use for the betterment of humankind. In many instances, time appears to have strengthened the author's resolve to take a position on a topic. This book has several practical chapters that are focused on teacher preparation training; the content of multicultural materials; the political implications of multicultural education, feminism, gender, and age issues; and the importance of child exchanges. Numerous authors and symposium participants offer information useful to educators. Several chapters are notable in directing the reader to think about the implications of the content. They are: Art and Politics in a Chippewa Community: A Beyond the Traditional in Art: Facing a Pluralistic Society Saunders, R. J. (Ed.). (1998). Reston, VA: National Association. 160 pages. (ISBN 1-890160-07-5). Personal Narrative by Wait Bresette; Clarifying Multicultural Terminology by Patsy R. Dunmire, Heinz Klein, and Frances Yates; Strategies for Deciding Which Cultures to Include in a Multicultural Curriculum by Elizabeth Delacruz, Laura Magee, and Teresa Rozewski; and, The Politics of Multicultural Education by Georgia Collins, David B. Pankratz, Renee Sandell, and Peter Smith. Three chapters will be discussed in detail in this review. Ecological Imperative I consider the content of The Ecological Imperative, presented by Suzi Gablik, to be a foundation of one of society's struggles, that of an impending technological and ecological confrontation of major proportions. Gablik argues this passionately: It is increasingly understood that ecological problems are created, not only by the industrial system, but by our attitudes to nature or lack of respect for it. Where other civilizations created Altamira and Stonehenge, ours has produced the shopping mall and the cooling tank. Our culture does not see the earth as a source of spiritual renewal but as a stockpile of raw materials to be exploited and consumed. ...We are bred from birth to be consumers; as a culture, we have failed to generate a vision of the earth that is life enhancing, and without a living cosmology enabling us to hold the sacredness of life in mind, we devastate the land in greed. …