Thinking Critically About Social Issues Through Visual Material

Abstract

This article addresses an arts-integrated social studies curriculum for grades three through five entitled Artful Citizenship, designed by The Wolfsonian-Florida International University. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination Grant program, the design and implementation of the program was done concurrently with a three-year evaluation of the curriculum's impact on visual literacy and critical-thinking skills conducted by Curva and Associates. The research was conducted in low-performing urban schools in Miami-Dade County and targeted students at risk for failing Florida's standardized achievement tests in reading and math.Artful Citizenship was created by a museum with a collection specializing in art and design—mass-produced objects that reveal how design reflects and shapes social, political, and technological change. Because of the collection's nature, the aim of Artful Citizenship was to use inquiry-based strategies that focused on the critical understanding of objects as agents of social change (as opposed to understanding their aesthetic or art-historical significance). The longitudinal study provides a framework for a definition of critical thinking that relates to a school-based intervention targeting social studies skills. The study also documents the effectiveness of Visual Thinking Strategies as a foundational strategy for developing critical-thinking skills upon which a multi-modal teaching approach that integrates visual material and promotes artistic response can be built.In this article, we share findings from the study that have major implications for designing museum-school partnerships and help illuminate the interconnection between visual literacy and critical thinking when related to complex social issues.