Using Arts-Based Learning as a Site of Critical Resistance

Abstract

People who are illiterate are unable to participate in formal learning because they cannot understand the written form of content or communication. As a result, creative confidence is not nurtured or appreciated. As well, people in communities are unable to link formal learning or the lack of it to any aspect of their lives. This is more pronounced in areas where the occupation of a family is closely connected to cultural heritage and traditional knowledge. Ultimately, a lot of people drop out of school because formal education in schools has no connection whatsoever to their ways of living. Arts-based learning, with a focus on change rather than production, can bridge the gap between learning and life; for example, storytelling can be used as a medium for studying government policy. Because of the interruption among people’s cultural heritage, life orientation, and the curricula, local and Indigenous knowledge that is culturally entrenched in the social fabric of communities is being eroded. Moving away from traditional know-how and cultural knowledge has thrown many communities into obscurity and peril. It is, obviously, very important for the local community in which the bearers of such knowledge live and produce. Systems of formal education need to recognize, value, and appreciate traditional and cultural knowledge in their interaction with local communities. Traditional knowledge also constitutes part of global knowledge.