Running head: VIGNETTE ANALYSIS # 1

Vignette Analysis # 1
Art, Culture, Identity and Representation
Laura Yankov
University of British Columbia

VIGNETTE ANALYSIS # 1

In the documentary entitled Art, Culture, Identity and Representation, three art
educators came together to share about the different ways in which art brings ideas about culture,
identity and representation. Their goal was to discuss the invisible-intangible and abstract ideas
of culture and identity through the visible-tangible art objects.
Each one of these educators was able to investigate culture, voice, identity and
representation in different ways. Sylvia Kind shared her knitting, sewing, and collage work to
explore and understand the culture of disabilities. She suggested that art is the connection that
shows the relation between things, the relationship between culture and identity. Roger Dane
tried to reflect the voices of the past through the creation of puppets that represent students
ancestors and the predominant values of the old days. Stacy Friedman used video to document
and reflect on her own class culture. Her film shows the learning process of pre-service teachers
as they explored issues of identity, racism, and responsibility through the puppets that represent
their ancestors. She inspired those pre-service teachers to use video as a tool within their own
teaching environment. In her article, Friedman (2004) states that video and other art forms can
provoke meta-investigations of our teaching practices, allowing us to critically examine
approaches to creating change within the classroom, thus informing our practice of critical
pedagogy (p. 6).
What most resonated with me is the way that Stacy Friedman reflected on her puppetry
project. One of her dilemmas was how to get past the notion of racism is bad and get the
students move deeper, and beyond that concept. Her assumption was that if the puppets were
made to represent their creators (students), learners would not be able to pass the concept of
racism is bad. By representing their ancestors, students were able to portrait the value systems
of the past, and this became a powerful learning experience for them. She also reflected on the

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lack of minority voices (participants who were European descendants dominated the discussion),
and the way the production of this video became biased as the result of her assuming the
responsibility for the editing and elimination of less valuable sections.
In his chapter Students as Producers, Goldfarb (2002) highlights the idea that students
should be critical producers rather than passive consumers. Friedmans video is a clear example
of students as producers: they were actively engaged in the creation, design, and production of
those puppets and scripts. This activity helped these art teachers to gain a different perspective of
how meaning is produced. As Brian Goldfarb states, experience with production can offer a
different perspective from which to understand how meaning is produced, what functions media
texts serve (pp. 73-74).
Technology today offers great tools to personalize learning for students, who are
considered net geners (Tapscott, 2008), and it can be a good way to represent ideas, allowing
the invisible-intangible to become visible-tangible. Some big challenges for educators today are:
how to consider the different learning styles while choosing technology, how to be aware of
student voices, and how to deal with some stereotypes that may be portrayed in certain chosen
technologies.

References

VIGNETTE ANALYSIS # 1

Dane, R. (2004). The text of the puppet. Retrieved from https://connect.ubc.ca/bbcswebdav/pid3151951-dt-content-rid-14369406_1/courses/SIS.UBC.ETEC.532.65A.2015W2.60091/

download/puppet.html
Friedman, S. (2004). Documentary: Art education culture: A puppet based exploration of
identity, racism, and responsibility by Stacy Friedman [Video File]. Retrieved from
https://connect.ubc.ca/webapps/blackboard/execute/displayLearningUnit?
course_id=_73023_1&content_id=_3151951_1&framesetWrapped=true
Friedman, S. (2004). Video Paper. Retrieved from
https://connect.ubc.ca/webapps/blackboard/execute/displayLearningUnit?
course_id=_73023_1&content_id=_3151951_1&framesetWrapped=true
Friedman, S., Kind, S., & Dane, R. (2004). Art, culture, identity and representation: A
conversation with three art educators: Stacy Friedman, Sylvia Kind and Roger Dane
[Video file]. Retrieved from
https://connect.ubc.ca/webapps/blackboard/execute/displayLearningUnit?
course_id=_73023_1&content_id=_3151951_1&framesetWrapped=true
Goldfarb, B. (2002). Students as producers. In Visual pedagogy: Media cultures in and beyond
the classroom (pp.57-83). Durham: Duke University Press.
Kind, S. (2004). Textiles [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://connect.ubc.ca/webapps/blackboard/execute/displayLearningUnit?
course_id=_73023_1&content_id=_3151951_1&framesetWrapped=true
Tapscott, D. (2008). Net geners relate to news in new ways. Nieman Reports; Winter 2008,
62(4), p18-19.