Art Based Pedagogies<\/em>, a collection of essays about integrating culturally relevant creative processes in K to 12 education, Burgis is an advocate for teaching and learning that prioritizes equitable practices. <\/p>\n\n\n\nLast month, she was named one of four honourees across the country to receive the Rita L. Irwin Art Teaching Dissemination of Knowledge award. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The award celebrates the creativity, insight and pedagogical leadership of art teachers across Canada through 80-minute online conversations that serve as spaces to exchange, reflect and envision the future of art education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWalk by a display of student artwork in a school with a strong art program, and you will have the unique experience of being able to actually see and learn what students are thinking and feeling about their communities and themselves,\u201d says Michael Emme, professor emeritus from the University of Victoria and director of publications and resources with CSEA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He says Burgis was chosen as the Ontario awardee because of her \u201congoing commitment to culturally sensitive visual co-creation and collaboration in schools, school districts, universities and the province.\"\u202f\u00a0Her focus on building art programming around themes that invite and value the diverse experience of students is significant, he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Burgis says she approaches art instruction with a \u201cdisruption strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joni Acruff, race and art education expert, is quoted as saying: \u201cHow can art be both white property and my personal tool for destabilizing racial power?\u201d Burgis says she often reflects on this in her work with educators, focusing on supporting students who are most marginalized. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a real contradictory nature of art,\u201d Burgis says. \u201cWhen we think about art, we have to hold both ideas in our heads \u2013 that it can be a tool of liberation and a tool of oppression.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, while most teacher-candidates understand and relate to this pedagogy, she says they can get stuck in putting it into practice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For students in a K to 8 classroom, art is often a Friday afternoon activity that is a \u201creward.\u201d And mostly, Burgis notes, teachers will end up with 25 copies of the same thing. Part of the problem is approaching art instruction in sequences around media \u2013 such as drawing, painting or sculpture \u2013 which can limit thinking to the Euro-American canon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, she suggests educators use themes, which supports the inclusion of a diverse range of art makers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou need to be intentional,\u201d Burgis says. \u201cI know that I am approaching this equity work as a white woman. There are times when I need to lean in and listen and times when I need to use my privilege to create space and then get out of the way.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Teaching is naturally a creative profession \u2013 and the fun part, she says, is creating and designing for learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBy focusing on the power of \u2018and,\u2019 you can move beyond performative actions and instead create substantive change,\u201d Burgis says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the classroom, that can include changing the way assessments are conducted to create differentiated opportunities for students to show what they know. She put this into practice with York teacher-candidates for a language and literacy project; students came back with songs, sketch comedy and even spoken word. \u201cIt was joyful to evaluate,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For future educators, Burgis hopes to encourage them to be open, listen to what students are saying and to be adaptable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis work is hard sometimes,\u201d she says. \u201cBut when we can have a positive impact at the student\u2019s desk, it\u2019s worth it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With files from Karen Martin-Robbins<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Emily Burgis, a visiting professor in the Faculty of Education, is one of four educators across Canada to earn the Rita L. Irwin Award for her leadership in culturally responsive art pedagogy.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2386,"featured_media":400927,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19,8,11,13],"tags":[18,33,6,68,88,47,60,17,50,15,12,14,4],"yfileauthor":[204],"qualifier":[199],"yfile-author":[304],"tags-to-show":[155,177,147,152,183,158,146,169],"workflow":[],"class_list":["post-400921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-awards-recognition","category-features","category-latest-news","category-teaching-learning","tag-awards","tag-equity","tag-faculty","tag-education","tag-markham","tag-sdg-10","tag-sdg-16","tag-sdg-4","tag-sdg-5","tag-sdg","tag-students","tag-teaching-and-learning","tag-yfile","yfileauthor-yfilestaff","qualifier-edited-by","yfile-author-ashley-goodfellow-craig","tags-to-show-awards","tags-to-show-equity-diversity-inclusion-edi","tags-to-show-faculty","tags-to-show-faculty-of-education","tags-to-show-markham","tags-to-show-sdg","tags-to-show-students","tags-to-show-teaching-and-learning"],"acf":{"internal_publish_date":"20251106","original_image":null},"yoast_head":"\n
快播视频 educator wins national award for advancing equity in teaching\u00a0 - YFile<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n