Changing Society through Art
​​By:  Eric Wilkinson

Project at a Glance:

This project will allow students to address societal issues through mulit-genre artistic projects.  They'll consider the artist's purpose and audience as they hone their craft.

Driving Question:

How can we use (visual and literary art) to change society?

Standards:

• Writing stds:  11-12.1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
• Speaking/Listening stds:  11-12.2​

Team / Culture Building:

• ​Use Ennegrams to build teams and have students experiment with different roles on their team.

Entry Event:

• Invite Joel Schoon Tanis, a local artist, to  discuss visual literacy.  Another option is to collect a text set of viral images and sort them into categories to discuss why they went viral. 
• Example:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taking_a_Stand_in_Baton_Rouge​

Stakeholders:

• Students
• Decision Makers
• Lawmakers

Empathy Building:

• Stakeholder map
• Empathy map based off of stakeholders​

• Bring in stakeholders
• Journey Map

Inquiry / Need to Knows:

• Directed Storytelling- How to be an active listener. (the Who, What, Where, When) 
• Break-Up/Love Letter
• Students need to identify a topic THEY CARE ABOUT before they can have the NEED to KNOW.​​

Incubation:

• Rule of Thirds
• Idea Quota
• Anti-Problem
• Combin-ide-ology & Sort-and-Group
• Yes, and Can It /Brainwriting Analogous Thinking with texts 

Generating Ideas:

• Scattergories Style- Pick a letter- come up with ideas that start with that ​​

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Solution Building:

• Students will use  Bracketology, Dot Voting, NUF test, and the Break Up Letter to test their solution ideas.
• Following these strategies they will do a Combin-ide-ology, using a Netflix template to Storyboard their solution/visual their problem-solving process, and how their solution will work. ​

Critique and Revision: 

• Start-Stop-Continue protocol will provide feedback for revision

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Authentic Audience:

• Holland Art Museum
• Hope College Art Museum​

Final Presentation:

• Students will pitch their exhibit to Holland Museum (or Hope Art Museum). What is the art? What does it mean? Why should it be included? Team of five creates three connected pieces of art to present. ​

Reflection and Feedback:

• Invite community members in throughout the project to give feedback.

Project Template:

• Click here to view teacher's full plan.

Rubric:

• Click here for rubric.

Click here for the  teacher's Journey through PBL on Padlet.

Meet the Educator:
Eric Wilkinson teaches English (and sometimes Math) at West Ottawa High School in Holland, MI. 
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     "PBL gives students agency and purpose. They care more about their work because it affects their real world."