Monica Leister

2.33 Enhancing Inclusive Classroom Practices through Participation in the International Children’s Exhibition of Fine Arts, Lidice (Paper)

Monica Leister – Tennessee School for the Blind in Nashville, TN, USA 

Debrah Sickler-Voigt – Middle Tennessee State University, USA

Abstract:

Disability is a normal part of the human condition. Fifteen percent of schoolchildren have a disability in the United States. Because most classrooms contain students with special needs, educators need to know supports ranging from low-tech to high-tech assistive technologies to facilitate equitable learning in visual and media arts. The aim of this presentation is to explain inclusive interdisciplinary/transdisciplinary instructional practices resulting from a 12-year-partnership between a K-12 school for the blind and a university art education program, who have participated in the International Children’s Exhibition of Fine Arts (ICEFA), Lidice. Based in the Czech Republic, ICEFA Lidice promotes childhood peace through its art exhibitions and collection of children’s artworks from six continents and 83 countries. Its annual themes correspond with UNESCO’s International Years about cultural diversity. Its collection commemorates all child victims of war and demonstrates human resiliency in moving beyond the horrific Nazi attack that destroyed Lidice’s entire village, including 82 innocent children. By participating in ICEFA Lidice, the presenters and their students explored unexpected territories and have learned new technologies including stop motion animation, green screen technologies, and robotics. These skills are strengthened with assistive technologies and physical artmaking. We will describe how our students have created multimedia artworks based on UNESCO themes that teach meaningful global subject matter, present disability as a normal part of the human condition, and demonstrate the many abilities of students with disabilities to a public audience. We will explain how access to assistive technologies enables students with disabilities to participate in learning tasks that can be impossible without them (UNESCO, 2019). Ultimately, given our participation in ICEFA Lidice, our presentation will equip educators with innovative strategies to integrate visual and media arts alongside assistive technologies to their unique teaching situations to promote student accessibility, equity, inclusion, and independence.