Adaptions Project Paper

Art Education and Disability Studies

Adaptions Project Paper

Sarah OHeron

Methods for Including Middle and Secondary Students with Disabilities

Adaptions Project Paper

Abstract

This paper reflects on four different articles and studies written by John Derby and Doris

M. Guay covering the topic of Art Education with relation to having an inclusive

classroom for students with disabilities and the study of methods used for teaching

students with disabilities in the classroom.

Adaptions Project Paper

To begin, the article The Sunny Side of the Street: A Supportive Community for the

Inclusive Art Classroom written by Doris Guay (1994) focused on current thought and

policy regarding the placement of students with special educational needs in inclusion

schools. (Guay, (1994), p. 52). Historically, the passing of PL 94-142 The Education for

All Handicapped Children Act brought access for students with disabilities to be

mainstreamed into the classroom (Guay, (1994), p. 52). It is noted by Guay that subject

areas considered non-academic were most frequently targeted for mainstream placement.

Art was one of these (Guay, (1994), p. 52). Then, The Individuals with Disabilities

Education Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 claimed the

need for inclusion even if academically students cant do the work. This was determined

because of the social interactions and other developmental benefits of being included in

classes. Specifically related to art education, art rooms are typically spaces that contain a

social aspect because students interact with their peers openly during class time, and

often work collaboratively exchanging ideas and assisting with art critique.

Adapting art education for heterogenous groups as mentioned in the article may

seem like an intimidating and overwhelming task, but Guay states that inclusion brings

new opportunities (Guay, (1994), p. p.53). John Derby (2012) in his article Art

Education and Disability Studies notes that Viktor Lowenfeldaffectionately revered as

"the father of Art Education devoted his early career (19261938) to teaching at a school

for blind children in which he developed a passion for therapeutically using creativity in
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art. (Derby, (2012) Vol 32, No 1). Derby says that art can remediate, rehabilitate, and

socialize disabled children, but also that disabled learners are important, because they

create change to how an art curriculum is taught. It brings awareness to the pedagogical

approaches of art education and what should be included in a curriculum. For example in

John Derbys (2011) article Disability Studies and Art Education he mentions how visual

culture studies and disability studies can attend to the practices of teaching and learning

and focuses on lived experiences with the intention to disrupt, contest, and transform

systems of oppression" (Derby, (2011), p. 98). This is an abstract idea, but fundamentally

disability studies can advance the field of art education's perspectives and policies about

disability (Derby, (2011), p. 97). Unfortunately, as mentioned in Derbys article,

Disability (and other forms of deviant" appearance and behavior) is judged sick, and is

culturally quarantined through such means as the construction of architectural barriers,

censorship of art and other visual culture (such as restricting images of disabled people

from mainstream films and advertisement5), and even law enforcement efforts that

banish "undesirables" (such as home-less people with mental illnesses) from the public

eye, and these similar exclusions are present in public school curriculum (Derby, (2011),

p. 99). Derby believes that Art Education should address identity, include issues of social

justice, and contain narrative that is inclusive to all students. By teaching students about

social justice and addressing issues of oppression within minority groups including those

of disabilities can create an understanding and inclusive environment not only in the art

room, but in the lives of students outside of school. This can be done by showing

contemporary artist who live with a disability and make art that conceptually speaks to
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their identity and ways in which they express their selves and through their art addressing

their disability or not. Either way its good to expose students to a diverse population to

create understanding of others. Jess and I presented are high incident disabilities

presentation on dyslexia, and we showed artwork done by artist who have dyslexia who

address their disability through their art. This is also really important because students

who may have disabilities in the class could feel comfortable expressing themselves

through their artwork.

Another way of making a classroom inclusive for students with disabilities is

mentioned in Guays article The Sunny Side of the Street: A Supportive Community for

the Inclusive Art Classroom which outlined the benefits of a collaborative model for art

education and the potential contributions of others to the management of learning for all

students in todays heterogeneous art classroom (Guay, (1994), p. 52). Guay stated that

art teachers in inclusive schools should find support networks and assistance teams

available to them as needed to best instruct and know the needs of their students (Guay,

(1994), p. 53). Ideally in the inclusive school, the art teacher actively reaches out, leads,

educates, and problem solves with a team of collaborators who together develop a caring

community for all art learners , it is not something that any teacher can take on

themselves (Guay, (1994), p. 54). The article contains a triangular model that is used for

collaboration as support for inclusion teaching. The triangle model contains consultation,

classroom assistance, and co-teaching which all support inclusive art education.

Consultation includes the help of parents, teachers, therapist, disability specialist, student

peers, and special education staff to inform art teacher of appropriate objectives, task, and
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responses (Guay, (1994), p. 54). Classroom assistance is the help of trained students,

volunteers, and paraprofessionals that provide extra hands, eyes, minds, and hearts for

direction and feedback (Guay, (1994), p.54). This is useful because there are more

hands and assistance that can be one-on-one, which is important for students with

disabilities. Lastly, co-teaching provides collaboration of two teachers to work with

students who have disabilities to come up with ways to accommodate and intervene with

curriculum, also having two teachers allows for smaller group instruction which is

helpful to students with disabilities (Guay, (1994), p. 54). Guays model for collaboration

stresses the importance of the collaborators which can be students, parents, special

education professionals, school administrators, and the community which all provide

insight and support for students with disabilities. For example, in the reading it mentions

how students often get to know their peers outside of classroom settings and could

provide suggestions or insight to what might help a student with a disablitlyity or act as

helper by knowing the student. Art teachers can use students as helpers to act as peer

tutors (Guay, (1994), p. 54).

In another of Guay's article Cross-Site Analysis of Teaching Practices: Visual Art

Education with Students Experiencing Disabilities a study was done focusing on the

instructional and managerial strategies used by 8 art teachers of students experiencing

disabilities (Guay, (1992), p. 222). It was discovered in this study that modeling art

behaviors, demonstrating techniques, and showing completed examples of art products

did not stifle creativity but rather enhanced it (Guay, (1992), p. 223). For students with

disabilities art education theory has provided strategies and models for instruction with
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students experiencing disabilities, include is a strategy called task analysis which

involves reducing a specific art skill into a series of small sequential steps and teachers

develop behavioral objectives to match each sequential step (Guay, (1992), p. 223).

The participating teachers all had accessible sinks and counters and varying kinds and

amounts of storage space, display areas, and blackboards. teachers put supplies within

reach of students. storage spaces were often labeled, some pictorially, to accommodate

for all students and types of learners (Guay, (1992), p. 226). For communication and

problem solving, five teachers sought needs/characteristics information from special

education staff; half reported informal but frequent communication with this staff, so

teachers could know their students better (Guay, (1992), p. 226). One teacher in the study

formally met each quarter with each special education teacher to develop a file card

system listing the strengths, interests, and needs of each student, which seemed to be

comparable to an independent learning plan (Guay, (1992), p. 226). Teachers classroom

management was maintained through creating expectations in a caring classroom

atmosphere through the use of verbal praise, hand-over-hand assistance, and the invention

of adaptive devices (Guay, (1992), p. 227). Instruction was given by one-on-one

directness, repetition, example, and modeling were prominent elements of instruction.

Classes frequently began with reviews and questions designed to capture curiosity.

Motivation was accomplished through stories, games, visuals, and touching of

artifacts (Guay, (1992), p. 228). Teachers in this study also used cue hierarchy, verbal

cuing, and additional demonstration preceding hand-over-hand assistance if needed.

Colorful teacher-made posters displayed vocabulary, step-by-step techniques, and design

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concepts in words and pictures. for academic instruction (Guay, (1992), p. 229). It was

noted that instruction for students with attentional and behavioral disabilities were given

tangible rewards, attention to interests, visual examples, and games, as well as personal

encouragement (Guay, (1992), p. 229). Instructing for students with physical disabilities

were given objectives to develop appreciation and understanding led to extensive hands-

on use of purchased toys and everyday objects as well as art and tourist artifacts. (Guay,

(1992), p. 229). Curriculum was built so that all students could be challenged to their

personal abilities, and be involved with all activities in whatever way they could

participate.

To conclude the study and this paper, a quote that stuck out to us and can

encompass disability studies, inclusion, and art education was said by a teacher who had

a student that had a disability and accomplished their weaving by crawling through a

warp fastened with broom sticks to the floor; a ceiling-hung, sand-filled pendulum made

giant line designs on the floor when pushed, the class provided help when student

needed assistance. The teacher response to this method of creating art to others was,

students do not make a typewriter in order to create with it meaning that students can

participate with the art process in whatever way they can given their abilities and chosen

material and method of doing so (Guay, (1992), p. 229).

Adaptions Project Paper

References

Derby, John. "Art Education and Disability Studies." Disability Studies Quarterly. N.p.,

2012. Web. 01 May 2017.

DERBY, J. (2011). Disability Studies and Art Educatio. Studies in Art Education, 52(2),

94-111. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41407936

Guay, Doris M. "Cross-Site Analysis of Teaching Practices: Visual Art Education with

Students Experiencing Disabilities." Studies in Art Education. N.p., 30 Nov. 1992. Web.

01 May 2017.

Guay, Doris M. "The "Sunny Side of the Street": A Supportive Community for the

Inclusive Art Classroom." Art Education. N.p., 30 Nov. 1994. Web. 01 May 2017.