“Follow Through”: Poetic Representation of Action Planning for Social Justice

Authors

  • Christopher Daniel Murakami University of Missouri
  • Andrea Hawkman University of Missouri
  • Crystal Kroner Cradle to Career Alliance
  • Jo Anna O'Neill University of Missouri

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18432/ari29248

Keywords:

social justice, found poetry, arts-based research, higher education, campus climate

Abstract

During an historic semester of student led protests for social justice, the University College of Education (pseudonym) facilitated an action planning session for diversity, inclusion, and social justice. This paper is guided by the question, how can data gathered from an action planning meeting on diversity, inclusion, and social justice be a/r/tographically (Irwin & De Cosson, 2004) represented to support self-awareness and transformative learning experiences? The four co-authors engaged in poetic representation (Ward, 2011) and describe how the data analysis and poem construction yielded opportunities for critical reflection in pursuit of educational equity. This work calls for continued dialogue, action, and emotional commitment to address issues of marginalization in education. The potential of arts-based research to help mediate transformative and lifelong learning regarding diversity and inclusion are discussed.

Author Biographies

Christopher Daniel Murakami, University of Missouri

Christopher D. Murakami, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Agroecology in the Falk School of Sustainability and the Environment at Chatham University. Murakami studies sociocultural classroom assessment strategies and identity formation in sustainable agriculture education. His work explores how people throughout their lifespan learn through their experiences with food and agriculture and how people learn to participate in the transformation to a more equitable food system.

Andrea Hawkman, University of Missouri

Andrea M. Hawkman, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Social Studies Education and Cultural Studies in the School of Teacher Education and Leadership at Utah State University. A former social studies teacher, Hawkman’s research and teaching attends the enactment of racialized pedagogies in the PK-20 social studies classroom and the intersection of education policy and social studies curriculum and instruction.

Crystal Kroner, Cradle to Career Alliance

Crystal Kroner, PhD, earned her doctorate in Educational Policy Analysis at the University of Missouri with an emphasis in educational equality and group dynamics. She is currently directing collaboration networks for the Cradle to Career Alliance, a nonprofit working to eliminate educational disparities and enhance opportunities through collective action at community and state levels.

Jo Anna O'Neill, University of Missouri

Jo Anna O’Neill: Receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Kansas, Jo Anna O’Neill’s career has been in educational evaluation. An incident at the age of eight made her hypersensitive to prejudice. Then, and later as a foster and adoptive parent, she saw poetry’s transformative power and continues to embrace it as a valuable avenue for social change.

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Poetry as Social Justice Erasure of Call for Papers by Sandra L. Faulkner

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Published

2018-03-01

How to Cite

Murakami, C. D., Hawkman, A., Kroner, C., & O'Neill, J. A. (2018). “Follow Through”: Poetic Representation of Action Planning for Social Justice. Art/Research/International:/A/Transdisciplinary/Journal, 3(1), 69–89. https://doi.org/10.18432/ari29248

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 1 (2018): Poetry and Social Justice Special Issue of Art/Research International: A Transdisciplinary Journal

Section

Art/Research In Action

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