Art Education as a Means of Promoting Democracy: Preparing Pre-Service Art Teachers for Social Justice Educatio

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the use of art as a pedagogical tool with pre-service art teachers in a graduate-level art education class. A curriculum was developed focusing on educational social justice theories and their application in regard to gender inequity and diversity issues. The goal was to lead students to engage in more self-directed learning and to become more pro-active in their society. The results indicate the value of using art making to help students explore, investigate, and examine self and self in relation to society. In addition, they shed light on transformational moments in the art making process when students' awareness of self and social justice issues was heightened and democratic ideas were reinforced. The results have implications for classroom practice as well as enhancing the quality of art education by incorporating social justice concerns in art education for individual and community developments.