Supporting students to be ‘themselves’
Fine Art students work in an almost entirely self-directed way and are encouraged from the outset of their studies to establish unique areas of interest to explore using any media they choose. Many students enjoy this freedom of creative expression, but for others it can present a challenging requirement to perform their own individuality, when this is something that they are more comfortable suppressing.
Bourdieu’s widely adopted notion of ‘cultural capital’ describes the knowledge and understanding of cultural material that students acquire through a privileged upbringing, that becomes employed as ‘capital’ later in life, and traded for access to institutions and social circles. Neil and Reid describe how ‘’deficit’ of cultural capital affects how students see themselves, how they are seen by others, including peers and academic staff. They can easily come to feel isolated, out of place, as not really belonging.’ (2011)
Within an art school environment, cultural capital is at play almost immediately as students identify themselves amongst their peer group. Fashion, style of art-making and prior knowledge of art history or approaches can be direct indicators of social position, and students often feel the need to either embrace the social identity their upbringing has provided them with, or ‘rebrand’ for a new audience. For those from working class or ethnic minority backgrounds, this can be particularly challenging as ‘key aspects of performative identity, such as their language, mannerisms and style are both culturally appropriated and depicted as less cultured and generally deficient.’ (Holland-Gilbert, 2019)
It is common to ‘perform’ an identity in order behave appropriately or succeed in different environments, and this is particularly likely amongst students who perceive themselves to be in ‘deficit’. In ‘Using Things’, Ahmed (2019) describes the human toll of this constant adaptation – ‘It can be wearing to inhabit a world that is not built for you’. As a Fine Art tutor, I know that students are more successful when they can be encouraged to use their own ‘authentic’ voice, however this can create conflict within those who have been endeavoring to meet expectations by performing an alternative version of themselves.
Gilbert-Holland offers a potential solution in her description of the Open Book Project. This is a ‘free education programme for adults from marginalized backgrounds’, which in some cases functions as a path to Higher Education. Through dismantling the hierarchy of learning, integration with student groups and teaching that seeks to build confidence and skillsets, the Open Book project emphasizes that a ‘precariat habitus’ or non-‘traditional’ background can be compatible with and valuable to academic study.
‘As a result, rather than resort to mimicry of the cultural capital of traditional students, or compartmentalize various aspects of their identity… they were emboldened to assert their marginalized identity, in opposition to that of traditional students, seemingly regardless of how they were perceived’. (Holland-Gilbert, 2019)
In my experience it has taken uncommon self-assurance for a student to understand and celebrate the value of their own individual identity within their art practice, especially if that identity comes with a perceived lack of cultural capital. I have taken some encouragement from the work of Holland-Gilbert and the Open Book project that I may have some agency within my own teaching, and the environment that I facilitate to support students to feel able to ‘be themselves’ in this way.
References
Ahmed, S. (2019) What’s the Use? : On the Uses of Use. Durham: Duke University Press.
Holland-Gilbert, J. (2019) Precariat insurgency: A means to improve structures
of inclusivity in higher education. In Hatton, K (ed), Inclusion and Intersectionality in Visual Arts Education. London: Institute of Education Press (IOE Press).
Neil, K. and Reid, E. (2011) Accessing and Decoding Communities of Cultural Capital. In Bhagat, D. and O’Neill, P. (eds) Inclusive Practices, Inclusive Pedagogies: Learning from Widening Participatoin Research in Art and Design Higher Education. Hemel Hempstead: CHEAD.