Hearts and Minds Without Fear

Symbolic Imagery & Visual Journals: Students Thinking Comes to Life

Aesthetic Education Program Models: Visual Journals & Symbolic Cognitive Products Reveal Emotions

Hope
Eyes wide open
Clear to see right through
Do you see me? Because I can see you.
I see you pass me by, like another lost cause
Doesn’t deserve the time of day, doesn’t deserve your attention at all
I may come off as angry, ungrateful maybe sad
But what I really need is your love, comfort and guidance
So please help me see my potential
Because with your help, I can make something of myself.

(Through a Child's Eyes, Poem by Pre-service Teacher, 2010)

Who am I? (2010)

“[Children and teachers] are encouraged to use utilize mixed mediums in a visual journal as a way of reflecting and symbolizing their frustrations and obstacles that arise in their daily lives and field classrooms. We introduce the visual journal, similar to sketchbooks artists have used throughout time, to record their ideas and thinking. [Children and teachers may] use their journal much like a “scrapbook,” a reflective synthesis of text and images. However, as illustrated throughout [Hearts & Minds Without Fear paradigm], the scrapbook journal is only one of the many aesthetic approaches we use within a myriad of imagination medium possibilities.” (Clark & French, Hearts & Minds Without Fear: Unmasking the Sacred in Teacher Education, Seed of Hope, p. 52)

Stop the Local Watershed Pollution: Interactive Frog Dance University-School Community Partnership Costumes Designed by Local School: Children (2009)

 

All references to outside sources can be found in the bibliography sections of our published work.