Standpoint
Standpoint
As an education research student, I focus on social justice and aspire to actively practice it in my daily life. Drawing upon the theories and knowledge I've acquired during my university studies, I designed a poster project and expanded upon it. This initiative ultimately took shape as an educational tool and workshop, enabling the public to easily grasp these issues while sparking awareness and discussion.
A workshop to support social justice
Standpoint
Self-designed card game and workshop
Project Introduction
This project examines biases including anti-Black racism in education, gender discrimination in STEM fields, gender pay gaps, exclusionary practices in transgender and gender-diverse education, educational neglect of poverty issues, and the erasure of Indigenous history by colonizers in schools. Each issue warrants urgent attention as it violates fundamental principles of educational equity and dignity.
My project will visualize these issues through childlike visual posters based on the concepts outlined above, making these concepts more accessible to the public. The poster series will be designed in a child-friendly style, with each of the six posters addressing one issue. All posters will use simple vocabulary and emojis, featuring character dialogue to illustrate the problem scenarios through illustrations. Through imagery, analogies, and personification, these posters will help everyone recognize overlooked social injustices and encourage reflection. For each theme, I researched relevant materials and academic papers to provide contextual support. Before starting the project, I reviewed numerous children's picture books and illustrations to establish the artistic style. Since my goal is to transform complex concepts or issues into easily understandable visual products, I sought inspiration from children's illustrations and real-life scenarios. When selecting content, I prioritized events commonly encountered in daily life or those with higher probability of occurrence.
Finally, considering the project's dissemination potential—specifically whether its outputs could be shared simply—I chose digital painting as the medium. The final pieces will be presented in PNG or JPEG formats. With internet access and electronic devices, nearly anyone can easily engage with the project's outputs. This significantly reduces dissemination costs and streamlines the sharing process.
Building upon this project, I aim to expand it further. With the goal of encouraging greater audience participation in discussion, I have combined this illustration series with the American jury and court systems to create a debate-style card project. Players will assume different roles: teacher, student, policymaker, journalist, social activist, and community leader. Centered around overlooked yet urgent social issues, participants engage in vigorous debate within the same field, defending their respective positions. Each identity carries unique perspectives and limitations. Through debate, they learn and articulate differing viewpoints, fostering deeper understanding and reflection on the complexities of education and social justice. However, the project's goal extends beyond winning debates. It is not merely a simulation of social justice but creates a space for listening and dialogue. Through the “Drift Bottle Discussion” segment, each player is provided an anonymous and safe space to document personal reflections and proposed solutions, fostering profound insights and contemplation on serious social issues.
How to Play?
1 All players draw a theme card together
2 Each player draws an identity card (in the following game, players will defend the position of the identity they drew)
3 Each player draws a draw position card
(the moderator/judge will act as a neutral role to moderate the entire debate, and may act as a jury to judge the winner of the debate when the number of players is three. The pro and con sides will debate, and the jury members will participate in voting on which side wins)
4 A field card will be drawn by the moderator, and the two sides will debate on the basis of that field.
5 Debate (the positive side will speak first, and there will be three rounds of debate. In the third round, the moderator will draw a contingency card, and the positive and negative sides will adjust their arguments based on that card for the final round of debate
(Each round the pro and con sides can ask for one piece of evidence each to help the judge/neutral forensics judge to evaluate the arguments or to think out of the box to help with the debate)
6 At the end of the debate the jury and judges vote on which side wins
7 Each person will be handed a Drift Bottle Exploration Card, which is anonymous, and each person can write a solution of their own on the card, or a question they have thought about during the debate, or a thought on a sensitive issue, etc. After writing their idea, pass the card to the next person
(each player needs to write at least one idea to the other players), and at the end each player will get their card back.
8 After each player gets their Drift Bottle Exploration card back, players will have a 10-minute reading session. After the reading session, players will be organized to participate in a discussion session where they can express their ideas and what new insights they have gained through the game. Players can keep their ideas to themselves or speak freely.
