Graffiti in Education: Navigating Legality, Authority, and Ethical Boundaries | Chapter 13 | Walls That Teach: Graffiti, Education and the Pedagogy of Resistance

 

Graffiti art is a style in visual art rooted in spray-can painting vandalism familiar in cities all over the world. This art form has existed since time immemorial when humans chose to live together in communities, and discovered the ability to translate their thoughts and ideas onto the surfaces of the spaces where they lived, worked, and travelled. This chapter critically scrutinises the multifaceted moral landscape of incorporating graffiti into educational theory and practice. Situated within the theme Ethical Considerations in the Walls that Teach: Graffiti, Education, and the Pedagogy of Resistance, the study interrogates the tensions between legality, authority, inclusion, and educational value in engaging with graffiti as both an art form and a pedagogical tool. The chapter encourages educators to engage deeply with the ethical questions surrounding its use, representation, and potential as a means of transformative learning. It explores the fine line between criminalisation and creativity. It considers how graffiti’s status as “illegal” influences public perception and institutional reluctance, while simultaneously acknowledging its educational potential as a form of visual literacy that invites critical analysis of social realities. This discussion frames the need for educators to grapple with legal boundaries while also recognising graffiti’s capacity to serve as a tool for resistance and expression. It also considers how authority can either suppress or support youth agency, especially in marginalised communities. It critiques the appropriation of street aesthetics without engaging the communities that produce them and emphasises the need to centre authentic voices and community narratives in pedagogical engagements with graffiti.

 

The chapter also considers Consent and Community Engagement as ethical imperatives. It advocates for inclusive dialogue and collaboration with local communities in educational graffiti projects to foster mutual respect, avoid exploitation, and ensure relevance. The chapter highlights the moral dilemmas surrounding the removal or suppression of graffiti, especially when it reflects painful histories, dissenting voices, or unpopular truths. It calls for pedagogies that are emotionally responsive and ethically grounded. The chapter concludes with offering educators guiding principles for integrating graffiti in ways that are legally informed, culturally sensitive, ethically sound, and socially just.

 

 

Author(s) Details

Solomon Imbayago
Department of Technical Education, Great Zimbabwe University, Zimbabwe.

 

Please see the book here :- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/mono/978-93-47485-01-5/CH13

Eugenics Actions in the History of Education: The Impact of Censorship Practices Applied in the Pedagogical Academy of Heraklion, (Crete, Greece) during the April Dictatorship (1967-1974) | Chapter 6 | Language, Literature and Education: Research Updates Vol. 5

 

This chapter examines censorship forms, overt, latent and productive, implemented in the pedagogical training received by the students (teacher candidates) of the Pedagogical Academy of Heraklion (P.A.H.) (Crete, Greece) during the period of the April dictatorship (1967-1974). These specific forms of imposed censorship are examined to the dynamics they can develop in terms of strengthening eugenic actions or eugenic-type of actions within the context of an authoritarian regime. In the introduction of the chapter, a brief reference is made to the historical context of the period we are examining. The ideological principles of the dictatorship of that period are briefly mentioned, as well as the main changes that took place in the field of education and specifically teacher training. The literature overview of the chapter refers to the concept of eugenics and its basic characteristics, as well as to the themes that the history of education has examined around this concept. This is followed by an explanation of the concept of censorship and the individual forms, overt, covert and productive, that it can acquire. The review concludes with a reference to the main censorship actions of the dictatorial regime under consideration in the period under research.The research was based on the archival material of the Academy, specifically the documents relating to its lending library. The historical interpretive methodology of 'history from below' was followed. The results of the research reveal many acts of censorship, overt or latent, concerning the formation of the institution's lending library towards a eugenic type pedagogy. The findings are consistent with the general idea of the intense censorship activity of the dictators in the period 1967-1972, but highlight similar results for the period 1972-1974, for which relevant research had shown that the phenomenon of censorship was clearly less visible.

 

Author (s) Details

Manolis Kounalakis
University of Crete, Greece.

 

 

Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/lleru/v5/5378