Through this research project I combined critical pedagogy and visual culture as a methodology to broaden student awareness of the ways in which familiar popular media art forms can be a medium for personal expression, as well as a way to critically analyze society. This enabled students to begin to critically analyze the structures that define art. This project was conducted with a specific group of fifth graders who have been diagnosed with emotional and behavior disorders and who are at-risk of not graduating high school. For one-month I worked with and documented a group of eighteen 5th grade students who developed and painted custom bicycle designs that reflect their interests and values. I video interviewed participating student asking their opinions on popular culture, visual culture, and fine art. In addition I used my daily journal entries and a final exhibition to document and analyze the impact of critical pedagogy and visual culture as a strategy to build student awareness that their interests, meanings, and opinions have socially relevant value.

http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00009604/00001