Artivism as Democratic Practice: Using the Arts to Explore Civic Education with Elementary Pre-Service Teachers

Abstract

In an era marked by political polarization and curricular restrictions, civic education faces mounting challenges, particularly in elementary classrooms where social studies is often marginalized. This qualitative study explores artivism, the fusion of art and activism, as a pedagogical tool for engaging pre-service teachers (PSTs) in civic education within elementary social studies methods courses. Grounded in a conceptual framework that integrates arts-based research, arts integration, and aesthetic imagination, the study examines how PSTs use digital collage to express civic concerns and commitments. Data were collected from 68 PSTs across two teacher education programs, who created collages and accompanying artist statements focused on personally significant social issues. Using Feldman’s method of art critique and thematic analysis, the study identified seven civic themes-most prominently human rights and educational equity-and three categories of civic expression: Inform/Educate, Raise Awareness, and Inspire Action. While PSTs demonstrated strong engagement with justice-oriented topics, their work primarily emphasized raising awareness, with limited representation of action-oriented advocacy. Additionally, despite programmatic emphasis on racial justice, race was rarely addressed explicitly, revealing a gap between representational diversity and racial literacy. Findings suggest that artivism offers a “soft start” to civic dialogue, enabling PSTs to explore complex issues through multimodal expression. However, intentional scaffolding is needed to support deeper critical engagement and movement toward civic action. This study contributes to the growing scholarship on arts-based pedagogy in teacher education and highlights the potential of artivism to foster democratic resilience, civic identity development, and transformative learning in future educators.