Diálogos com a Arte nº2 - 2011

Figure 2. Family photo Family relationships, tradition and cultural identity were discussed through studying some paintings by Michael de Brito. In her notebook CS wrote: Children explored the cultural background of their family, and told stories about family customs and traditions. In addressing this theme we analysed the various types of family that exist in present day society. Children came to understand there are single-parent families, families where a parent is unmarried, widowed or divorced; there are reconstituted families where one or both of parents have children from a previous marriage who form part of the new family; and homosexual families made up of two parents of the same sex with children. They talked about their own families and CS pointed out that social norms are constantly changing and the world around us does not stay the same. Children realised the values they learn within their family change over time and this is a normal process to which they must adapt even if they do not agree with it. These changes lead developed a critical spirit with regard to the world in which they live and issues such as identity are very relevant to building their personality, which will then be projected onto their attitudes towards society.

The children responded to the question’ What is the importance of the family in your development as citizens?’ with the answers: L-Family is very important because I learn from them.

P-My mother and father taught me to behave myself.

S-My parents punish me when I misbehave.

T-They tell me what I can/ cannot do.

They compared their own life experience with Michael de Brito’s interpretations of his own family. They could actually see heritage, patrimony, tradition represented visually in a single canvas. They considered changes in their own families over time and CS explained why families in Portugal were much bigger a century ago. In her evaluation of the action CS concluded that this lesson sequence was good way of introducing the concept of Citizenship: My unit is about Family and it was very interesting to address this through studying paintings by Michael de Brito. Family is often considered a “touchy subject” because it stirs up very personal feelings but, through observation and analysis of this artist’s work, it was possible to make the lessons interesting and dynamic, and encourage student participation in dialogue in a relaxed manner 45