Adult Learners and AIDS Artwork: Conceptual Suggestions for Adult Education Practice

Significant stigma exists to marginalize persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Research has demonstrated it is possible to reduce stigma and prejudice through the development of meaningful and innovative education. The purpose of this article is to explore the ways in which the creative and purposeful use of AIDS Artwork as an educational tool may reduce stigma about HIV/AIDS and help adult learners to regulate their own prejudices about the diseases. Using Jarvis’s model for experiential learning as a framework for understanding, this article discusses some of the literature on HIV/AIDS education and the use of socially informed art in adult education. Eight potential educational exercises using AIDS Artwork are suggested and explained. The Critical Senses Conceptual Map is proposed as a helpful framework for adult educators who wish to include these exercises in curriculum designed for the reduction of prejudice and stigma about HIV/AIDS.