April 24, 2022
This spring quarter, I completed two courses in the Master of Art in Education program at OSU: Curriculum Development with Dr. Shari Savage and Research 6998 with Dr. Ruth Smith. Both courses were challenging in both rigor and development of materials that are applicable to my own situation, teaching secondary digital art education.
Curriculum Development explored the meaning of art as it applies to modern education, the history of art in education and how we got to this current juncture and what we will do next. I found the history of education in art fascinating and reading about the massive movement to concretize the arts (visual, theatrical, and musical) into a congealed necessary part of education much the same as history, geography, and government became what we know today as social studies. Unable to come together because of feelings of self-importance, all these artistic programs suffered in the American public school system. I also enjoyed the writings of Van Laar who discussed the myths and misinterpretations of art and artists.
In research 6998, we reflected on the writings of the past two years in this course to build our final reflexive practice portfolio (FRPP). This acts as a final cumulative reflexive report and research project on our personal journey and how we have and intend to apply what we have learned and experienced to our personal teaching practices. It is interesting to see my own words that I began writing in 2020 and where I am now as I revise and rewrite these ideas through newly enlightened eyes.
Annotated Bibliography
Van Laar, T. and Diepeveen, L. (1998). Chapter 3. Active sights: Art as social interaction. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Co. (p. 51-69).
This article outlines the artist as a social agent, pulling from the historical and contemporary models. For each category, Van Laar notes that these types are accompanied by two myths: one that exaggerates the role and one that is in opposition to the role. We privately, or perhaps even publicly, attach some hierarchy of value to the ways artworks operate socially (Van Laar, pg. 51). The author lists five categories that artists fulfill as a social agent:
Artist as a Skilled Worker
Artisan or craftsperson. Trained in physical, not intellectual problem solving. “Masters” a skill
Artist as Virtuoso-enviable in technical skill
Artist as Anarchist-rejecting social integration
Both myths give rise to artists as a professional operating in an arena where amateurs cannot flourish
Artist as an Intellectual
The artist investigates all areas of human knowledge and contributes to them. Views artists as important inventors and discoverers in theoretical and analytical pursuits (Van Laar, pg. 55).
Elitist and exclusionary following, understood by few
Artist as Genius, mastering all things attention is aimed at
Artist as naïve innocent, unaware of the power and beauty of the creation naturally created
Artist as Entrepreneur
The artist invests in activities that support the business of art. Allows artistis to be free to create, however they must meet the demand of the market to be successful.
Artist as hero, seeking fame and exploiting it
Artist as economic failure: financially struggling/starving artist
Artist as Social Critic
Artists and art are seen as tools of liberation and dissent against injustice
Artist as social outcast, exile, or bohemian. Shows discontent with culture and make a social statement not just with their art but with their lifestyle (Van Laar, pg. 63).
Artist as a social parasite, a general slur to minimize the importance of artists and therefore their criticism (Van Laar, pg. 63).
I wondered as I wrote this what Van Laar would say about the rise of social media and it’s ability to raise individual artist to “influencers” and promoters of products
Artist as a Social Healer
Operating in a space as to offer healing in social, emotional, and religious needs. One whose works can express transcendent truths that accomplish social healing (Van Laar, pg. 63).
Artist as Mystic, producing transcendent, spiritual goals and exemplify this role as social healer.
Artist as a charlatan, a fraudulent storyteller and trickster
Efland, A. (1990, December). "Change in the conception of art teaching," Australian Art Education, 14, 2, 1-11.
The author states that there are predominant curriculum styles that are used in contemporary art education. The assumption is that theories and philosophies of art play a role in determining the character of art instruction (Efland, pg 1). He goes on to describe historical examples of how art educators have shaped curriculum to reflect beliefs of the time.
In 1935 Melvin Haggerty discussed art in a new way, as a way of life, a potent instrument for improveing the life of the common person. Art in the home, in dress, and in community improvement projects served as art activities rather than the study of grand masterpieces with all their eliteness and remoteness. “Art in daily living” was the slogan for this new approach. These practices were grounded in pragmatic theory where art is an instrument to be judged by its effectiveness in solving the practical, aesthetic problems affecting the life of the viewer. (Efland, pg. 2).
In this example, and many others, Efland describes how the social environment, in this case the fallout of economic depression and war, shaped the art education pedagogy. Efland notes that art theory and teaching practices developed to respond to the social environment. The author breaks down three concept models for art education, Mimetic, Pragmatic, and Expressive Psychoanalytic.
Mimetic-Behavior Bulding: Art as learned by imitating and behavior building
Pragmatic-Social Reconstruction: Art as Experience and social engineering
Expressive Psychoanalytic: Values self-expression, imagination and the process of self- discovering art
Formalist-Cognitive Model: Art is learned, created, and interpreted by understanding its structure and components. Principle and elements define the aesthetics of art
So what is an art teacher to do? Trying to define and explain the postmodern or Neo-expressionism of the 70’s, 80’s Efland contemplates that the recycling and recombination of former styles suggests that the succession of styles that has been under way since the impressionists of the last century is now out of control (Efland, pg. 9). We have to pull from these past theories and embrace current undefined states of art and theory and pull them together for what they are: Theory. We are in a constant state of not being able to see the forest for the trees as we guide our students through that same understanding. It would also be the case that no single theory from the past can be taken as true theory but as provisional explanations regarding the nature of art and its value (Efland, pg. 10).
Darts, D. (2006). “Art education for a change: Contemporary issues and the visual arts” Art Education, 6-12.
Darts, an art educator, saw a problem with the current trend in art education as focusing on object creation and was not focusing in the ability of art to make meaning or reflect/impact social change. In an effort to redirect his course, Darts began a set of lessons meant to allow the students to both recognize their connection to society and ability to reflect upon their role and impact as artists. He allows the students to follow a framework and build their own curriculum based upon research they conducted as student artists/teachers/researchers.
The students began with a “hook”, in which they would play games, role play and allow their fellow students to see the connection they were pointing out in society. They then progressed to the “foundation” where they would present major facts/information, data and statistics. They would also present opposing viewpoints and include popular culture that reinforced their chosen social issue. Finally students would present the “reflective” stage of their lesson in which they directed the class to consider the information provided and act upon it as they created art and devised social activity. Students would use a system of written reflection and exit strategies to review each other and their progress for assessment.
Darts believes that in order to better connect art education to the greater education system as a whole, we must focus on learning and teaching such as the example above. This education values the making of meaningful connections of societal issues and problems and seeing art and art making as a way of addressing these issues.
Marshall, J. (2014). “Transdisciplinarity and art integration: Toward a new understanding of art-based learning across the curriculum” Studies in Art Education, 104-127.
This article on transdisciplinary practice and art integration seeks to advocate the practice and talks about its usefulness in general education. Marshall notes that this is a step beyond art-infused curriculum, in which art production is solely a strategy for teaching academic content (Marshall, pg. 105). Focusing on a capacity to foster conceptual/procedural skills and metacognition, art integration becomes relevant to all areas of learning where inquiry is utilized.
Not simply cross-curriculum, multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary practice in which it is implied that there will be collaboration and sharing of concepts, ideas and methods, transdisciplinarity is a fusion of the domains of each curriculum involved and creates a new social and cognitive space. Transdisciplinary fields are characterized by these elements:
A coherent conceptual framework, lens, or a meta-disciplinary perspective
Framework implies structure supported by a “web metaphor”
Spinners: artists/specialists spin disciplinary threads
Weavers: Art educators who weave these threads together
Weavers: learners who weave threads together in a fabric of understanding
A critique of component disciplines
Use of play and novel inquiry to explore
Disrupt conventional and established thinking and methods
A distinct epistemology
A particular perspective on information that serves the purpose of the field
Learners understand content, methods, and disciplines resulting in a new perspective
An array of particular methods and practices (Marshall, pg. 106).
Methods that blend and occupy the spaces between the subjects
Synthetic thinking generated from visualization of complex abstract concepts
Marshall gives examples of ARI (Art Research Integration) where students demonstrated how ARI disrupts the logical, linear reasoning favored in the academic disciplines and education by applying artistic processes, associative thinking, and imaginative interpretation to whatever it explores (Marshall, pg. 118). Additionally, because of the melding of differentiated avenues and veins of exploration, the student gathers a better overall understanding and deep learning of the subject exploring scientific, spiritual, personal, and aesthetic aspects of the subject.
The ARI research that is compiled in a workbook or sketchbook, Marshall concludes is a chronicle of research that becomes “information art” with the formal characteristics of graphic literature and scientific field notes (Marshall, pg. 120). Just like in art education where the sketchbook functions as a collection of plans, drawings, and experiments to support an artwork, the compiled information and research in ARI supports the inquiry into the subject.
ARI and Transdisciplinarity allow for deep learning through multi-disciplinary methods to explore oblique connections in complex concepts. ARI is an organic approach to education that transforms learning into deep, integrated, personal understanding (Marshall, pg 125).
Duncum, P. (2002). "Children never were what they were: Perspectives on childhood. In Yvonne Gadaelius and Peg Speirs (Eds.), Contemporary Issues in Art Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 97-107.
Duncum seeks to define a more complete image of childhood and the experience of the child. Not just the idea of innocence, but the very real and often ugly side of childhood as it appears in various difficult to accept versions, including violence and abuse. Developmentalism notes that children’s physical and psychological development happens in stages and therefore are quite different from adults. Even today, while cherished for its innocence, childhood often represents a lower, inferior state of being (Duncum, pg. 101). This explanation helps to support the idea that a lack of control of emotions and effective use of problem solving, and skill is lacking in children. However, the inner child is also used to explain the act of childishness in adults. The inner child is said to take over when we become emotional or angered and revert to immature behavior. The desire to segregate children may be not only about controlling actual children but controlling the child within us. As adults, then, we continuously strive to gain control over actual children, our own childhoods and even the very idea of childhood (Duncum, pg. 102).
But if they acknowledge that children are regularly exposed to violent images that often involve children, working through the fears aroused in children by such imagery becomes an important talk for education. Children need time and mature adults to debrief and unless they can do so at home, they need to do so in the classroom (Duncum, pg. 105).
Madeja (2013) “The status of assessment in the visual arts in the United States”
The author gives an overview of the history of educational assessment in art. Reviewing the role of institutions and educators in the practice of assessment, the author seeks to find flaws in the system and identify ways to improve.
The article notes that nationally there is no official governing body overseeing education, it is regulated by a state-by-state system. There is, therefore, a great deal of variation from state to state in the standards and testing practices. Widely, arts education has not been a priority as the rise of standardized testing and the ranking of school districts has become the normative way of measuring performance and funding.
Like social studies, which was a combined curriculum of American and world history, government, and geography, “I advocated integrating the arts into a singular curriculum, and encouraged schools to considre the arts as a core area of study.” (Madeja, pg. 10). However, the author’s ideas were met with dogmatic resistance.
John D. Rockafeller III had a sincere interest in funding and promoting the arts and arts education. Along with other interested organizations, JDR III organized a report to advocate for the arts and raise interest and investment in arts awareness. Although not directly the point of the report, there was significant emphasis on the importance of art education in schools. “Many schools at that time had excellent art and music programs but did not make available subjects such as dance, theatre, poetry, film study, architecture, and literary criticism. It (the report) also advocated utilizing the services of arts organization as primary resources for the arts in general education.” (Madeja pg. 11). The integration of arts within general education in public schools was resisted by different factions of the arts, mainly music, and resulted in the loss of an important ally in JDR III.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress 1969
To perceive and respond to elements of art
To recognize and accept art as an important realm of experience and participate in activities related to art
To know about art
To form reasoned, critical judgments about the significance and quality of works of art (Wilson, 1972)
No Child Left Behind Act (2001
Stronger accountability for results
Increased flexibility and local control
Expanded options for parents
Emphasis on methods that have proven to work
In her review of measuring and assessing curriculum in respect to nurturing art education, Madeline Kinter stated, “In so far as education fails to discover and to develop the greatest gifts in the possession of its pupils it falls short of its possible contributions to society. (Kinter, 1933)
Assessment Techniques
Portfolio review-good longitudinal view of student performance and interests
Assessing Expressive Learning: Electronic portfolio follows student through k-12
Art education must work toward, and be about, establishing and promoting harmony and order between the natural, technological, and constructed environment, educating the public to be visually literate in a society that is dominated by visual imagery; and to understand that imagery has an impact on every facet of our existence and on how and what we know about it. (Madeja, pg. 28).
Wiggins (1998) “Promoting Student Understanding” Chapter 4, Educative Assessment, Assessment in Art Education, Chapters 1
The author explains how knowledge and understanding are different and not synonymous. Understanding involves applying knowledge to solve problems. We must be able to do more than just repeat phrases of official explanation; we must be able to do such things as justify the ideas involved, use those ideas effectively, and explain their value. (Wiggins, pg. 75).
I would define understanding as the realization of purpose for knowledge. Knowledge being facts, data, processes, techniques, and relationships of those aspects to other aspects. The act of assessing understanding would entail the ability to effectively apply learned data to an expected end. If the student cannot successfully or effectively use the knowledge, apply it in a fashion that solves a related problem, then we can assess that the student has not come to an understanding with the knowledge.
Assessment of performance in the visual arts: What, how and why? D. Boughton, 2013
The author seeks to discuss and add to the question of how to assess creative endeavors in the art room. What, how and why are discussed in the discussion of assessment in the arts. The author notes that often assessment techniques end up with the result of inhibiting artistic practice rather than promoting it. However, the author contends that, if done effectively, artistic assessment can encourage and promote artistic practice.
“High stakes tests, employed by state assessment authorities, in my view, are the epitome of the inappropriate assessment of the art learning. These tests require homogenous outcomes reflecting a single set of agreed standards thought to be appropriate for the arts. The casualties in these reforms have been the most valued of the tenets of art education, the freedom of students to pursue independent learning pathways and the autonomy of their expression (Boughton, pg. 122).
The author gives points to preserve and promote creativity
Curiosity and interest
Match interest with artistic practice
Journal and diary to capture fleeting ideas
Find themes
Thinking creatively
In-depth investigation
Problem finding
Risk taking in search of solutions
Creative flow
Allow engagement with ideas when time allows
Role of assessment in fostering creative behavior
Portfolios
Encourage themes seeking
Judge as a record of thinking
A good portfolio will require in-depth and sustained reflection and will provide a good opportunity to engage interest through the pursuit of thematic content. For a portfolio to have the best chance of becoming a living record of students creative thinking, less assessment is better than more (Boughton, pg. 128).
Failure to distinguish between standards and standardization in the practice of assessing art destroys the likelihood that students will experience the curricular conditions necessary to stimulate creative thought (Boughton, pg. 129).