AESTHETIC EDUCATION
Compiled by: W. Huitt, 1994
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Billington, David P. (1991, February). An integrated vision: Engineering and the liberal arts. Science, Technology & Society, 82, 1-6. The integration of scientific and technical perspectives on modern life with the insights and understanding derived from such studies as philosophy, economics, and literature is described. The historic and aesthetic elements of technology and engineering are discussed.
Carson, Joan C., & Sykes, Dudley E. (1991). Facilitating educational reform: An innovative model for teacher preparation programs. Paper presented at the Annual Mee ing of the Mid- South Educational Research Association (November 13-15, 1991). Document no.: ED341662. This model for teacher education programs responds to the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) standards requiring that professional education programs be based on essential knowledge, established and current research findings, and sound professional practice. The NCATE standards mandate that the design, delivery, and content of the curriculum reflect national concerns about the knowledge bases for professional education. The model described herein, referred to as the Professional Life Span Model, was used for the teacher education knowledge base at the University of Mississippi. The model is a framework within which six dimensions (psychological, social, physical, vocational, moral, and aesthetic) of students are nurtured in order to produce self-sustaining, adult, professional instructional leaders. The knowledge bases are drawn from general studies, specialty studies, learning environments, and educational processes. Two figures illustrate the model and reflect the sequence of application of program content and related field experiences.
Cobern, William W. (1991). The natural world as understood by selected college students: A world view methodological exploration. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (Lake Geneva, WI, April 7-10, 1991). Document no.: ED344745. World view variations potentially interfere with science education, particularly when instruction proceeds unaware of the importance of fundamental epistemological structure of learning. The research reported here specifically addresses the cognitive culture of women college students with respect to conceptualizations of nature, a delimitation of world view. Equally important objectives were to develop further the logic of justification and to test the effectiveness of interpretive, ethnographic methods. The approach to cultural study taken in the current research involved the use of logico-structuralism, a world view model adapted from cultural anthropology. The subjects of the study were 20 college students enrolled in a science course. Data were collected via semistructured ethnographic interviews. The structure came from projection devices used to encourage the participants to talk about the natural world. Three elicitation devices were employed to elicit conversation beyond what the photograph and initial question could accomplish one. The analysis of interview transcripts followed a grounded theory format. This process led to inferences about students' fundamental views toward the natural world. Several students did not connect knowledge of the natural world with science. Many of the students had a strong aesthetic sense about the natural world. They preferentially understood nature in terms of beauty and design. These students had a strong sense that nature must be conserved. Finally, these students generally viewed the natural world as orderly. If the science classroom is anything like that suggested by some research, then there is indeed a mismatch between many students' views of the natural world (e.g., aesthetic) and the view presented in science classrooms (e.g., materialistic). An explanation of elicitation devices, conceptualizations of nature codes, and concept maps and narratives of the respondents are appended. (40 references).
Davis Jessica. (1993). Why Sally can draw: An aesthetic perspective. Educational Horizons, 71(2), 86-93. The natural graphic talents of very young children do not deteriorate with age. Rather, aesthetic symbols are progressively devalued in the curriculum. Greater acknowledgement of the importance of graphic symbolization will improve symbolic literacy and contribute to cognitive development.
Hagaman, Sally. (1990). Aesthetics in art education: A look toward implementation. ERIC Digest. Document no.: ED329491. Aesthetics, or the philosophy of art, is perhaps the most troublesome discipline advocated in a discipline-based approach to art education. It is troublesome for many reasons, including its largely verbal nature and the lack of experience of most art teachers with its content and modes inquiry. Nevertheless, aesthetics can serve as a basis for all other content in an art curriculum because of its nature and its foundation of general questions about all works of art. Issues examined in this digest include: (1) relating aesthetics to art education; (2) placement of aesthetics in the art curriculum; (3) philosophical inquiry in art education; and (4) reconstruction of aesthetics in art education. A 9-item reference list concludes the digest.
Hamblen, Karen A., & Galanes, Camille. (1991). Instructional options for aesthetics: Exploring the possibilities. Art Education, 44(6), 12-24. Discusses six instructional approaches to aesthetics: (1) historical-philosophical; (2) cultural literacy; (3) aesthetic inquiry; (4) social-critical consciousness; (5) cross-cultural and multicultural; and (6) aesthetic-perception and experiences. Examines instructional applications of these approaches, assess their flexibility ???
Hanna, Judith Lynne. (1992). Connections: Arts, Academics, and Productive Citizens. Phi Delta Kappan, 73(8), 601-607. Education in the arts has the power to be intrinsically valuable and to help fulfill nonaesthetic, utilitarian goals. Art education can improve cognition, promote social relations, stimulate personal development, and foster citizen productivity. An examination of dance education shows at least 19 ways to connect dance to academics and the world of work. (37 references)
Hausman, Jerome J. (???). Watching the art education pendulum swing. Document no.: ??? A literature review of material from 1965 to the present that influenced the art education field, including publications outside of art education, is identified. "The Process of Education" by Jerome Bruner (1965) is discussed initially. An analysis of how the Pennsylvania State Seminar (1965) called for art educators to make an effort to move art education to higher levels of clarity and effectiveness is examined. Two papers in particular are emphasized "Curriculum Problems in Art Education" (Manuel Barkan) and "Concepts, Issues, and Problems in the Field of Curriculum" (Elliot Eisner). Barkan's paper led to the development of the Aesthetic Education Project at the Central MidWestern Regional Educational Laboratory (CEMREL). Eisner developed the Kettering Curriculum, a forerunner to the structured, sequential curriculum advocated by the discipline based art education approach (DBAE). The Getty Center for Education in the Arts was created in 1982 and an outline of the `discipline-based' approach that they adopted is presented. Other publications that have been influential include Howard Gardner's work, E. D. Hirsch's "Cultural Literacy," and "Towards Civilization" by the National Endowment for the Arts. Recent publications that receive a more detailed analysis include Jerome Bruner's "Acts of Meaning" and Elliot Eisner's "The Enlightened Eye." Art educators have long asserted that art education involves higher order cognitive skills and it is time this is recognized.
King, Robert. (1991). Teaching about the arts: Myths and reality. Insights Into Open Education, 23(6), ???. It is agreed among most educators that the arts should occupy some place in the elementary school curriculum. Yet the fact is that a strong role for the arts has yet to be developed. This paper argues that at least part of the reason for why such a strong role for the arts does not exist lies in some of the widely held beliefs about the practice of the arts in the classroom, beliefs that can be labeled "myths." Some of these myths include, "The arts are good to have in a classroom because there's no right or wrong answer," and "The best way to teach art is to integrate it with other subjects." Five emphases are presented for improving arts instruction: (1) emphasize the aesthetic problem; (2) emphasize the medium; (3) emphasize the elements of the art; (4) emphasize the real world; and (5) emphasize alternatives.
Kviatkovskii, E. V. (1992). School students' spiritual and intellectual development. Russian Education and Society, 34(9), 41-54. Addresses the importance of providing an education in spiritual and moral values as a means of preventing delinquency, crime, and other social problems resulting for urbanization. Suggests that stressing aesthetic education and cultural values will help students to find a creative release for their energy. Describes programs in film studies, music, and fine arts.
London, Peter. (1991). Art as transformation. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the National Art Education Association (Atlanta, GA, March 23, 1991). Document no.: ED335282. Western society sees art as beautiful, well crafted objects; and art education derives almost its entire theory and practice from this concept. However, this is only one function of the creative process and art educators need to reconsider the fullness and depth of the usage of that process and provide an alternative mission and practice of art education. This alternative use of the creative process can enhance and elevate the quality of the practitioner's life, not just the work of art produced. In this manner, art education becomes a powerful instrument, as it has been for primal people, for transforming the quality of people's lives. Adjustments in goals and means would help transform art education: (1) from art as entertainment to art being employed as a power to transform lives; (2) from art education th t produces objects to art education that includes celebration, self-discovery, and personal and collective empowerment; (3) from art education that focuses on replication of past art forms to focusing on discovering and expanding on what is possible in human affairs; (4) from isolation of other art forms to integration of all; and (5) from the structured institutions where art is taught to places where democratic processes, compassion, self-discovery, and authenticity of whole persons attending to one another. Art is not only pretty, art is power; and power not only to transform the face of the page, but the quality of life.
Overby, Lynnette Young. (1992). Status of dance in education. ERIC Digest. Document no.: ED348368. This Digest introduces dance as an art form characterized by use of the human body as a vehicle of expression. Organized into three sections, the first examines the rationale for dance programs in education, presenting opportunities for development of critical thinking and analytical skills; cooperation and teamwork; self-expression and self-esteem; organization and problem solving; cultural literacy; and communicating emotions through movement. Section 2 discusses the status of dance education. Fifteen states have developed dance curriculum guidelines. Many of the curriculum guides contain specific content, goals, objectives, and limited measurable outcomes for such areas as techniques for social, modern, and ethnic dance; aesthetic perception; kinesthetic sense; creative expression; choreography; and dance criticism. In elementary and secondary schools dance is usually taught as part of the physical education curriculum by physical educators. A number of magnet programs, located throughout the country, draw students because of a special interest or ability. The final section, on issues in dance education, addresses professional preparation; teacher ???; multiculturalism in dance education; and research needs.
Parks, Michael E. (1992). The art of pedagogy: Artistic behavior as a model for teaching. Art Education, 45(5), 51-57. Maintains that teachers and artists are alike in that they are communicators, inquirers, required to know themselves, trained to think qualitatively, concerned with technique, and evaluated by their work. Argues that using the model of the teacher as artist is superior to using only technical and quantifiable methods.
Short, Edmund C. (1993). The use of multiple theories of inquiry in educational research. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (Atlanta, GA, April 12-16, 1993). Document no.: ED358147. This paper explores how various perspectives influence inquiry in education. Normative perspectives function as implicit theories of inquiry as a researcher undertakes formal inquiry, and such theories should be acknowledged. Epistemological as well as methodological issues raised by conceiving of such theories as normative rather than merely procedural are discussed, and a plea is made for all educational scholars to recognize the place of their theories of inquiry in their research activities. A theory of inquiry should be both acknowledged and, in fact, chosen deliberately and self-consciously to follow inquiry processes in a reasoned and open manner. In more qualitative research, there has been more acknowledgment of the role of normative theory of inquiry. Examples are given in the work of aesthetic inquiry in education and in phenomenological and hermeneutical inquiry. The form of inquiry that most carefully defines its normative perspective is that known as critical inquiry. The summary point is that the use of multiple theories of inquiry in educational research is evident and that this should be acknowledged and accepted.
Sidelnick, Mark A. (1992). Tesse of the Dubious Bills (A Developmental Fairy Tale?). Art Education, 45(1), 69-70. Examines the five progressive stages of Michael Parson's model for understanding aesthetic development: (1) favoritism; (2) beauty and realism; (3) expressiveness; (4) style and form; and (5) autonomy. Argues that the model can be applied to all ages. Uses Parsons' model to show how a congresswoman's level of aesthetic development can influence funding for the arts.
Smith, Ralph A. (1993). Art and its place in the curriculum. School Administrator, 50(5), 23, 26-30. The current cultural situation calls for reestablishing art education's fundamental purpose: cultivation of percipience in matters of art and culture. This article characterizes the learner image that should influence curriculum design and evaluation, describes the nature of art and its contribution to human fulfillment, sketches five phases of aesthetic learning, and mentions five mistakes commonly found in educational policymaking.
Smith, Ralph A. (Ed.). (???). Cultural literacy & arts education. Thirteen experts in the visual arts, literature, music, dance, and theater responded to the arguments of E. D. Hirsch's "Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know", focusing particularily on his alarm at the serious slippage that has occurred in the background knowledge and information rerequisite for effective communication. These authorities addressed two questions: (1) What it means for people to be "literate" (that is, able to understand communications and have relevant experiences) in various art forms? (2) What sorts of context should such individuals bring to their encounters with works in these art forms and what would that imply for arts education? The contributing specialists are E. D. Hirsch, Jr., Harry S. Broudy, Jerrold Levinson, Patti P. Gillespie, Walter H. Clark, Jr., John Adkins Richardson, Francis Sparshott, Clifton Olds, Marcia Muelder Eaton, Ronald Berman, Lucian Krukowski, Michael J. Parsons, and David J. Elliot.
Smith, Ralph A., & Simpson, Alan. (Eds.). (1991). Aesthetics and art education. Document no.: ED334127. Divided into five parts, this anthology analyzes various aspects of the theory and practice of aesthetics and aesthetic education. Each part contains an introduction and articles by various authors. Part 1, "Aesthetics as a Field of Study," outlines aesthetic questions, case problems, types of aesthetic theory, and recent aesthetics in England and the United States. Part 2, "Some Problems of Aesthetics, "presents analysis of the concepts of creativity, aesthetic experience, interpretation, critical evaluation, and art itself. Part 3, "Purposes of Aesthetic Education," discusses the arts as basic education, philosophy and theory of aesthetic education, teaching art in public schools, and the usefulness of aesthetic education. Part 4, "Curriculum Design and Evaluation," addresses such issues as the pursuit of excellence in arts education and detecting and assessing learning and development. Approaches to curriculum design are discussed along with the cognitive and moral outcomes of aesthetic education. Part 5, "Teaching and Learning in Aesthetic Education," describes the character of critical discussion, and how teachers must have knowledge of its principles and possible levels of discourse. This can help them teach relevant concepts of aesthetic criticism and understand the conceptual character of works of art.
Veale, Ann. (1992). Arts education for young children of the 21st century. Document no.: ???? This paper discusses the role of art in the education of young children, particularly in Australia. The first section reviews H. Gardner's theory (1983) that children need to be provided with opportunities to develop multiple forms of intelligence, one of which is intelligence relating to art. The value of play in children's education as put forward by various researchers, notably E. W. Eisner (1990) is also stressed. The second section of the paper examines the role of cultural activities in a society. It is maintained that children's art-making activities, and their learning about aesthetic values, are parts of the process of becoming educated. It is also emphasized that Australian citizens are to have a well-balanced view of their cultural heritage, Australian education must give a major place to Aboriginal art. The third section discusses theories, especially those of Vygotsky, that support a pedagogy based on play. The fourth section studies the educational context of children's artistic activity. Also considered are researchers' ideas about the connection between visual imagery, imagination, and education, and about the ability of raw sensory experience to stimulate the imagination of children. A 20-item bibliography is provided.
Williams, Harold M. (1991). The language of civilization: The vital role of the arts in education. Paper presented at the Plenary Meeting of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (24th, New York, NY, October 3, 1991). Document no.: ED355133. The arts and humanities convey the very essence of what it means to be a human being. The arts are a basic and central medium of human communication and understanding. As such, they should occupy a central place in education. In the wake of a "back to basics" movement in the schools, the artistic heritage and opportunities to contribute significantly to its evolution are being lost. The arts tend to be ignored in the schools because: (1) they are viewed as emotional rather than intellectual; (2) they are not formally assessed; and (3) the way the arts presently are taught tends to eschew structure or content. In fact, a growing body of evidence indicates that strengths gained in the study of art carry over into other subject areas. Reports suggest that vocabulary and writing skills improved through participation in disciplined based art programs. Early 20th century educators realized that art education improved cognitive skills. More recent art education programs have underscored the broad application of skills learned through instruction in the arts. The raising of the arts and humanities to their rightful place in education would be of service to countless generations of students and to democracy itself.