National Art Education Association

More about Teaching Art: An OverviewAuthor(s): Hilda Present LewisSource: Art Education, Vol. 41, No. 3 (May, 1988), pp. 4-5Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3193094 .

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More About Teaching Art: An Overview

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~A ~rt in the classroom has many facets. Just how many I can not say. Dozens - perhaps more. Six of them engage the authors in this issue.

To Szekely art sustains the soul; to Grossman it touches the deep re- cesses of the mind. Szekely writes about the way he uses commonplace

objects to awaken a sense of beauty in the young. In their presence he discovers visual excitement in articles of everyday use. A bedsheet becomes an exemplar of sensory and formal properties. He finds instances of extraordinary design, color, and texture in the shelves and bins of stores and markets. He opens students' eyes to the visual riches in the simplest of objects and sends his students in search of beauty among ordinary objects.

4 Art Education/May 1988

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The sensuous qualities of Szekely's classroom are a companion to the homage to order found in the weaving lessons in Grossman's classroom. Grossman describes an introductory fiber arts unit for children and university students based on weaving a tartan plaid. The students find the process of weaving the plaid easy to understand and deeply satisfying. The pattern of the plaid, based on the square, offers a sense of regularity and centricity, fulfilling a need to establish visual order. The traditional patterns of the plaid become a link between the student weavers and the clans and to their role in the history of Scotland.

Katter and Youngblood each urge art teachers to introduce a teaching device into the classroom. Katter's device is very old - the game. Youngblood's is very new- the microcomputer. Katter cites Piaget's work on the relationship of play to cognitive development. Piaget delineated three types of play - practice play, symbolic play, and games. Learning games are standard equipment in many areas of the curriculum. Katter contends that games are especially useful as a means for learning important art content. He points out that an art game can focus on artistic skills, aesthetic values, historical facts, or critical inquiry. He describes a variety of formats for games and how he and Mary Erickson have adapted these formats to art learning games.

Youngblood contends that art teachers must prepare for a future in which microcomputers are part of the standard equipment of the art room. He chides those who resist the new technology and the opportunities it provides. He argues that the art teacher must make use of microcomputers lest they deprive their students of the competencies they will be expected to possess when they enter the job market. He views the microcomputer as an extension of traditional media, a tool to be wielded in the interest of educating professionals in the arts. Acknowledging the difficulties in introducing the new technology he offers his own experience in the considered and systematic introduction of computer technology into art teaching.

Hagaman and Parks are concerned with the way experiences can be organized to promote artistic learning. Hagaman is concerned with helping teachers incorporate philosophical aesthetics into the art class. She distinguishes art criticism, which is essentially an empirical activity based upon the physical properties of a work, and philosophical aesthetics, which goes through specific works to the underlying meaning. She observes that teachers often are unfamiliar with the basic concepts and language aestheticians use in thinking and talking about art: beauty, expression, representation, symbolism. Teachers are often unable to investigate questions such as: What is the purpose of art? Do criteria exist for distinguishing a good work from a poor one? Can a natural object be a work of art? What is the relationship between an artist's intent and a viewer's response? Is there a real difference between art and craft? What is the difference between a work of art and a copy or a forgery? And, ultimately, What is art? Hagaman describes how she works with teachers to help them gain understanding and confidence in the area of aesthetics.

Parks is concerned with moving students beyond mere literal interpretation of works of art and helping them to grasp metaphor, irony, expressiveness, concept, and theme. Human beings, he says, have a need to inquire and give meaning to the things around them. In art, meaning is conveyed through formal properties. He ac- knowledges, however, that most students lack the background and vocabulary that offer access to the meaning of works of art. He proposes a method for bridging the gap - considering works of art in groups of three using the method of compare and contrast. He offers many examples of groupings by which the unique qualities of a work are revealed in the context of works which are both similar and different.

The issue on teaching children about architecture, originally scheduled for the May 1988 issue, will appear at a later date.

Hilda Present Lewis, Editor

Art Education/May 1988 5

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