Notes on Issues vs. Themes: Two Approaches to a Multicultural Art Curriculum

Issues vs. Themes: Two Approaches to a Multicultural Art Curriculum
Author(s): Mary-Michael Billings
Source: Art Education, Vol. 48, No. 1, Content as Method as Content (Jan., 1995), pp. 21-56
Published by: National Art Education Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3193557
Accessed: 08/08/2009 17:19


“Though both approaches call for a multicultural curriculum, the issue-oriented approach to art education supports cultural diversity by emphasizing art's potential to promote political change. In contrast, experience of cultural traditions is a primary aim of the thematic approach to art education.”


“…motifs may be developed from observation of natural phenomena (nature), inner psychological experience (self), and social realities (the other).”


“Whereas recurrent motifs and thematic imagery are developed by a culture to express perceptions and ideas about mundane and sacred aspects of reality, an issue develops when ethical questions arise”


“In an issue-oriented approach to art education, the context for making and viewing art requires awareness of immediate political and social realities.”


“While issues are immanent and laden with ethical considerations that require rational discourse, themes in art can be intuitively experienced when the viewer is deeply connected to the cultural context upon which the work is founded”


“In an issue-oriented approach, the focus moves from the artist's (and viewer's) personal experience of aesthetics to development of an ethical point of view. Images are used to communicate ideas to the viewer and therefore it is important to consider the audience and how the work interacts with the viewer.”


HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
“The ideal of the melting-pot, also known as Americanization, was to promote harmony and unity through creation of a distinctly American culture.”


“…discontinuity; this occurs when the school environment represents a culture that differs substantially from the student's and results in the student's alienation.”


“…the reaction against Americanization stems from the belief that the benefits of a culturally diverse society outweigh the benefits of a homogenous culture.”


“…the reaction against disparity in power among different social groups stems from a basic belief that such disparities are unjust.”


“I suggest that the former goal, that of promoting ethnic diversity, per se, may best be realized through a thematic approach to art education focusing on aesthetics. On the other hand, a goal of promoting equality through art may best be realized through an issue-oriented approach focusing on ethics.”


“…the political goals of any particular group may conflict with the cultural traditions of another.”


“…that while preserving cultural diversity and promoting political equality are both goals of multiculturalism, it is difficult to balance the two when developing curricula.”


THE THEMATIC APPROACH
“In a thematic approach to the study of art, the educator begins by presenting an idea or subject to the class which has been or should be explored through visual imagery.”


“In this approach, art is seen as a means by which individuals express ideas and beliefs, and these ideas are seen as part of a cultural aesthetic. The role of the educator is to facilitate dialogue among students and with the artists of various cultures, whose aesthetic views are represented through their artwork.”


“A thematic approach to art education has the ultimate goal of increased awareness and acceptance of a variety of cultural traditions.”


“Values, beliefs and ideas are communicated through art and these ideas are developed within a social context.”


ISSUE-ORIENTED APPROACH
“In an issue-oriented approach, the teacher or perhaps the class as a whole, begins by selecting a matter of general concern. Though this issue might be explored historically, through contextual analysis of complete artworks, the emphasis is on the student's own life experiences and understanding of the current situation in the student's own life and community.”


“In this approach, the power of art not only to shape cultural identity, but also to influence political realities is seen as the fundamental concern of the art educator.”


“…questions of power are among the most central issues discussed in the literature on this approach.”


“Other issues of concern suggested in the literature on this approach to art education include: the ecological crisis, freedom of expression, alienation in a technocratic society, democratization of technology, and feminism.”


“Using an issue-oriented approach, the artist must first recognize his/her own cultural filters and work toward freedom from a limited ethnocentric view of art.”


IMPLICATIONS OF A THEMATIC VS. ISSUE-ORIENTED APPROACH
“…for the artist who defines art in terms of aesthetics or abstract form, an issue-oriented approach to creating art is problematic.”


“Though many advocates of the issue-oriented approach take great pains to expand the traditional focus on "fine arts" to include folk art, crafts, or industrial arts, the reality is that even when the producers of these artifacts insist that they are only concerned with form or that their work is primarily functional and not to be considered art, the social activist will develop a political viewpoint in terms of the context within which these artifacts are produced or used.”


“A related problem occurs when the social activist uses traditional artforms in non-traditional contexts.”


“In seeking to empower students, issue-oriented and the thematic approaches to multiculturalism require a flexible curriculum with attention to the cultural makeup of the class or community.”


“While the thematic approach will focus on cultural differences and commonalties through exploration of themes, the issue-oriented approach will seek to discover ways in which visual images have been used to oppress certain groups in the past, or are presently being used to maintain the dominant culture.”


VALUE OF THE TWO APPROACHES TO CURRICULA
“I would use the issue-oriented approach sparingly. Not only do I find it limited in creating opportunities for individual aesthetic experience in the studio, I see it as potentially ethnocentric when used to study diverse or foreign cultural traditions.”


“I would introduce content because of its educational value, not because it has been previously neglected.”


“I believe that providing an atmosphere conducive to free speech and creative expression will allow for the natural process of cultural change. This does not require an overt emphasis on ethics on the part of the instructor.”


“While I agree that examining one's own cultural filters can be a positive educational tool, it can be destructive and alienating when traditional knowledge is denigrated or lost rather than used as a foundation to be built upon.”


“…each student must be free to create a personal aesthetic, whether or not this aesthetic is perceived as politically correct or socially relevant.”