“Although art teachers often teach about the formal qualities of art, they should be more concerned with its functions, including those that are political. Such a concern would show the power of art and make it more relevant to students.”
Definitions
“Historically, one thinks of prime political art examples to include Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, Goya's The Third Day of May, Picasso's Guernica, and Rivera's murals (Von Blum, 1976). Students and teachers can find additional examples of political art by Courbet, Daumier, Beckman, Kollwitz, and Grosz in thematic art history texts such as those by Lewis and Lewis (1994) and Lazzari and Schlesier (2002).”
“Contemporary artists often express what some would call political points of view through their art, and the reader can see examples of this in the work of Lynne Hull (pollution), Fred Wilson (racism), and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (unjust treatment of Native peoples).”
“While some teachers may not want to bother with the political analysis of art, Feldman (1978) stated that art is a catalyst that makes things happen, and he urged teachers to teach about the important ideas that artists try to communicate.”
Controversy
“Especially in conservative communities, teachers should be concerned with the possible ramifications of political art discussions, but this should not hinder their attempts to include them in a manner appropriate to students' understandings.”
“Smith (1996) implied that if teachers devoted more time to art's social concerns, then art instruction might be seen as useful and have a more secure place in the school curriculum.”
“In the last 50 years, Modem artists tried to assert their independence from powerful people and ordinary citizens, but lately Postmodern artists made art as if the world mattered (Gablik 1991, 1995).”
Related Literature
“Coles (1986) found that children have a developing awareness of many political issues, and teachers could provide opportunities for students to see the artistic and expressive applications of their knowledge.”
“…Kincheloe, Slattery, and Steinberg (2000)…emphasize contextualizing education by making meaningful connections between teaching and communities. Such a community concern is important to many contemporary and community-based artists.”
“Students should consider the significance of all visual imagery by looking at its ideology, source, and sponsorship (Duncum, 2002).”
“At a time when most teachers try to take into consideration the genetic and cultural differences of their students, it is important that they learn about the political art of multicultural artists whose work may call attention to special circumstances.”
“Viewers can find relevant examples in the work of Barbara Kruger, Yolanda Lopez, Robert Colescott, Michael Ray Charles, and Luis Jimenez.”
“…art by artists from previously colonized countries often refers to "invisible" cultures and acknowledges intersecting histories and streams of thought.”
“…when repressive government officials assert their will on the traditional values of citizens, the people often use folk art in protest to preserve their heritage (Zug, 1994).”
Classroom Applications
“1. To explore the implications of political art in schools, teachers need to help students investigate relevant and known historical and contemporary examples for reference and discussion.”
“Once students evaluate artworks that they can understand and appreciate, they should be encouraged to identify the political aspects of all art, including those that are more contemporary and of non-Western heritage.”
“2. For further discussion, art educators can find contemporary political art in many communities both here and abroad. Viewers often find that artists produce political art in countries where oppression, individual rights, and current events are of serious concern.”
“3. …teachers and students might look to their communities, homes, and local media to find further examples of art with political implications.”
“To see the political in art, teachers need to help students assess the objectives of artists and the effect of their art in the community.”
“4. Teachers can help students engage in the fabric of their communities through personal artistic responses (jagodzinski, 2001).”
“…through personal response to global concerns, students could explore many of the unresolved problems that we have previously encountered.”
“…art teachers could show students how they can have a voice in the community through art. To identify specific global or regional issues, teachers could help students analyze local newspaper headlines, editorial cartoons, and advertising imagery.”
“Through reflection, teachers could help students identify more personal and local topics of concern such as school or home violence, social isolation, oppressive policies, intolerance, limited student support, and stereotypical expectations.”
“This approach encourages students to look at environmental and social structures from multiple perspectives.”
Summary
“By analyzing art from a political point of view and encouraging students to think of the political aspects of their own work, art teachers can make both the presentation and production of art a more meaningful endeavor.”
Notes on Arnold, A. (2005). Confronting Violence through the Arts: A Thematic Approach. Art Education, 58 (4), 20-33
“An arts classroom gives children the time and place to confront images of war and violence and decode the multiple levels of meaning (Arnold, 1997) found within them.”
“The third, fourth, and fifth-grade students in my university preservice "after-school-art" class looked at several narrative works by Francisco Goya, Kathe Kollwitz, Frank Gaylord, II, and Pablo Picasso, and discussed the stories and imagery in each.”
“Each student interpreted the many themes found in the artworks within the context of their personal lives.”
“The experience was a time of discovery and a time to confront the multiple realities of their lives.”
“A desire to protect children from the harsh realities of life may cause teachers to avoid showing children art that has difficult imagery. Yet, a strong and powerful understanding of the human condition can be gleaned from the presentation of the array of subjects found in artworks-with an array of emotional expression (Broudy, 1972).”
Exploring Questions-Without-Answers through the Arts
“The teacher and students raised critical questions (Giroux, 1988) in rapid-fire succession. Every voice was heard, yet no set answers were given, only speculation and debate. The students gave one solution and then another as they became involved with the deeper meanings of each work.”
“The students’ discussion and explanations became a way for them to make sense of these large and complex paintings. Careful analysis of the detail and complexity in the paintings provoked ideas and many questions (Broudy, 1987).”
“This collaborative viewing process, where each answer was respected and considered, gave the children time to peel away the multiple themes related to war and reveal greater realities about war: the tragedy, sorrow, loss, and despair. For example, the students' collages revealed that a personal awareness of the aftermath of war was a reality for each child.”
Multimodal Arts Explorations
“After viewing and discussing reproductions of the works, the children experimented with heavy collage materials…”
“Each student moved back and forth between the expressive modalities of speech, drawing and pasting, gesture and movement, and writing with great fluency (Pahi, 2003).”
Re-creating the Guernica Theme with Personal Stories
“The children's art and writing shows a great degree of personal identification with the chaotic aftermath of war.”
Aesthetic Confrontations
“The children seemed to pull inspiration from many realms of their world-from the artwork as well as from their "everyday aesthetic" (Duncum, 1999).”
“There was a level of authenticity in the images that revealed that most of the young artists had placed themselves at the center of the blast, just as Picasso had in Guernica.”
“The art room can be a place of differences and debate as well as shared hopes for the future.”
“Discussing feelings about art can be both instructive and cathartic.”
Examining Beliefs
“Children are continually exposed to traumatic events through the media.”
“Images are too often presented in rapid-fire succession with very little time for processing or reflection. Children can become bewildered and depressed when asked to understand events that are developmentally beyond their years (Elkind, 2001).”
“In the art classroom on the other hand, children have time to confront important themes. The process of viewing, listening, discussing, and then creating, allows the child to place information in a context that makes it more understandable (Bruner, 1977).”
“The artistic process can create a safe place for children to address long-held beliefs and prejudices.”
“Discussion of art with serious themes can encourage a new analysis and understanding and move the theme to a more abstract and universal level.”
“The Prisoners, The Shootings of May Third 1808, the Korean War Memorial, and Guernica are quite different from each other and run through a range of expression, from betrayal and desolation to terror. These images…call for an examination of the essential nature of war: power, aggression, chaos, and loss. They call for a discussion of beliefs about the culturally popular myths that glorify war and create the dichotomies of good-guys/bad-guys, and hero/victim (Giroux, 2000).”
Multimodal Learning
“With time and practice, children become better at expressing themselves in myriad ways.”
“Those with fewer linguistic skills may prefer the medium of the dance, the play, the song, or the visual arts to give voice to their ideas (McGuire, 1984).”
“When several sensory and expressive modalities (visual, auditory, oral and kinesthetic) are combined in a lesson, the potential for perceptual understanding and expression is enhanced (Arnold, 1997).”
“Ideas become more specific and powerful when artmaking and writing are coupled.”
Conclusion
“Children need the opportunity to give expression to life events that are tragic or senseless to them. They need time and permission to reflect in meaningful ways on events over which they have no control. The artistic process can provide such an avenue.”
“The third, fourth, and fifth-grade students in my university preservice "after-school-art" class looked at several narrative works by Francisco Goya, Kathe Kollwitz, Frank Gaylord, II, and Pablo Picasso, and discussed the stories and imagery in each.”
“Each student interpreted the many themes found in the artworks within the context of their personal lives.”
“The experience was a time of discovery and a time to confront the multiple realities of their lives.”
“A desire to protect children from the harsh realities of life may cause teachers to avoid showing children art that has difficult imagery. Yet, a strong and powerful understanding of the human condition can be gleaned from the presentation of the array of subjects found in artworks-with an array of emotional expression (Broudy, 1972).”
Exploring Questions-Without-Answers through the Arts
“The teacher and students raised critical questions (Giroux, 1988) in rapid-fire succession. Every voice was heard, yet no set answers were given, only speculation and debate. The students gave one solution and then another as they became involved with the deeper meanings of each work.”
“The students’ discussion and explanations became a way for them to make sense of these large and complex paintings. Careful analysis of the detail and complexity in the paintings provoked ideas and many questions (Broudy, 1987).”
“This collaborative viewing process, where each answer was respected and considered, gave the children time to peel away the multiple themes related to war and reveal greater realities about war: the tragedy, sorrow, loss, and despair. For example, the students' collages revealed that a personal awareness of the aftermath of war was a reality for each child.”
Multimodal Arts Explorations
“After viewing and discussing reproductions of the works, the children experimented with heavy collage materials…”
“Each student moved back and forth between the expressive modalities of speech, drawing and pasting, gesture and movement, and writing with great fluency (Pahi, 2003).”
Re-creating the Guernica Theme with Personal Stories
“The children's art and writing shows a great degree of personal identification with the chaotic aftermath of war.”
Aesthetic Confrontations
“The children seemed to pull inspiration from many realms of their world-from the artwork as well as from their "everyday aesthetic" (Duncum, 1999).”
“There was a level of authenticity in the images that revealed that most of the young artists had placed themselves at the center of the blast, just as Picasso had in Guernica.”
“The art room can be a place of differences and debate as well as shared hopes for the future.”
“Discussing feelings about art can be both instructive and cathartic.”
Examining Beliefs
“Children are continually exposed to traumatic events through the media.”
“Images are too often presented in rapid-fire succession with very little time for processing or reflection. Children can become bewildered and depressed when asked to understand events that are developmentally beyond their years (Elkind, 2001).”
“In the art classroom on the other hand, children have time to confront important themes. The process of viewing, listening, discussing, and then creating, allows the child to place information in a context that makes it more understandable (Bruner, 1977).”
“The artistic process can create a safe place for children to address long-held beliefs and prejudices.”
“Discussion of art with serious themes can encourage a new analysis and understanding and move the theme to a more abstract and universal level.”
“The Prisoners, The Shootings of May Third 1808, the Korean War Memorial, and Guernica are quite different from each other and run through a range of expression, from betrayal and desolation to terror. These images…call for an examination of the essential nature of war: power, aggression, chaos, and loss. They call for a discussion of beliefs about the culturally popular myths that glorify war and create the dichotomies of good-guys/bad-guys, and hero/victim (Giroux, 2000).”
Multimodal Learning
“With time and practice, children become better at expressing themselves in myriad ways.”
“Those with fewer linguistic skills may prefer the medium of the dance, the play, the song, or the visual arts to give voice to their ideas (McGuire, 1984).”
“When several sensory and expressive modalities (visual, auditory, oral and kinesthetic) are combined in a lesson, the potential for perceptual understanding and expression is enhanced (Arnold, 1997).”
“Ideas become more specific and powerful when artmaking and writing are coupled.”
Conclusion
“Children need the opportunity to give expression to life events that are tragic or senseless to them. They need time and permission to reflect in meaningful ways on events over which they have no control. The artistic process can provide such an avenue.”
Notes on Milbrandt M. et al (2004)
Notes on: Milbrandt M. et Al (2004). Teaching to Learn: A Constructivist Approach to Shared Responsibility. Art Education, 57 (5), 19-33.
“Student decision-making has undoubtedly been the crux of creative and critical thinking and is central to a humanistic approach to art education (Lowenfeld & Brittain, 1970; Eisner, 1972; Gaitskell & E Hurwitz, 1975). Issues of choice and voice are also central to contemporary art education (Chalmers, 1992; Efland, Freedman, & Stuhr, 1996; Gaudelius & Speirs, 2003; Barakett & Sacca, 2003; Sullivan, 2003, Anderson & Milbrandt, 2004), and are, essential in the processes of analysis, interpretation, and the construction of meaning for students as they look at art (Anderson, 1995; Barrett, 2000).”
“King (1983) suggests that self-determination or choice is a powerful motivational force in learning that simultaneously enhances both achievement and attitudes about learning. Yet with the current emphasis on educational accountability, teachers sometimes find it increasingly difficult to step out of their roles as educational gatekeepers and allow students a greater sense of agency and voice in their own learning.”
Constructing Learning
“…constructivists view knowledge as constructed by the learner in a particular context, and not pre-existent or given from an expert or authority.”
“Yet in the daily lives of teachers in K-12 classrooms where a modernist paradigm typically prevails, a continual emphasis is placed on teacher accountability and on student acquisition of established knowledge.”
What is Constructivist Theory?
“…at the heart of the constructivist approach to education is the understanding that students are in control of their own learning.”
“Phillips (1995) identifies three distinct student roles in constructivism. These roles are described as the active learner, the social learner, and the creative learner.”
“The creation of meaningful artwork involves the student in a construction of identity through purposeful and expressive visual language (Anderson & Milbrandt, 2004).”
“Learning embedded in social interactions in which students discuss, debate, investigate, and explore multiple viewpoints rather than accept the teacher's viewpoint as the only authority offer other powerful avenues for active art learning and connect students to the real world beyond the classroom.”
“From a constructivist viewpoint, knowledge and understanding are created or recreated; it is not enough for the student to be only actively involved in producing artwork. Structuring purpose and meaning should be at the heart of artistic activity.”
“Both Dewey and Piaget suggest that motivation for the construction of knowledge often comes from an experience of cognitive conflict or puzzlement.”
“As creative learners, students often experience a synthesis of personal or established knowledge during problem solving that continually produces a change or shift in cognitive structures. Because knowledge is authentically acquired both in the classroom and beyond, students need to build structures of cognition that accommodate and assimilate fragmented knowledge into previously acquired understandings-a process Efland and others have termed flexible cognition (Efland, 2002).”
“Chandra and Basinger (2000) utilize art history constructivist inquiry methods to engage elementary students in the development of contextual understandings of African artworks.”
“Participation in an in-depth rigorous analysis of artifacts from multiple viewpoints involves students in a more integrated and richer view of the world that more closely simulates realworld problem solving than does traditional classroom instruction (Windschitl, 2000; Scherer, 1999).”
“Through critical discussions about art, students are challenged to consider crucial human questions regarding cultural images of what is true, beautiful, and moral (Scherer, 1999) and to construct or re-construct their own understandings and values.”
“The analysis, interpretation, and production of artworks engages students in many opportunities for decision-making as well as critical and creative thinking (Hamblen, 1984).”
“For many teachers, balancing the increased demands of accountability and high performance standards with student interests and needs for self-determination becomes a high priority (Anderson & Milbrandt, 2004).”
Sharing the Responsibility
“In the spring of 2003, three Atlanta area high school art teachers implemented constructivist lessons to see how students would accept responsibility for their own learning and peer-teaching situations.”
“Led by these teachers, students generated their own lesson objectives and evaluation criteria.”
“Because the students wrote their own objectives, during the duration of the project there was little question about the intended lesson outcomes.”
“Compared to her past printmaking experiences, Abghari observed that these students seemed to work faster during this unit and accomplished more work in fewer periods. The students were more involved and engaged with their learning and worked much more independently.”
“This interaction among students seemed to build greater sensitivity and understanding of each other, as well as greater regard for one another's artwork.”
“The ongoing art historical and art critical discussions created a more holistic learning experience that also facilitated ongoing critical dialogue throughout the production phase of the lesson.”
“Many brought unsolicited related Internet articles to the class discussion and made stylistic and conceptual connections to their artwork-in-progress.”
“One of the major criticisms of constructivist theory and practice is that when students structure their own learning the result is trivial rather than rigorous (Brooks & Grennon Brooks, 1999). Others critics suggest constructivist methods only work with older, very mature students.”
“The teachers agree that as the students became more personally invested and empowered through their work they demonstrated higher levels of critical thinking in their remarks and interactions.”
The Teacher's Role
“These teachers facilitated a framework with components similar to those suggested by Dever and Hobbs (2000) in which students actively engage, investigate, share, and assess their own performance.”
“Within each lesson, teachers prepared a baseline of introductory information, but encouraged students to determine where they wanted the learning to take them and the level of performance they would attain.”
“While constructivist lessons are typically more student-centered than traditional lessons, the role of the teacher-as-facilitator is critical to student success.”
Guidelines for Successful Constructivist Teaching
“Provide students with a variety of tools for research (i.e. Internet sites, digital cameras, books, and maps) so students become the primary research investigators.”
“Frame strategies for several large and small group collaborations to foster peer support and interaction.”
“Develop a flexible classroom climate that encourages student inquiry and discussion.”
“Present numerous opportunities throughout the lesson for students to make individual choices about their artwork.”
“Negotiate lesson objectives and evaluation criteria with students.”
“Encourage students to create real world and cross-disciplinary connections that extend beyond the classroom. Help students construct a vision for their future, a purpose for learning, cross-disciplinary connections, and personal meaning in their work.”
“Act as a participant-facilitator in the teaching-learning process, rather than as an authoritarian who dispenses knowledge.”
“Encourage students to take ownership of their learning, develop expertise, and share their knowledge with others.”
“Rather than planning a lesson in which the teacher directs a classroom of students in one general pre-determined direction, the constructivist approach facilitates the movement of student learning in multiple directions.”
“It is important for teachers to develop a supportive network among other teachers who share a common interest in constructivist teaching and learning.”
“The development of a stronger student voice in learning does not diminish the teacher's role, standards, or outcomes, but rather encourages students to construct their own views, explore their own interests, engage their own passions, and create newly empowered visions of self and learning in a supportive community.”
“Student decision-making has undoubtedly been the crux of creative and critical thinking and is central to a humanistic approach to art education (Lowenfeld & Brittain, 1970; Eisner, 1972; Gaitskell & E Hurwitz, 1975). Issues of choice and voice are also central to contemporary art education (Chalmers, 1992; Efland, Freedman, & Stuhr, 1996; Gaudelius & Speirs, 2003; Barakett & Sacca, 2003; Sullivan, 2003, Anderson & Milbrandt, 2004), and are, essential in the processes of analysis, interpretation, and the construction of meaning for students as they look at art (Anderson, 1995; Barrett, 2000).”
“King (1983) suggests that self-determination or choice is a powerful motivational force in learning that simultaneously enhances both achievement and attitudes about learning. Yet with the current emphasis on educational accountability, teachers sometimes find it increasingly difficult to step out of their roles as educational gatekeepers and allow students a greater sense of agency and voice in their own learning.”
Constructing Learning
“…constructivists view knowledge as constructed by the learner in a particular context, and not pre-existent or given from an expert or authority.”
“Yet in the daily lives of teachers in K-12 classrooms where a modernist paradigm typically prevails, a continual emphasis is placed on teacher accountability and on student acquisition of established knowledge.”
What is Constructivist Theory?
“…at the heart of the constructivist approach to education is the understanding that students are in control of their own learning.”
“Phillips (1995) identifies three distinct student roles in constructivism. These roles are described as the active learner, the social learner, and the creative learner.”
“The creation of meaningful artwork involves the student in a construction of identity through purposeful and expressive visual language (Anderson & Milbrandt, 2004).”
“Learning embedded in social interactions in which students discuss, debate, investigate, and explore multiple viewpoints rather than accept the teacher's viewpoint as the only authority offer other powerful avenues for active art learning and connect students to the real world beyond the classroom.”
“From a constructivist viewpoint, knowledge and understanding are created or recreated; it is not enough for the student to be only actively involved in producing artwork. Structuring purpose and meaning should be at the heart of artistic activity.”
“Both Dewey and Piaget suggest that motivation for the construction of knowledge often comes from an experience of cognitive conflict or puzzlement.”
“As creative learners, students often experience a synthesis of personal or established knowledge during problem solving that continually produces a change or shift in cognitive structures. Because knowledge is authentically acquired both in the classroom and beyond, students need to build structures of cognition that accommodate and assimilate fragmented knowledge into previously acquired understandings-a process Efland and others have termed flexible cognition (Efland, 2002).”
“Chandra and Basinger (2000) utilize art history constructivist inquiry methods to engage elementary students in the development of contextual understandings of African artworks.”
“Participation in an in-depth rigorous analysis of artifacts from multiple viewpoints involves students in a more integrated and richer view of the world that more closely simulates realworld problem solving than does traditional classroom instruction (Windschitl, 2000; Scherer, 1999).”
“Through critical discussions about art, students are challenged to consider crucial human questions regarding cultural images of what is true, beautiful, and moral (Scherer, 1999) and to construct or re-construct their own understandings and values.”
“The analysis, interpretation, and production of artworks engages students in many opportunities for decision-making as well as critical and creative thinking (Hamblen, 1984).”
“For many teachers, balancing the increased demands of accountability and high performance standards with student interests and needs for self-determination becomes a high priority (Anderson & Milbrandt, 2004).”
Sharing the Responsibility
“In the spring of 2003, three Atlanta area high school art teachers implemented constructivist lessons to see how students would accept responsibility for their own learning and peer-teaching situations.”
“Led by these teachers, students generated their own lesson objectives and evaluation criteria.”
“Because the students wrote their own objectives, during the duration of the project there was little question about the intended lesson outcomes.”
“Compared to her past printmaking experiences, Abghari observed that these students seemed to work faster during this unit and accomplished more work in fewer periods. The students were more involved and engaged with their learning and worked much more independently.”
“This interaction among students seemed to build greater sensitivity and understanding of each other, as well as greater regard for one another's artwork.”
“The ongoing art historical and art critical discussions created a more holistic learning experience that also facilitated ongoing critical dialogue throughout the production phase of the lesson.”
“Many brought unsolicited related Internet articles to the class discussion and made stylistic and conceptual connections to their artwork-in-progress.”
“One of the major criticisms of constructivist theory and practice is that when students structure their own learning the result is trivial rather than rigorous (Brooks & Grennon Brooks, 1999). Others critics suggest constructivist methods only work with older, very mature students.”
“The teachers agree that as the students became more personally invested and empowered through their work they demonstrated higher levels of critical thinking in their remarks and interactions.”
The Teacher's Role
“These teachers facilitated a framework with components similar to those suggested by Dever and Hobbs (2000) in which students actively engage, investigate, share, and assess their own performance.”
“Within each lesson, teachers prepared a baseline of introductory information, but encouraged students to determine where they wanted the learning to take them and the level of performance they would attain.”
“While constructivist lessons are typically more student-centered than traditional lessons, the role of the teacher-as-facilitator is critical to student success.”
Guidelines for Successful Constructivist Teaching
“Provide students with a variety of tools for research (i.e. Internet sites, digital cameras, books, and maps) so students become the primary research investigators.”
“Frame strategies for several large and small group collaborations to foster peer support and interaction.”
“Develop a flexible classroom climate that encourages student inquiry and discussion.”
“Present numerous opportunities throughout the lesson for students to make individual choices about their artwork.”
“Negotiate lesson objectives and evaluation criteria with students.”
“Encourage students to create real world and cross-disciplinary connections that extend beyond the classroom. Help students construct a vision for their future, a purpose for learning, cross-disciplinary connections, and personal meaning in their work.”
“Act as a participant-facilitator in the teaching-learning process, rather than as an authoritarian who dispenses knowledge.”
“Encourage students to take ownership of their learning, develop expertise, and share their knowledge with others.”
“Rather than planning a lesson in which the teacher directs a classroom of students in one general pre-determined direction, the constructivist approach facilitates the movement of student learning in multiple directions.”
“It is important for teachers to develop a supportive network among other teachers who share a common interest in constructivist teaching and learning.”
“The development of a stronger student voice in learning does not diminish the teacher's role, standards, or outcomes, but rather encourages students to construct their own views, explore their own interests, engage their own passions, and create newly empowered visions of self and learning in a supportive community.”
DBAE vs. TAB
DBAE (Discipline-Based Art Education) Verses TAB (Teaching for Artistic Behavior):
Two Approaches to Art Education
Joni H. Hough
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
ARTE 5121
Dr. David Gall
December 10, 2009
Discipline-based art education (DBAE) has been the leading framework for art education for the past twenty-five years. According to Day (as cited in Stankiewicz, 2000),
…the discipline-based approach has influenced the National Standards for Arts Education, the framework for the recent National Assessment of Educational Progress in the arts, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards guidelines for art certification, as well as state art guidelines, district art programs, and the art teaching of many individuals (p. 311).
Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) is a choice-based approach to art education (http://teachingforartisticbehavior.org/, 2009). This paper will compare and contrast these two methods to art education.
In 1982, the J. Paul Getty Trust established the Getty Center for Education in the Arts (Duke, 1988). According to Duke (1988), “Unlike a grant-making foundation, which funds the programs of others, the primary purpose of the Getty is to create and operate its own programs” (p. 7). “By the mid 1980s, the Getty Center for Education in the Arts…became a major catalyst for reform in art education” (Delacruz & Dunn, 1995, p. 46). Duke (1988) states,
The Center found that the status of art education had declined alarmingly. Most students spend 12 years in school during which they receive some 12,000 hours of instruction in all subjects. Less than one percent of this time is spent in studying any of the art forms, and 80 percent of all students who graduate from public high schools have little, if any, instruction in the arts at all... Moreover, arts instruction in many places has been limited to teaching technical skills for making art - not to teaching students about the historical and critical aspects of art as well. While studio-oriented art may have been a satisfying experience for a few innately gifted students, it meant that children were not receiving sufficient instruction in the cultural and historical contributions of art or in how to analyze, interpret, and value works of art (p. 7).
DBAE became the art program championed by the Getty Center for Education in the Arts. DBAE had the full weight of the Getty Center for Education in the Arts behind it with programs for public advocacy, professional training, the creation of DBAE model programs, theoretical research, and curriculum (Duke, 1988).
Through DBAE, the Getty Center for Education in the Arts would change the face of art education. According to Delacruz and Dunn (1995),
In 1987, in the special Summer issue of the Journal of Aesthetic Education devoted to aspects of DBAE, Gilbert Clark, Michael Day, and Dwaine Greer boldly spelled out the theory of DBAE. According to Clark, Day, and Greer (1987) discipline-based art education draws content from four foundational disciplines-art studio, art history, art criticism, and aesthetics-as these disciplines are defined by a community of scholars and experts who have devoted themselves to inquiry in these fields of study. Formal written curricula in the visual arts should be developed for all grade levels within the school district. Curricula should be structured sequentially and hierarchically, and implemented on a district-wide basis. Student achievement and program effectiveness should be formally and systematically assessed and evaluated (p. 47).
DBAE elevated art education to a new status. It was now an actual discipline, with a testable curriculum. Hamblen (1987) maintains that, “The language of DBAE is one of a no-frills, no-nonsense program that leaves little doubt that budgeted money will be well-spent and that there will be no hedging on what needs to be done and what will be accomplished” (p. 69).
During the late 1980s and the early 1990s, DBAE flourished, but it was not without its critics. Hamblen (1987) states,
In my opinion these educational perspectives alone are not adequate to the needs of a pluralistic society undergoing rapid change and requiring a variety of types of input and a variety of view-points. These rationalistic perspectives do not allow for curriculum choices being problematic and open to dispute and challenge (p. 69).
Hamblen (1987) further condemns the art criticism aspect of DBAE, maintaining,
Considering, however, that children will be studying exemplars, this aspect of art criticism is also predetermined in that children will be asked to evaluate what has already been given validation by the learned. Focusing on what is deemed to represent the aesthetic heights of a culture could give students a distorted view of art and a view that has little resemblance to the world in which they live (p. 72).
Hamblen (1987) also points out,
If standardized testing becomes an overriding concern, lower cognitive levels can be expected to constitute much of the art curriculum. The metaphoric qualities of art, so integral to its understanding, will have little place in the identification and convergent responses required by objective test questions. Statements that art instruction should emulate other subject areas need to be assessed as to whether the dominant characteristics of general education, beyond their legitimating power, are desirable. It is in the area of the cognitive level of instruction occurring that the consequences of teacher-proof materials, predefined outcomes, and standardized testing could become all too evident (p. 75).
According to Stankiewicz (2000), “Although DBAE initially signaled attention to content, and was criticized for the other two components of art education – the learner and the social context” (p. 311).
The Getty Center for Education in the Arts did listen to some of DBAE’s critics. “In their attempt to accommodate diverse views about art education (and the vehement criticisms of DBAE in particular), the GCEA (Getty Center for Education in the Arts) found itself in the midst of the multicultural education movement” (Delacruz & Dunn, 1995, p. 47). Delacruz and Dunn also state,
Many of the participants attending the 1989 and 1992 Issues Seminars identified common aims for multicultural education and DBAE. Both movements recognized the need for programs of study that embrace ethnic diversity. Both movements recognized the need to identify, examine, and incorporate alternative ways of looking at art. Both movements recognize the need to address the problem of context: that is, the attempt to study artists, art forms, and cultures out of their original settings. And finally, both movements recognize that no single voice in the field ‘speaks for’ DBAE or multiculturalism (p. 48).
Although, the Getty Center for Education in the Arts did address the need for multicultural content to be added to the DBAE curriculum, there are still issues with some of the basic tenets of DBAE. For example, Stankiewicz (2000) points out,
Passive metaphors of learners receiving objectified knowledge from external authorities should be replaced by conceptions of the learner as an active agent, setting personal goals for learning, and creating meaning through encounters with art (Erickson, Katter, Lankford, Roucher, & Stewart, 1999). Both content and learner are structured by gender, ethnicity, class, and all the other cultural factors that contribute to the production and reproduction of shared values (p. 311).
It is in this area that TAB excels.
Whereas DBAE had financial and political support from the Getty Center for Education in the Arts, TAB is a grassroots organization that was formed for and by art teachers (Douglas & Jaquith, 2009). Although TAB is supported by Brown University, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and Bridgewater State College, “…it remains an independent movement firmly planted in classroom practice” (Douglas & Jaquith, 2009, p. xii). According to teachingforartisticbehavior.org (2009),
The concept emerged over 30 years ago in Massachusetts classrooms through the need for more authentic art making experiences. United through Massachusetts College of Art (MassArt), teachers working in isolation discovered others who also held belief in the child as the artist. With the support of MassArt, NAEA and The Education Alliance at Brown University, the Teaching for Artistic Behavior Partnership (TAB) was formed in 2001 and incorporated in 2007 (http://teachingforartisticbehavior.org/).
According to Douglas (2007), students in a TAB classroom can work at their own pace, work from their strengths, follow a train of thought over time, learn from and work with peers, be “on task” for a greater portion of class time, develop a working style, explore their interests in visual form, form cooperative groups and engage in positive social interaction, and take responsibility for the care of materials and the classroom. Teachers in a TAB classroom can observe students working to determine strengths and weaknesses, work with small groups of interested students while others work independently, allowing for more in-depth instruction, offer special “scaffolding” to struggling students, get to know students through their personal styles, expect students to come to class highly motivated and ready to work (Douglas, 2007).
There are four practices that form the structure of choice-based art education. First, the student is the artist. Douglas and Jaquith (2009) maintain, “This powerful statement insures that students will have control over their subject matter, materials, and approach” (p. 9). The teacher presents a five minute demonstration of a new material, technique, or art concept at the beginning of each class, ensuring that content standards are met. After that, students choose at which studio center they will work.
The second practice is pedagogy. Douglas and Jaquith (2009) state,
Choice-based teaching comes in many forms: direct and indirect (through visuals and references), whole-group demonstrations and discussions, small groups with students who choose a particular exploration, and one-to-one interactions. These multiple approaches are possible because student independence is encouraged. Teacher roles include demonstrating, modeling, facilitating, caching, providing curriculum content, and altering that content as a result of observations made in class. The teacher also ensures accessibility of art materials, tools, and visual references for independent learning through student-directed experiences (p. 10-11).
Because so many teaching styles are utilized, teachers are more likely to meet the needs of every student in a diverse student population.
The third practice in choice-based art education is classroom context. Douglas and Jaquith (2009) assert,
The ideal learning environment for student-driven artmaking requires the efficient structure of time, careful arrangement of space, and thoughtful choice of materials. Good classroom management allows teachers to respond in a timely manner to student needs. Predictability of studio centers is central to the effectiveness of choice-based teaching and learning, and enables students to plan ahead for their art class (p. 13).
The final practice in choice-based art education is assessment. According to the website, teachingforartisticbehavior.org,
Assessment is ongoing and students are coached and encouraged to self-assess as they work. When students are working independently, the choice teacher is able to make general and one-on-one observations of what students know and can do. Future demonstrations and assistance are directly tied to these observations. Assessment is tailored to the specific district expectations. (http://teachingforartisticbehavior.org/faqs.html, 2009).
Student-directed exhibitions are also used as a form of assessment and as a tool for learning. Douglas and Jaquith (2009) maintain,
Students select artwork to exhibit, and their choices reflect self-evaluation of their recent work. Empowering students to organize and direct art shows extends their knowledge to the fields of aesthetics and criticism. As they determine which pieces to exhibit and how to arrange the exhibition, students develop skills necessary for growth in the visual arts (p. 15).
According to Greene (as cited in Burton, 2000),
Young people are too often bored in schools because we do not offer them meaningful challenges, we do not invite them to bring their own experiences in to the arena of learning, we do not ask of them the kind of reflection and exploration of possibilities that engages their thinking, and we do not offer them insights and skills in those non-verbal languages of the arts where imagination can open up new corners of reality (p. 330).
This may be the case in DBEA classrooms, but with TAB, this is not the case. Andrews (2005) states, “Students are engaged in artmaking, art planning, and art reflection. They are the instigators of their art curriculum; not passive bodies waiting for instruction” (p.39). Andrews (2005) further states, “This arrangement fosters greater interaction among the student artists, brings more ideas into the art room, and creates an atmosphere of enthusiasm and creativity” (p. 39)
DBAE has impacted art education in the United States for the last twenty-five years. It has brought legitimacy to K-12 art education. The art education community has improved upon DBAE over the years; however, it is still not a perfect approach to art education. DBAE focuses too much on content and not enough on the actual students. TAB on the other hand, is a student-centered, choice-based approach to art education. In the TAB classroom, a variety of teaching methods are used, increasing the likelihood of reaching all students. With TAB, students do not just learn about art, they are artists.
References
Andrews, B. H. (2005, July). Art, reflection, and creativity in the classroom: A student-driven
art course. [Electronic version]. Art Education, 58(4), 35-40.
Burton, J. M. (2000, Summer). The configuration of meaning: Learner-centered art education
revisited. [Electronic version]. Studies in Art Education, 41(4), 330-345.
Delacruz, E. M., & Dunn, P. C. (1995, November). DBAE: The next generation. [Electronic
version]. Art Education, 48(6), 46-53.
Douglas, K. (2007, December). Starting with the students: Choice-based art education. Art
Beat. Retrieved November 1, 2009 from
http://teachingforartisticbehavior.org/articles.html
Douglas, K. M., & Jaquith, D. B. (2009). Engaging learners through artmaking: Choice-based
art education in the classroom. New York: Teachers College Press.
Duke, L. L. (1988, March). The getty center for education in the arts and discipline-based art
education. [Electronic version]. Art Education, 41(2), 7-12.
Hamblen, K. A. (1987, Winter). An examination of discipline-based art education issues.
[Electronic version]. Art Education, 28(2), 68-78.
Stankiewicz, M. A. (2000, Summer). Discipline and the future of art education. [Electronic
version]. Studies in Art Education, 41(4), 301-313.
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