Professional Documents
Culture Documents
0
!.$%1,2#34(5),&/6*(7)/8&*(9$":),$
91.,'"4(;1.,*)/(1<(!"#$%"$&'(=+.')$&1*>(?1/@(AB>(C1@(D>(9E"'&)/(F##."4(!"#$%"$&'#(<1,(G1.*H
I"1E/"(2!.$.0*>(JKKL3>(EE@(MMNBB
I.O/&#%"+(O64(P*&8",#&$6(1<(F//&*1&#(I,"##
9$)O/"(PQR4(http://www.jstor.org/stable/3333402
!''"##"+4(ASTUDTAUJU(JK4JK
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless
you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you
may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.
Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=illinois.
Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed
page of such transmission.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
University of Illinois Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of
Aesthetic Education.
http://www.jstor.org
Aesthetics and the Art Curriculum
I consider pictures like the one above art because art is an expression in
your mind put some way for other people to see. So if this is an expres-
sion from someone's mind, then it has to be art. Not all pictures made by
a computer can be called art. Some pictures made by a computer aren't
someone's expression and are not their imagination.
-Kim Wagaman
1. reflect upon their beliefs about the nature, significance, and experi-
ence of art and beauty;
2. listen carefully to others' points of view;
3. select and evaluate carefully the use of words, statements, and defi-
nitions to make general statements about the nature, significance,
and experience of art and beauty;
4. carefully present and evaluate reasons in support of their positions;
5. use the above skills to engage productively in philosophical inquiry
alone or with others.
Perhaps the most important way in which teachers can help students con-
struct frameworks through which to understand their art-related experi-
ences is to establish an environment where inquiry is valued. Teachers need
to encourage rather than suppress discussion of philosophical questions as
they emerge. They must also help students learn how to reflect upon and
present their own views and to consider the views of others. In addition to
allotting time and establishing an appropriate environment for the dis-
cussion of philosophical issues, opportunities for the development and
refinement of critical thinking skills must be provided.
In an environment in which questioning is valued, students will feel
comfortable raising philosophical questions. The challenge for the teacher
often is to determine when it is appropriate to engage the whole class or
possibly a small group of students in a philosophical discussion.
Planned Discussions
Employing a variety of strategies, teachers can plan for philosophical dis-
cussions within the curriculum. In addition to arranging for time to address
questions remaining from other class times, teachers can plan for discussion
of questions or issues associated with a particular unit of study. Teachers
can anticipate questions or issues stemming from engagement in art-mak-
ing activities or from engagement with certain artworks or themes. The les-
son in which students in Jeff Dietrich's class considered computer-gener-
ated images of American Gothic, for instance, was tied to a series of lessons
in a unit on Regionalist art and a previous unit on computers and art and a
series of discussions prior to completion of a worksheet. Games, role-play-
ing, worksheets, and other familiar strategies can be employed to elicit
responses to philosophical questions. In addition, teachers can plan for
discussions by employing strategies such as those which follow.
1. The Use of PhilosophicalPuzzles. Philosophical issues are often at the
heart of community debates about public art, specific exhibits, or special
events. The installation of the Viet Nam Memorial in Washington, D.C., for
example, spurred a flurry of nationwide discussion about whether public
art, or war memorials in general, should be representational or not. The
large black wall was offensive to some who believed that the Viet Nam Me-
morial should look like the many other war memorials found on county
courthouse lawns across the country. The widespread and prolonged inter-
est in the appropriateness of the Viet Nam Memorial is but one indication
that real-life situations can be philosophically puzzling. Teachers and stu-
dents can look to the media for evidence of such debates and for associated
philosophical problems. Editorials and letters to editors contain opinions
based upon a variety of assumptions about the nature of art and its role in
society. These assumptions can be noted and can serve as catalysts for
discussion.
While the real world offers a wealth of philosophically interesting issues,
teachers and students can create hypothetical situations that raise philo-
sophical questions. The invention of such situations, or "cases," is a long-
standing practice in philosophical inquiry and in the teaching of philoso-
phy, and one that has been highlighted by several philosophers as a viable
strategy for art educators wishing to engage students in the discussion of
aesthetic puzzles.8
2. Great Debates. An effective format for philosophical discussion is one
in which students assume different positions relative to a particular issue.
Issues for debate might stem from engagement with themes or concepts or
84 Marilyn Galvin Stewart
from real or hypothetical "cases." Students argue for their own positions
about the issue or for positions assigned to them in role-playing situations.
Assuming roles of members of a museum board of directors, for instance,
students might offer reasons for or against including a particular object or
work of art in the museum collection. To aid students in presenting various
points of view, teachers might distribute role cards upon which different
beliefs or theories are explained. Role-playing also is effective when stu-
dents are divided into groups in which all members of each group assume
the same position. In role-playing, as students attempt to persuade others to
accept the positions associated with their respective roles, they sometimes
will be challenged to argue for points of view that are not necessarily their
own. In the process of developing arguments, they will become more aware
of their own views and develop an appreciation for the views of others.
3. "In-Out-Maybe" Activities. Commercially produced or handmade
items of all types can be brought before the class as students consider
whether these items have aesthetic value (In) or not (Out). After discussion,
it may be determined that some items may have aesthetic value under cer-
tain conditions (Maybe). As with all group discussions, students must pro-
vide reasons for their views. This activity is especially intriguing when
similar items are considered. For example, a piece of pottery made from a
mold and found in great volume in a local discount store, a piece of pottery
that is handmade but made in great volume for the tourist trade, and a
piece of pottery that is handmade and unique will prompt discussion of
such notions as originality, uniqueness, use, and intention when each is
considered relative to its aesthetic value. "In-Out-Maybe" can be planned
as a small- or large-group activity, can be used in conjunction with role-
playing, or can take the form of an ongoing discussion centered on a bulletin
board or display case upon which items or pictures of items are periodically
placed.
Whether philosophical discussions are conducted spontaneously by ad-
dressing questions or issues that emerge during class or are prompted by
returning to a question placed on a growing list, by arranging for classroom
debates or other game-like situations, or by presenting students with real or
hypothetical puzzles to consider, teachers need to recognize the classroom
discussion as a pedagogical strategy in and of itself. As such, it requires se-
rious consideration, not only in terms of getting it started, but also in terms
of guiding it as it progresses and bringing it to a satisfactory end.
FacilitatingPhilosophicalDiscussions
Art education preservice programs have not always emphasized the role of
the art teacher as discussion facilitator. Experienced teachers who are
highly skilled in organizing studio activities often are hesitant, due to lack
of experience in this area, to enter in class discussions. Although skill in fa-
Aestheticsand the Art Curriculum 85
Reflectionupon PhilosophicalDiscussions
While every student is encouraged to enter into group discussions, it is
likely that some students will remain quiet. All students should have the
opportunity to reflect upon the discussion and upon their own views, re-
gardless of the extent to which they were noticeably involved in it. In a jour-
nal devoted to "Thoughts about Art," for example, students can be asked to
consider the discussion, noting statements made with which they agree and
those with which they disagree. Students can be asked to indicate questions
that they still have regarding issues addressed. If students know in advance
that they will be required to write in their journals, they will likely listen
more carefully. In addition, these journals provide a record of their own
views and changes in these views over time.
86 Marilyn Galvin Stewart
Conclusion
It is precisely because wondering about philosophical questions and issues
is central to what it means to be a real human being who is exploring the
meanings inherent in the activities of making and responding to art that
aesthetics should be included as an integral part of the art curriculum. In
planning an art curriculum that includes aesthetics as an area of inquiry, we
can formulate learning outcomes at the program, unit, and lesson levels,
and these outcomes can comply with most state and district general out-
comes. Learning in aesthetics should be specified and sequenced through-
out a K-12 program in art, while at the same time connected to inquiry in
the other discipline areas of art production, art criticism, and art and
cultural history.
Aesthetics and the Art Curriculum 87
In such a program, we should expect that Kim Wagaman, who in Jeff
Dietrich's fourth-grade art class already has begun to develop reasoning
skills that allow her to offer thoughtful responses to questions about the
nature of art, will have extended and refined her views through repeated
and increasingly sophisticated engagement in philosophical inquiry. By the
time she reaches the end of her schooling, we should expect that she will be
prepared to address thoughtfully and reasonably not only the challenges
that new forms of technology and multiple meanings in art will provide,
but also the challenges that will be presented by a rapidly changing social
and political world in which she encounters and experiences this art.
NOTES
1. Jeffrey Dietrich, "Art Criticism Methodology for Grades Three, Four, and Five
in the Oley Valley School District" (unpublished paper, Kutztown University,
Kutztown, Pa., 1992), p. 17.
2. Ibid.
3. Art Linkletter, Kids Say the Darndest Things (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-
Hall, 1957).
4. See, for example, Gilbert Clark, Michael Day, and Dwaine Greer, "Discipline-
Based Art Education: Becoming Students of Art, Journalof Aesthetic Education21,
no. 2 (Summer 1987): 129-93.
5. See, for example, Margaret P. Battin, "The Contributions of Aesthetics," in Re-
searchReadingsfor Discipline-Based
Art Education:
A JourneybeyondCreating,ed.
Stephen Mark Dobbs (Reston, Va.: National Art Education Association, 1988),
pp. 126-29; Donald W. Crawford, "Aesthetics in Discipline-Based Art Educa-
tion," Journalof Aesthetic Education 21, no. 2 (Summer 1987): 227-39; Marcia M.
Eaton, Basic Issues in Aesthetics (Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, 1988); and Anita
Silvers, "Implications of Discipline-Based Art Education for Preservice Art Edu-
cation," panel presentation, Seminar Proceedings, The PreserviceChallenge:Disci-
Art Educationand RecentReportson HigherEducation(Los Angeles,
pline-Based
Calif.: The J. Paul Getty Trust, 1988).
Work in this area also has been done by art educators. See, for example,
CarmenArmstrong,AestheticsResource:
An Aidfor IntegratingAestheticsintoArt
Curricula and Instruction (DeKalb: School of Art, Northern Illinois University,
1990); Mary Erickson, "Teaching Aesthetics K-12," in Pennsylvania's Symposium
on Art Education,Aestheticsand Art Criticism,ed. Evan Kern (Harrisburg,Pa.:
State Department of Education, 1986); Mary Erickson, Eldon Katter, and
Marilyn Stewart, The BASIC Curriculumfor Art (Kutztown, Pa.: MELD, 1988);
Sally Hagaman, "Philosophical Aesthetics in Art Education: A Further Look to-
ward Implementation," Art Education 43, no. 4 (uly 1990): 22-24, 33-39, and
"The Community of Inquiry: An Approach to Collaborative Learning," Studies
in Art Education31, no. 3 (Spring 1990): 149-57; Louis Lankford, Aesthetics: Issues
and Inquiry (Reston, Va.: National Art Education Association, 1992), and "Prepa-
ration and Risk in Teaching Aesthetics," Art Education 43, no. 5 (September
1990): 50-56; Michael J. Parsons and H. Gene Blocker, Aesthetics and Education,in
the Disciplinesin Art Education:
Contextsof Understanding
series (Urbana:Univer-
sity of Illinois Press 1993); Robert Russell, "The Aesthetician as a Model in
Learning about Art," Studies in Art Education 27, no. 4 (Summer 1986): 186-97,
and "Children's Philosophical Inquiry into Defining Art: A Quasi-Experimental
Study of Aesthetics in the Elementary Classroom," Studies in Art Education 29,
88 Marilyn Galvin Stewart
no. 3 (1988): 282-91; and Marilyn Stewart, "Teaching Aesthetics: Philosophical
Inquiry in the DBAE Classroom," in Seminar Proceedings, Inheriting the Theory:
New Voices and Multiple Perspectives on DBAE (Los Angeles, Calif.: The Getty
Center for Education in the Arts, 1989), pp. 43-45.
6. For sequenced objectives and strategies for instruction and evaluation, see
Erickson, Katter, and Marilyn Stewart, The Basic CurriculumforArt.
7. Insights into how children develop beliefs about art can be gleaned from
Michael J. Parsons, How We UnderstandArt: A Cognitive DevelopmentalAccount of
Aesthetic Experience(New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987).
8. Margaret P. Battin, John Fisher, Ronald Moore, and Anita Silvers, Puzzles about
Art: An Aesthetics Casebook(New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989).
9. For an account of the work conducted by the Institute for the Advancement of
Philosophy for Children, see, for example, Matthew Lipman, Ann Margaret
Sharp, and Frederick Oscanyan, Philosophy in the Classroom (Philadelphia:
Temple University Press, 1980); Matthew Lipman, Philosophy Goes to School
(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1988).