Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Final paper
Part 1
Before taking this class I thought aesthetics focused on beauty that was pleasing to the
eye. I think I have always connected art to beauty, but there are many interpretations of what is
considered art and beauty. Now I realize that aesthetics is more than just praising a beautiful
product, its appreciating the process as much as the end product. In education we often focus on
the end product and forget about the process to get there. Students are told what to do and how to
do it; there is little room for thinking and self-expression. Students do not have to follow rules in
art, there is no right or wrong in art and that is an important lesson in art education. Art is one of
the few areas in the curriculum where students should be able to play and experiment in.
In Christine Marme Thompsons reading The visual arts and Early Learning: Changing
Contexts and Concepts, she discusses the responsibility teachers and adults have in fostering
artistic development (4). The teacher is guiding students through the artistic process and allowing
the child to explore and engage in art. As Thompson mentions, it is in the childs nature to want
to explore art but the childs experience with arts depends on the adult responsible for guiding
the course of students artistic development (2). Teachers do not have to struggle to find the
student's artist within, the potential is there waiting to be activated. But students will not learn
through pairing art with holidays, as many teachers do. When students are creating art they
shouldnt be told what their artwork should look like. Too often we see teachers draw hearts for
valentines (red), snow for Christmas, pastel colors and rabbits for Easter and the list goes on
(Thompson 29). When teachers assign this sorts of activities to students they are not encouraging
exploration and experimentation with the material. These are what Thompson calls open ended
lessons, when kids are given materials and told what to do (Thompson 30 ).
Art is supposed to lead to creativity and individualism. When we give students open
ended lessons we are not allowing them to express their thoughts and ideas through art. Another
detriment in this form of teaching art is that students work to fulfill certain expectations and
results. Another theme that came up in Breslers reading The Case of The Easter Bunny reading
was this concept of messy versus non messy (26). Students do not want to fall under the messy
category. This is why many students ask their teachers for commentary such as its beautiful or
lovely(Bresler 25 ). The focus then becomes completing the art piece or project to satisfy their
teachers and not to create something that makes them happy. In some situations teachers
comments serve as motivation or reinforcement of a specific behavior (Bresler 25). These are
cultural norms and values our education system is transmitting to the students.
The students therefore lack appreciation of the process it takes to create art. The problem
with our education system is that we have generated students that are seeking for approval at all
times. They cannot think for themselves and feel like there is always a right and wrong answer;
they are so focused on achieving the end results that they cannot reflect on the process. Students
live in a very black and white world where there are no other possibilities. Art can figuratively
and literally add color to the students educational experience. Teachers must allow students to
work with the material as they choose, then the end product will convey their own ideas, values
and thoughts. It will be much more reflective of their true selves and not the person they think
There has been much debate on whether or not young children are capable of certain
skills. Piaget theorized that there are stages of development that occur during childhood that
determine the capability and understanding of a child (Thompson 10). The argument then is, are
children able to create art and be able to think about it conceptually? Many argue that students at
younger ages are not able to think about art but in Thompsons reading she proves that children
at very young ages are already thinking about the artistic process (Thompson 4). Ruth Weir says
children start self narrating during early stages of life. Children vocalize inner speech at very
early stages of life for social purposes (Thompson 6). Through observation, many adults have
noticed that children narrate their every ,move, action and decision as they explain their artwork
(Thompson 8). This shows how children are capable of thinking about their thinking, which is
called metacognition. Adults have also noticed how children often repeat a line or shape in their
drawings, repetition is important to rudimentary stories by preschoolers. Art can therefore help
children develop verbal skills such as reasoning and analyzing, even at lower level grades.
Teaching and learning aesthetics is also valuable in education because children work
better when they are engaged in activities and that are both concrete and playful (Colbert 1).
Teachers have a tendency of viewing art as play time and overall not taking it seriously. When
in fact art can be incorporated into the curriculum in a meaningful way. Children can learn
important skills and knowledge from art activities if the teacher puts the effort. Taking students
to a gallery or art museum can open students to different perspectives and teach valuable lessons.
So much artwork has themes and messages that can teach students about real-life. One example
was the artwork in the gallery that addressed female power and heroines. Artwork that has
meaning like those in the gallery, can open students to different experiences, cultures, values and
PART 2
Teaching and learning aesthetics has changed my pedagogical practice and future
curriculum because I realize the value art has in education. Teachers put aside art and view it as a
waste of time instead of using it to their advantage. Its very easy to incorporate art into
education and its also a great tool for teachers. Art can deepen students comprehension of
material. It can be embedded within math, science, history and language arts lessons (Bresler
31). The reason so many teachers overlook art is because they pair it with holidays and give
specific directions. Students learn better when their art projects and activities serve a purpose and
What I have learned from these last few weeks is that we cannot as teachers tell students
step by step what to do. We have to give them the freedom to make their choices and be proud of
their work whether its considered aesthetic or non aesthetic in societys standards. We also have
to let students voice their interpretations. As adults we are guiding not dictating what they should
be taking from art. I will make sure not to give commentary such as beautiful or amazing
and instead make suggestions to help them further their art skills. Art is the one area in which we
have to allow students to voice their thoughts and opinions. We want to create students that
arent afraid to go out of the box and be creative. Students who are outspoken and expressive.
It is the teachers job to also listen to the students and actually care about their art. In the
Thompsons reading she also talks about the importance of feedback from the teacher. Often
teachers disregard art made by children as trivial but teachers must make the effort to give
feedback to help the student progress. A childs art is just as important as any other art piece and
if we want our students to care we have to make them feel important. We also have to provide
them with materials that can conduce to creative thinking and art making. I know that I will not
write of my students as incapable of making art or meaningful art. I will provide variety of art
thinking strategy into my classroom. All the questions were insightful and can really get students
thinking. If I have learned anything about education overall is that in order for students to
internalize knowledge teachers have to foster reflection on the material. We cant just give
children information and expect them to remember, they need to do an activity that reinforces the
lesson. Art is an effective tool to create meaningful lessons that can reinforce a theme or topic.
From the 50 purposes of art education I would say that as a future teacher I want to
promote independent and divergent thinking (Hoskings 47). I do not want students to all do the
same art and copies of one another. I want them all to be creative in their own way. I also think
its important to integrate nature into art, looking at nature through art was my favorite part of art
as a child. I enjoyed drawing and coloring artwork related to nature such as flowers, trees, and
the ocean. I want my students to notice the small details and the beauty within them. I think
observing is an important part of art, taking it all in and creating a piece inspired from emotions
or inspirations of nature. The last purpose from the 50 purposes I will promote in my class is
investigating multicultural values and engaging in cross cultural and ethnic studies. I want my
students to be exposed to artwork from different perspectives, religions and cultures that allows
Bolin, Paul E., and Kaela Hoskings. "Reflecting on Our Beliefs and Actions." Purposeful
Bresler, Liora. "The Case of the Easter Bunny." Art Instruction by Primary Grade
Colbert, Cynthia B. "Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Art Education." N.p., n.d.
Web.
<https://moodle.adelphi.edu/pluginfile.php/2301912/mod_resource/content/1/chap712_0001.pdf
>.
Thompson, Christine M. "The Visual Arts and Early Childhood Learning: Changing