Katie Sorto

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

they need to be.

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

ideas. It makes students reflect and appreciate art.

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

is not just for busy work.

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

activities that do not simply involve following instruction.

 I also think asking questions is a good strategy I will definitely include the Visual

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

them to be more worldlier and open minded individuals.

 Work Cited

Bolin, Paul E., and Kaela Hoskings. "Reflecting on Our Beliefs and Actions." Purposeful

Practice in Art Education (2015): n. pag. Web.

Bresler, Liora. "The Case of the Easter Bunny." Art Instruction by Primary Grade

Teachers(n.d.): 28-34. Web.

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

Contexts and Concepts." (n.d.): n. pag. Web.