Contemporary Art Education Research Articles

Development of Contemporary Art Education Program with Photography

Development of Contemporary Art Education Program with Photography

Grammar School Students’ Opinions on the Art Curriculum: An Estonian, Portuguese and Slovenian Comparative Study

The article presents the attitude of grammar school students towards the art curriculum. It first provides an overview of the characteristics of contemporary art education, with an emphasis on the postmodern art curriculum and on linking course content with students’ interests. The study is based on the descriptive and causal non-experimental method,with a sample comprising 387 Slovenian, Estonian and Portuguese students. It was established that the students place the highest value on developing creativity, and are less interested in art history content and learning about the basics of the formal art language. They are attracted to contemporary topics, such as graffiti, multicultural art, the use of new media, and digital technologies. The results of the study provide opportunities for future comparative analyses and starting points for updating art curricula.

Tecendo histórias do ensino de artes: conversas com Ana Mae Barbosa

Em confluência com a preparação deste número do ARJ, Ana Mae Barbosa está lançando o livro Redesenhando o Desenho: educadores, política e história, pela Editora Cortez, dando assim continuidade a vertente histórica de suas pesquisas. Abre-se uma oportunidade para conversar com ela sobre o livro e as responsabilidades envolvidas nas práticas da pesquisa histórica no campo do ensino de artes na contemporaneidade. Além de funcionar como uma resenha do novo livro, a conversa adentra por algumas veredas que se abrem ao se pesquisar a história, tais como, as veredas da imaginação diante da plausibilidade dos contextos estudados, as escolhas metodológicas do pesquisador na construção de narrativas e partilha de dados e documentos, a importância da consciência do pesquisador sobre o seu ponto de vista na tessitura de uma história que pode contribuir para iluminar o presente e vislumbrar possibilidades. Partilhamos aqui esta conversa!

Former West: Documents, constellations, prospects

Abstract FORMER WEST (2008–2016) is a long-term contemporary art research, education, publishing, exhibition and discursive project that aims at developing a critical understanding of the legacy of the radical resistance to power in 1989, in order to both imaginatively reevaluate the present and speculate about global futures. It employs the “retroperspective” method – allowing for imaginative thinking and acting through both global pasts and future prospects simultaneously. The work of art plays a critical role in this context and is understood as a “document” through which to re-read the recent course of history otherwise than the way in which we’ve gotten to know it, demonstrating thus the imaginative potential of artistic practice in shaping and transforming the world.

(Mis)Information highways: A critique of online resources for multicultural art education

Abstract This article calls to attention hegemonic online resources for multicultural art education. The author suggests that art educators carefully critique multicultural art lesson plans published online, as the Internet is increasingly a primary resource teachers use to make pedagogical and curricular decisions. The author demonstrates how some multicultural art education resources offered online contribute to an ‘us–other’ dichotomy, and contradict with the current progressive critical multicultural art education scholarship being published by contemporary art education scholars. The author asserts three contentions of support that illustrate how these online curricular resources maintain ‘liberal’ multiculturalism, exoticize cultural groups, produce surface knowledge about difference and fail to question power. This article concludes with a call to action in which art educators are encouraged to explicitly acknowledge, discuss and work with students and peers to build counter-curriculum that work against these damaging online multicultural art education resources.

The Development of Art Appreciation Abilities of Pupils in Primary School

In Slovenian schools pupils have few opportunities to observe, understand and enjoy works of art. Contemporary art education in Slovenia should aim to combine the development of productive and receptive artistic abilities. This would make more comprehensive artistic development of pupils possible. In this study we monitored the development of the art-appreciation abilities of 10 – 11-year old pupils in primary schools in northeastern Slovenia. Th e results show that the level of art-appreciation abilities is somewhat average, however, girls showed higher developed art-appreciation abilities than boys. Based on the results we can conclude that the development of art appreciation abilities in our art-education program is given too little attention.

Issue of Integrity of Art Education in the Context of Changes in Art and Visual Culture

This article examines a paradigmatic change of contemporary art education in the context of visual culture and focus to the integrity of arts in formal and informal art education. The article is based on an international research “Contemporary art and visual culture in education” which reveals the problematic aspects of contemporary arts and visual culture in education in general. The research method was the discourse analysis of the participants and researchers, who presented the insights in reflective groups and during the interview with teachers and educators.This paper explores how contemporary cultural context and the spread of visual culture provide preconditions for changes in art education. The aim of the article is to analyze theproblems and perspectives of integral arts education in formal and non-formal education: what the educational challenges and opportunities appear in the context of contemporary art and visual culture? How the integral arts could be realized in art education practice in different arts disciplines and areas of education?Contemporary art and visual culture is increasingly multidimensional, the wide range of visual art forms integral with per formative arts, new technologies and media merge the limits between the arts disciplines. That becomes relevant pedagogical problem with the fact that arts education is traditionally allocated to the separate arts subjects such as music, art, theatre, dance, which also can also be divided into separate areas. This subject segregation of the school curriculum and strong subject orientation limits multimodal contemporary arts education. Secondary Education programs provide opportunities for several options of arts education disciplines (photography, cinema art, graphic design, contemporary music technologies), but it needs special resources for the schools and professional teachers. Many schools follow on traditional model of teaching art and still focusing on simple interpretation of modern artworks, different media and technical skills.Contemporary model of teaching integrated arts and visual culture in education is challenging, because it is based on visual literacy and critical thinking skills, it emphasizes inquiry-based education, a critical understanding of contemporary art practices, problem solving and creating new valuable ideas. Knowledge and experiences came from various sources: formal, non-formal, accidental, individual.Great potential for contemporary art education has non-formal art education programs and projects. Successful project-based initiatives in art education have been excellent examples of arts integration.Artists and other creative people involved into a process of education, their collaboration with schools and communities could initiate some interdisciplinary and collaborative practices. Non-formal arts education environment creates more space for creativity, freedom and diversity. Additional arts education programs, museum and gallery education, artistic competitions and international projects allows for the wider development of arts education. Art education in the new age requires changing attitudes towards learning and teaching, changing roles of the educator and new learning environments.

‘Art in the Library’: Interstitial readings between art education and artistic practice

Abstract The growing interest of many artists in alternative spaces for artistic creation and the interdisciplinary nature of most educational curricula have encouraged the teaching staff at the University of Barcelona’s Faculty of Fine Arts to adopt a new methodology – an educational turn – that offers students the direct experience of creating ‘artworks in the user’s space’. This article reports on that experience, ‘Art in the Library’, which in recent years has formed part of the University’s Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art, in the subject Interdisciplinary Attitudes. The student artworks reported on in this paper are site-specific projects, which constitute a professional challenge for their creators and were exhibited to a general public. The authors of the paper propose that ‘Art in the Library’ meets a challenge in contemporary educational practice and understands art education as an act of creation.

Contemporary liberal education: slowing down to discern

Purpose – This essay seeks to argue that contemporary liberal arts education can be viewed from the perspective of contemporary psychological understandings of human cognition combined with the classical pedagogy developed in the foundational concepts of Jesuit education. Through a description of the human cognitive system as discussed in the writing of Daniel Kahneman and the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola, the concepts of “slow thinking” and “discernment” are offered as important models that can inform development of a liberal education in an information-saturated society. Design/methodology/approach – The essay presents an interpretation of the essentially “liberating” nature of liberal education in light of the psychological literature that demonstrates how one's culture contributes to the formation of cognitive structures that allow largely automatic processing of information in a non-reflective, fast process that leads to understanding that is constrained and somewhat closed to alternative understanding. This interpretation is then discussed in light of a process of discernment that allows the individual to open up to new ideas. Findings – The essay thus derives the conclusion that a focus on pedagogy of discernment is the essential feature of a modern liberal education and leads to creative expression of new ideas in new ways. Originality/value – The essay presents an alternative view of contemporary liberal education that is based on a well-developed historical approach (Ignatian discernment) and supported by current psychological research.

Arts Education Partnerships in Australia: Spaces and Places for Teaching and Learning

The arts over the centuries have continued to pervade, direct and define our societies. In Australia, they are seen as an important and influential mechanism of pedagogies. In arts education students explore and express their identity and build understanding of their worlds through learning by doing and social interaction. This long-established position is endorsed by contemporary arts education pedagogies that encourage students to look, listen, learn, think, and work as artists in new places and spaces. The forthcoming Australian Curriculum: The Arts (dance, drama, media arts, music, and visual arts) will require consideration of the students' own cultures and the cultures of their communities, region, and the wider world. Interaction between the students and the wider arts community are central to this approach. Using narrative inquiry, reflective practice, and document analysis as our methodologies, we describe ways of seeing, knowing, and learning between artists, students, schools, education authorities, and universities in the Australian state of Victoria. The authors contend that collaborative partnerships take many forms and provide opportunities for exploration of pedagogies that foster strong relationships between arts education and the arts industry.

Overcoming Problems Integrating Digital Technologies in Contemporary Art Education Practice: Ten Suggestions

Many art educators are finding it difficult to embrace digital technologies in meaningful and creative ways. Using findings from case study research conducted during 2010-2012, the researcher examined two model high schools and two middle schools located in Central Canada. Data collection involved interviews and participant observation as well as archival collection, and it was found that successful approaches to teaching with digital technologies in art emerged. The author outlines key areas crucial to integrating new technologies well. From the results of the analysis, the following suggestions are provided:(1) focus on digital studio creations (specifically the 'communication' function); (2) implement traditional visual arts as the program foundation; (3) value educators' knowledge in traditional art; (4) integrate new technologies slowly; (5) cultivate traditional project-based pedagogy; (6) embrace power dynamics between teacher and students; (7) break down community walls; (8) show students' work from local to international audiences; (9) foster a critical approach to new technologies; and (10) emphasize digital creativity. In conclusion, educators' practice is shared and examined and through this their direct experiences are discussed. Suggestions are provided for new educators beginning their careers and for more experienced teachers who are finding it difficult incorporating information and communication technology (ICT) creatively in their classrooms.

Meaning of Artistic Creation in terms of Henri Bergson's Theory of Creativity

The purpose of this paper is to understand Bergsons philosophy of creation and its significance in the history of modern aesthetics, through examining his concept of creativity which has influenced on the idea of contemporary art education. Therefore, I will inspect the traits of the concept of creation, namely the irreversible and the unpredictable, and to make a comparison between science and art and between fabrication and creation from the viewpoint of psychological philosophy on the meaning of human creative activity. Further, I will grasp the valuable meaning peculiar to spontaneous creative activity which is connected with the realm of art education. According to Bergson, creation is an activity in the process of becoming, and both of becoming and evolving are the continuity of creation. The phenomena of becoming is unreversible and the same kind of creation cannot be repeatable. He seeks for the incessant creative power in the artistic activity of painter and sculptor. Further, he mention that human being should be an artist or artisan who makes ones own life, and be an existence continuously operating in order to produce original figure. Aesthetic intuition and artistic creation are inseparably related to each other. Spontaneous active behaviour facilitates the manifestation of creativity. Creative activity accompanies the divine great joy. Therefore, the practical dessin education aiming at drawing a draft or map has not concerned with originality or creativity. Bergson highly appreciated Ravaissons idea of dessin education which advocate the unrestricted expression in free painting instead of mechanical technique useful for practise. We could confirm that this idea of free painting put forth buds of creative art education, and is linked together with Bergsons thoughts. Bergsons theory of creativity has played an important role to lay the foundation of art education that respects the expression of individuality and personal psychology.

Diaspora in the Field of Vision

Diasporic artists have become visible in small but significant numbers since the expansion in post-war education in Britain – supported in part by those sympathetic to the politics of educational equality and in part by those for whom education and diasporic experience were the enabling factors for their practices. Out of these practices emerged the critical debates about visual cultural diversity, now commonplace within contemporary art education. This article will address some of the key issues that have been made apparent in the work of some contemporary diasporic artists who live, work and have studied in Britain. These issues will be looked at within the frame of contemporary British art education and its changing role in the current era. In addition, the article will look at how emerging contemporary art practices (for example, live art practices) figure in the hierarchies that dominate the existing institutional structures in higher education in Britain.

3D Virtual Worlds as Art Media and Exhibition Arenas: Students’ Responses and Challenges in Contemporary Art Education

3D virtual worlds (3D VWs) are considered one of the emerging learning spaces of the 21st century; however, few empirical studies have investigated educational applications and student learning aspects in art education. This study focused on students’ responses to and challenges with 3D VWs in both aspects. The findings show that most participants had positive learning experiences and attitudes toward 3D VWs as an art medium and an exhibition arena after overcoming a steep learning curve. They recognized that creating virtual art as well as viewing and critiquing it during art exhibits in a global virtual setting were great advantages for concept learning and art education. They also raised a concern about actual implementation in K-12 classrooms. The data shed light on how art educators and teachers can take advantage of the affordances of 3D VWs for teaching contemporary art in a digital age. Recommendations for future studies are provided.

Contemporary Art and Citizenship Education: The Possibilities of Cross-Curricular Links on the Level of Content

Unlike the previous phenomenon of modern art, contemporary art strives to return to society and everyday life, while thematising the current issues that the individual faces here and now. One of its more frequent topics is that of sustainable development, and the accompanying issues of environment, values, relations to others, etc. All such topics are part of the concept of active citizenship, which is why understanding contemporary art calls for active citizenship. This particularly holds true for relational art, which demands active participation on the part of the viewer. This paper inquires into the possibilities of the connection of contemporary art and citizenship education in elementary schools. Contemporary pedagogic doctrine highly encourages cross-curricular teaching; therefore, I have focused my analysis on the curricula of the subjects of Art Education, and Citizenship and Patriotic Education and Ethics, determining that (from this perspective) their link is quite troublesome. The absence of contemporary art from the curriculum of Art Education has been criticised on many occasions, but the problem of its curriculum seems to be of a conceptual nature. Only by a more intense inter-institutional link between schools and contemporary art galleries and museums can the common goals of art education and citizenship education be realised. This paper will, therefore, strive to show potential cross curricular links in content on three examples of participatorypractices (Proletarians of All Countries, Beggar Robot and EU/Others), while warning (from the pedagogic perspective) against the often neglected fact that contemporary art is experienced here and now.

Frederick Froebel’s philosophies of drawing: Play, representation and invention

This article explores the drawing practice within the educational philosophies of Frederick Froebel. Froebel offers art education and studio practice a great deal of influential approaches, unique media inspirations and enduring philosophical contexts for drawing. Froebel introduced exercises in linear drawing with horizontal and vertical lines, outline drawing of contours, free-hand and nature drawing, circular drawing and drawing from memory. Froebel also suggested more exploratory drawing activities in the service of observing, connecting and evoking form. His approaches towards drawing as varied explorations of nature, contour and shape with unique art media can open up pedagogical possibilities for the rich understanding of form and playful, sensory experiences in contemporary art education.

Interrogations: Art, art education and environmental sustainability

How can art educators begin to inhabit questions of environmental sustainability, accepting to be ethically normative but avoiding becoming dogmatic? This article investigates three interconnected approaches to sustainable art education with the aim of building a platform from where to explore ‘environmental sustainability’ without losing the epistemological and ideological complexities that have been developed within the contemporary research field. The first section, Art, presents two contemporary art projects and discusses their possible contributions to environmental sustainability. The second section, Art Education, introduces four currents in contemporary art education: critical art education, post-structuralist strategies, visual culture pedagogy and community-oriented visual interventions, and ‘interrogates’them about environmental sustainability. Keywords from the interrogations are used as ‘cornerstones’ to create an epistemological ‘platform’. In the third section, Environmental Sustainability, the insights and keywords from the previous sections are used to exemplify how moments of environmental sustainability could be introduced in art education.

Nordic contemporary art education and the environment: Constructing an epistemological platform for Art Education for Sustainable Development (AESD)

How can art educators address questions of environmental sustainability, accepting to be ethically normative but avoiding becoming dogmatic? How can the complex ‘pool’ of knowledge generated in and through art education research become useful in working with these questions, which many of us find overwhelmingly difficult? AESD – Art Education for Sustainable Development – is a concept coined for this article with the intention of bringing environmental problems onto the agenda. In an attempt to provoke the necessary discussion about environmental sustainability in art education, the article examines selected texts from recent Nordic research in order to build an ‘epistemological platform’ that might function as a research-based ‘tool’ for discussing environmental issues. The article is organized in four sections, which refer to the four ’cornerstones’ of the platform, where each cornerstone corresponds to a recent current in art education. These currents, as defined by the author, are: critical art education, poststructuralist strategies, visual culture pedagogy, and community oriented visual practices. Using selected Nordic texts as material for the analysis, the epistemological perspective of each current is briefly presented and its relationship to evironmental questions is discussed. In the final discussion, eight keywords are presented: praxis, change, performance, reflexivity, visuality, event, situatedness and collaboration. When put together, these concepts offer a dynamic picture of the ‘pool’ of ideas offered by contemporary Nordic and international research, which will be useful for ‘performing’ AESD both as teaching practices and as research.

Psychologizing and the Anti-Psychologist: Dewey, Lacan, and Contemporary Art Education

Art education throughout the 20th and into the 21st century has drawn on both psychology and psychoanalysis to support approaches to teaching and learning in the arts. This article examines the concept of “psychologizing” as it appears in the writing of psychologist/philosopher John Dewey (1859-1952) and psychiatrist/psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan (1901-1981) to complicate our assumptions about what it means to learn in engagement with images and objects. Dewey’s psychologizing has provided a way for teachers to help students gain access to new knowledge through experience and conscious reflection while Lacan viewed psychologizing as a fundamental misunderstanding of the human subject. Contemporary writings in art education are used to illustrate ways the two approaches have manifested in contemporary art education theory and practice.

Media Art, Mediality and Art Generally

The wide ranging, trans-disciplinary interest in technological media suggests the possibility of a new discipline concerned with the history, implications and practice of mediation. Within this context, the field of media art gains a new sense of coherence and identity. Given the lingering tension between media art and mainstream contemporary art, this may lead the latter to assert its disciplinary autonomy. This paper argues against such a move. Media art is better positioned as an integral strand within contemporary art and, more particularly, as a key space of creative enquiry and practice within a generally conceived contemporary art education.