National Art Education Association

Who Should Teach Art to Children: How and Why?Author(s): Anne TaylorSource: Art Education, Vol. 30, No. 6 (Oct., 1977), p. 38Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3192185 .

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Anne Taylor

There should be no question in anyone's mind about the way in which teachers are prepared to teach art if the child who is at the center of the issue, is considered the client or the user of the teacher's training. A child's interest in and exploration of the world around him is not aroused in compartmental- ized fashion or by subject matter area. Nor is the universe ordered by subject matter discipline. Nor is the child's brain organized to learn in compart- mentalized increments. The perceptual systems and physiological workings of the mind are conducive to holistic and integrated ways of assimilating information and seeing in varying rela- tionships the nature of the universe as a part-whole concept. Wouldn't it be exciting to have a piano in every class- room, color keyed, in harmonic sequence, opened to show the child its visible workings, so he or she could play it, while the teacher makes nota- tion of his composition, while at the same time explaining and learning something about the mathematics of music, left to right sequences, and physics of sound?

Teachers, however, are not trained to seize opportunities for interdiscipli- nary learning. If a child, for instance, is playing in the sandbox or on the beach mounding earth and digging out holes, how many teachers have the aware- ness to seize the moment for helping the child to become aware that she or he is not only into architecture and sculpture, but addition and subtrac- tion, additive and subtractive sculp- ture, positive and negative space?

In New Mexico, we dig for clay close to a nearby pueblo and an ancient Indian ruin. When we drive to the site, we compute mileage, become mini- geologists, hunt for pot shards, analyz- ing and synthesizing like junior archaeologists; explore petroglyphic rocks of ancient Indians; move our bodies in dance-like motion across the rocks; listen to the sound of the wind in a cave, or the music of the nearby river; touch the varied textures of the river- run rocks; make rock sculptures; view the many species of archetypal trees;

analyze and sketch the plant forms; observe desert fauna; eat the edible art of an exquisitely prepared lunch on the desert; package the garbage in ecolog- ical fashion; cart the clay back home; study the changing state of matter as we soak it for use; measure and weigh the dry clay to be added to it for the right plasticity; dry, fire, glaze and note a new changing state and have the pleasure of seeing a final product whose origin didn't come in a 25 pound bag.

If one analyzes this process one can say we explored in the course of a few days,

1. ratio concepts (mileage) 2. geology 3. archaeology 4. art-observing and sketching 5. dance and movement 6. the music of the wind 7. perception which relates to psy-

chology 8. nutrition 9. science

10. mathematics Not only have we related arts, we

have experienced other disciplines as well. It is possible to develop a curricu- lar system based on concepts derived from the structures of various disci- plines which becomes the curriculum (content) of one which is based on themes of personal interest to the stu- dent (the context). The latter system can be designed to help the child gain knowledge in several disciplines through a fascination with snakes, cowboys, barbed wire, bones, insects, whatever. This necessitates, however, a teacher who knows about the con- cepts, themes, and resources of many disciplines and who can be opportunis- tic in her or his use of the physical en- vironment as a teaching tool. For instance, the child who was interested in snakes may be led to herptology, symbolism, religion, art, habitat (geo- graphy), movement (dance), and music.

This approach to teaching does not necessitate great expenditures of money, but it does propose a change in attitude, the knowledge base, training, and philosophical outlook of a very

richly educated person. Resources, of course, are important. Therefore, this method of teaching involves some allocation and provisioning of a learn- ing environment with rich materials and media. Linkage with museums, vernacular educators, and other com- munity resources make related arts teaching possible, and the teacher must make the synthesis by knowing the resources and being highly sensi- tive to the linkages. Certainly the Phila- delphia NAEA Conference program, when examined, showed almost 50%/ of its offerings in related arts fields.

Art does not live alone anymore. Contemporary art is architecture, math, engineering, graphics; it uses the psychology of color, electronics of light, the systems of holography, multi media forms; it is people involved, perceptual, conceptual. It happens, and is everywhere. We must therefore, not limit our potential teachers to a specialized training which serves only to narrow them as human beings. Painting, drawing, sculpture is not enough anymore. Instead, art teachers (and for that matter, all teachers) should have deep awarenesses, re- sources and life experiences in many fields so that their specialty, if it is art, comes across with richer and deeper understanding because of their inter- disciplinary involvement.

Teacher preparation is not pure methodology, either. It should involve some deep involvement in poetry, music, science, math, history, and dance. The good teacher should be able to take any concrete object in the environment, any curiosity of the child, any abstract idea, and lead the child to more than just self expressive drawing or the appreciation of a painting. In this way, teachers' training will be much more compatible with the mind and learning style of their client-the child.

Anne Taylor is associate dean of the Graduate School, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Given as part of the "Great Debates" at the NAEA Convention in Philadelphia, April, 1977.

30 Art Education, October 1977

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