Teaching cultural awareness through the Arts

Journal of Modern Education Review, 2020

The paper examines the dynamics of observing works of art in the light of J. Mezirow’s Transformative Learning theory. The paper’s main axis is to explore the idea that the thoughtful way of “reading” an artwork helps the learner to confront his established viewpoints and “see” in a new light the grid of their habits of mind. Consequently, we examine the influence that the observation of artworks exercises on the transformation of views through the educational technique “Focus Consciously” and the educational method Notice – Accept – Reconsider my Truths (NART). Targets to be pursued:  To acknowledge the observation of artworks as part of the transformative course in an educational framework,  To recognize the scope of the reflective disposition that can be triggered by observing artworks,  To present processes proving the influence that the observation of artworks may have in the transformation of possible dysfunctional assumptions. The approach draws on the ideas of the Frankfurt School on aesthetics, on Dewey’s views on art and of course on Mezirow’s view of the role of art in triggering disorienting dilemmas. Project Zero ideas are also being used through the visible and artful thinking programs.

Visual culture studies have become the focus of research in recent years mainly due to the frequent use of art applications in Visual Arts courses in primary schools and the inadequate content of discipline based art education for the interpretation of today’s multiple stimulants. By interrogating students’ semantic stratums related to visuals, visual culture studies carried out in Visual Arts courses can help students gain a different perspective regarding artistic studies. The present study aimed finding out how visual culture studies can be carried out in Visual Arts courses in primary schools. The study had an action research design and was conducted during the 10 hours class-time of a Visual Arts course in a third-grade class of a primary school in Eskişehir in the fall semester of 2007-2008 academic year. The data of the present study, which was conducted on seven focal students, were collected with various data collection tools, such as demographic information scale, video recordings, semi-structured interviews, document analysis, researcher diaries and student diaries. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive analysis. The present study revealed that the students effectively participated in visual culture studies; that they made critical interrogations by broadening their thoughts based on their previous knowledge; and that they found the course more entertaining thanks to the visual culture studies. In conclusion, findings of the study suggest that visual art applications, which will encourage students to criticize cultural meanings within the Visual Art Curriculum, may be used as a strong instrument to help students interpret the visual world and become more efficient in expressing their ideas in art works.

https://itlc2022.intertla.org/17-2/, 2022

The basic axe of the presentation is to elaborate on the idea that a critical way of observing works of art can help learners to reconsider their established perceptions about crucial maters and to see in a bright new way their habits of mind. Likewise, by observing a work of art, using rational discourse, we can evaluate critically the validity of our own perceptions or beliefs and therefore we can question the reliability of assumptions that we taking as granted (Mezirow, 1998). Two proposed techniques are presented: Α) "Observing consciously" (OC) (Mega, 2019) Β) Notice-Accept-Reconsider my truths (NART) (Mega, 2018) The theoretical background of the proposed techniques draw from a number of well established philosophers educators and researchers in pedagogy and adult education. Both teaching techniques have been applied in a real educational context, by 6 postgraduate students who are adult educators in practice. The results of the implementation of the techniques in real educational setting recognize-among others-that reflection and self-confidence are two life skills that can be enhanced during transformative learning procedures that use works of art as a vehicle for unlock deep-rooted dysfunctional perceptions.

2017

La finalidad de esta investigación es mostrar la percepción que los educadores patrimoniales del Museo Picasso de Barcelona tienen sobre la práctica en su centro de trabajo de las Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), un método didáctico cada vez más popular en los museos. Para este estudio de caso de tipo cualitativo, enfocado desde una perspectiva constructivista, se han utilizado técnicas y metodologías propias de la investigación etnográfica en educación, en este caso, entrevistas semiestructuradas. Los informantes son los ocho educadores, dos hombres y seis mujeres, que aplican de manera regular este método en las visitas de escuelas catalanas al museo. En relación a los resultados se han detectado, a partir de un análisis temático de contenido, los puntos fuertes y débiles del VTS. Se observa que los aspectos positivos se refieren principalmente a aspectos vinculados a la obra de arte y al grupo escolar, destacando las posibilidades que ofrece para motivar la participación del público y cambiar la forma en que el alumnado se acerca a la obra de arte; puntos fuertes que coinciden con distintas aportaciones teóricas. En relación a los puntos débiles, los educadores han aludido principalmente a factores vinculados con las estrategias del propio sistema de enseñanza-aprendizaje, con el educador, el contexto y el público, aportando luz a través de su experiencia a las críticas preexistentes. Los resultados permiten concluir que los educadores perciben muchas más fortalezas que debilidades en el VTS, siendo las primeras indicativas de la necesidad de renovación didáctica en la educación museal hacia estrategias de implicación del alumnado y estando las últimas relacionadas con las reticencias que generan las nuevas metodologías en aquellos educados bajo sistemas de enseñanza transmisivos.

International Journal of Art and Design Education, 2017

To engage in discussions of artwork meaning is to engage in critical reasoning, a factor that is central to the interpretation of artworks in the art classroom. While this may appear as a common-sense claim that reflects the tacit assumptions most art educators have about students' critical dispositions in art, it is also evident that little is known about the deeper structures underlying students' critical reasoning and how such structures shape students' interpretations of artworks. Drawing on my research on students' theories of critical meaning in art, this article explores the nature of practical and theoretical constraints on students' critical reasoning about the meaning of artworks. I account for how intentional beliefs, language and representational artefacts function as a nexus of real constraints that condition students' advance into interpretations of the social meaning of art. After briefly outlining the design and methodology of my study, I examine students' critical reasoning performances during the formative period of development between middle to late childhood. The findings reveal that with increasing age students gradually learn to exercise their own critical intentions and represent inferences that acknowledge the significance of constitutive rules and force of a collective intentionality in the artworld on their interpretations of artworks as artefacts. I then make some conclusions about the relationship of domain-specific shifts in art understanding, the role of intentionality, representational understanding, beliefs about art and reasoning skills to the linguistic, theoretical and artefactual constraints conditioning students' intuitive advance into real understandings of art.

Brill Sense, 2021

We live in a socio-cultural reality which is dominated by an entrepreneurial and instrumental rationality, as well as by a discriminative and populist mentality. Questioning the validity of taken-for-granted sovereign perspectives is thus of vital importance. Our contact with art can serve as a pathway through which we might be empowered to identify false life values and develop the disposition and ability to challenge them. The learning potential of aesthetic experience is, however, barely exploited within educational systems. In addition, although major scholars have contributed to a deeper understanding of the liberating dimension of processing important artworks, there has been surprisingly little discussion in the relevant literature focusing on educational practice. Exploring Art for Perspective Transformation provides a comprehensive analysis and synthesis of theoretical views pertaining to the emancipatory process of exploring art. Moreover, it presents the educational method Transformative Learning through Aesthetic Experience (TLAE), with reference to particular examples of implementation. TLAE is addressed to adult educators and school teachers regardless of the subject they teach and their theoretical background on aesthetics. It involves engaging learners in exploring works from fine arts, literature, theatre, cinema and music with a view to promoting critical reflection on one’s potentially problematic perspectives.

This article reports on a qualitative, descriptive, and interpretative research intervention case study of English as a foreign language students' construction of perceptions on social issues found in famous works of art. Participants in this study engaged in the practice of critical thinking as a strategy to appreciate art that expresses social issues. The research was conducted at a Colombian public school over ten days. Famous works of art were presented with the purpose of creating a conversation club in which students were expected to identify and discuss social issues implicit in those works of art. Data were collected through direct observation, field notes, and interviews. Findings showed participants' perceptions of works of art while interacting in English conversations.

The International Journal of Art & Design, 37(2), 265-276, 2018

Recent educational initiatives have emphasized the importance of fostering critical thinking skills in today’s students in order to provide strategies for becoming successful problem solvers throughout life. Other scholars advocate for the use of critical thinking skills on the grounds that such tools can be used effectively when considering social justice issues. In this paper we make the case that the teaching and learning strategies of analytic art criticism can serve as fundamental tools used not just for the study of art but can also centre critical thinking and analysis in all aspects of the art education curriculum. Our argument begins with a review of literature on the use of art criticism for critical thinking and meaning making. Then we describe our efforts to address critical thinking with our students by using the critical analysis model of art criticism and applying it to learning environments for forming reasoned judgments about teaching and learning, and also as springboard for examining social justice issues. We believe that promoting this form of affectively driven, intellectually guided critical thinking makes our students potentially more successful not just in their encounters with art and education, but also in their lives as human beings beyond school.

International journal of humanities and social sciences, 2016

This research aimed at identifying effects of art education on the developing critical thinking skill in primary school students. Statistical population of research are all male high school students from grade three to five of Shahed school in district 2 of Uremia during academic year 2013-2014 who were 540 students. 30 students were selected in two groups 15 controls and 15 tests with simple random sampling. In data acquisition, critical thinking measurement test of Robert Ennis was used and validity and reliability was calculated. Descriptive data was used for classification of data and data analysis was conducted by using Levene and Box test and Wilkes’ Lambda test in %5 significance level. This study is based on the assumption of the effect of increasing hour of art education on the critical thinking of male primary school students. Posttest with control group was used for hypothesis testing. Ten session class was held twice a week and community of inquiry class education metho...

and American Studies at Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia organizes the sixth week-long project designed for the students of the department. Each year, there is a different thematic focus which is explored through a series of lectures presented by academics, workshops, film screenings, discussions and competitions in order to activate the students and hear their opinion on the topic.