Historical Trends in Art Education

A timeline of the historical trends of Art Education:

1800s: Kant's aesthetic response paves a path of 'Formalism'

During this time, Formalism is based on aesthetic judgement, response to work, interpretation and how it is received. Formalism is used and recognized by critics into the 1970s.

1919-1930s: 'German Bauhaus' invited students to be more creative in their problem solving.

1930s: 'Social Reconstruction' was created during the Great Depression with the idea that art is an integral part of life and not be separated from life

1940s-1960s: 'Child-Centered Approach' created by Viktor Lowenfeld, is an idea that art changes with the child. The child has control of materials as well as self-expression.

1960s-1970s: 'Contemporary Reconstruction' grew from the age of 'Social Reconstruction' but surrounded by era of Civil Rights and Feminism

1970s: 'Liberatory Pedagogy' the role of teacher and student is re-examined and is based on the idea that the teacher is immersed in the dialogue of study alongside the students.

Mid 1970s: 'Critical Pedagogy' was created in response to traditional education with educators questioning why, what, and how topics are taught.

1980s-current: 'Discipline Based Art Education' (DBAE) creates the notion that art should be integrated as general education curriculum and not taught as a specialty subject.

Given the timeline above, the history of art education is a varied one with individuals often questioning why and how art is taught to students. Today, there is more open discussion about topics such as race, gender, discrimination, politics, etc. than there was in the 1930s. There has also been a drastic shift in what is valued in art. Formalism ushered in the idea that what a work of art looked like was most important, but today the value is based on what art can convey to an audience.

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After reading the introduction to 'Contemporary Issues in Art Education', I was reminded of the issues-based approach to teaching that I believe many of my professors in undergraduate would use to create an opening of discussion by basing projects around ideas such as race, gender, economics, politics, environmental issues, etc.

One project from an introductory sculpture course stands out as being most similar to the issues-based approach. My professor provided an article about the effects of global warming and asked the class to individually research a species of animal listed as endangered. our professor then asked us to create a sculpture that could function as a memorial for the animal if it were to become extinct. I believe my professor used the issues-based method because discussed an issue you that had and still has a clear impact on climate, habitat and livelihood. This method of teaching opened our eyes to the effects of global warming, while also making a sculpture studio course a place for such a topic to be discussed.

To me, all aspects of art education, old and new, are important to reflect on as they all led to the evolution of a new method or theory. I believe I will focus more on ideas like the 'Child-Centered Approach' and 'DBAE' and less on 'Formalism' because I value discussion more than standards in aesthetic. I also plan to apply the issues-based approach teaching method because it provides a way to discuss important, often left behind topics because of how difficult it my be to incorporate them into lesson plans. It is important for students to have the space to discuss and I hope to provide that space.

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