Designing an Art Curriculum Based on Educational Theory

Designing an Art Curriculum Based on Educational Theory

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Throughout the form of this program, I have been introduced to a variety of educational theories and didactics methods. As this plan progresses and gets closer to student teaching, the time to think nigh which educational theories and instruction methods to actually implement in my future classroom draws near. A few of the theories that have been introduced to me that are in line with my vision of educational activity are Discipline Based Art Educational activity (DBAE), Studio Thinking, and Constructivism. On the beginning DBAE and Constructivism seemed to exist conflicting ideologies to me, because I viewed DBAE as more of a Behaviorist approach to teaching where the teacher was the "gatekeeper" of knowledge, as opposed to the more pupil-empowering approach of Constructivism. With more research, I've come to believe that with intentional curriculum planning, the 2 can be combined to create a fluid and meaningful fine art education experience.

When I tell people I am getting a Masters in Fine art Educational activity, too often and much to my chagrin, the response is something along the lines of, "Oh that's ambrosial. Y'all'll get to paint with kids all solar day!" That is a partial truth, just information technology is a very small part of a huge job. I believe there are a few reasons why people respond this way, the biggest reason being that their ain art educational activity feel somehow lacked substance and did not transfer in whatsoever meaningful way to the other subjects they were learning in school.

The theory of Subject Based Art Education seeks to remedy that past incorporating the historical and critical aspects of art into studio-based classes. This puts art-making into context for students who are not innately inclined to studio work and exercise not program to pursue fine art beyond their high schoolhouse graduation requirement. DBAE focuses on how to translate, clarify, and capeesh fine art. Estimation, analysis, and appreciation are all parts of a larger whole—critical thinking, a highly transferable skill.

Another reflective, critical thinking enhancing art educational theory is Studio Thinking. The eight Studio Habits develop a mindset in students that is transferable to all of the arts disciplines, also equally other subjects. Studio Habits of Listen such equally Engage and Persist interpret well into any significant mental effort, while Studio Habits like Observe are helpful skills that cross over into the sciences. In one case students are trained to remember in these eight means in a studio art setting, they can begin, possibly without even realizing it, to apply these critical thinking skills to many of their other academic efforts, whether they pursue art further or non.

Vygotsky Constructivist Theorist

Lev Vygotsky was one of the foremost theorists of the Constructivist motion. Umm also, what a cutie patootie! As well bad he died in 1934 at the age of 38 from tuberculosis… and we never met. We may or may not refer to him as "Love" Vygotsky in grade.

Constructivism places more than responsibility in the easily of the educatee and seeks to have the student be actively involved in the learning process, unlike the theory of Behaviorism where the teacher is the only source of learning and the student's role is passive and receptive. I believe that a Constructivist learning environment, where I, as the instructor, would have on a role that is more focused on facilitating learning experiences, likewise enhances a student's critical thinking capabilities. Students under my guidance volition have to think almost what they desire to come away with from their studio experience and pursue that expectation. Constructivism, according to Vygotsky's contribution to the theory, besides encourages learning in a social, cooperative context, which fits very well with art instruction in my opinion.

So, how do these 3 theories come up together in one classroom, and how can they be implemented into a curriculum? The first and most hands accessible fashion to implement Constructivism is in my classroom ready-upwardly. At to the lowest degree 1 solar day of each calendar month, students volition take a interruption from the main project they are working on for a purely cocky directed educatee exploration of an essential question (e.g. "How does fine art imitate life?").  Students will have access to common and safe art materials, and at that place volition be designated piece of work areas for different media. One table will be for drawing, the other for painting, another for collage, and some other for recycled materials. Students will choose a table to work at to explore the essential question, or they can move among the unlike tables to complete their exploration. They will be encouraged to discuss their ideas with each other, but each student must complete their own assignment and come up to their own decision of what the essential question ways to them.

To be completely honest, I am a big fan of Constructivism, but I struggle with the notion of having a purely Constructivist classroom where I am but in a facilitator'south role every single day. That is where the aforementioned idea of educatee cocky-directed exploration days came to mind. I plan to regularly utilise Constructivist principles in many of my classroom activities, such equally student-atomic number 82 critiques and collaborative assignments. Nonetheless, in a classroom based purely on Constructivism, I would worry about how I was getting students to meet and exceed the standards on a daily basis. It would accept a great deal of planning on my part, as well as on the part of the students as they would need to come up prepared with their ain learning goals and expectations, be well equipped to have initiative, and exist decisive in how they would be meeting those goals.

How would DBAE and Studio Thinking fit in? As I stated earlier, DBAE provides the context for studio art. Past providing a foundation for students to sympathise art history, art criticism, and aesthetics, in improver to technical studio work, I am showing them how fine art fits into the greater scheme of globe history, the evolution of our perceptions of dazzler, and how we assess an object's value from a visual standpoint. 1 of the about obvious ways to do DBAE is in an introductory critique of a piece of work of art. Before offset a new unit of measurement, I would use VTS to accept students analyze a work of art and draw conclusions nearly where it is from and what could peradventure have been going on historically when information technology was made.

In my opinion, Studio Thinking is the almost practical and easily implemented theory, and it's also the theory I've seen at work in high school art classrooms the most often. In my curriculum, the Studio Habits of Mind would be sewn into every project, and I would give students a risk to explain in critique and in writing which Studio Habits they used and how they used them. My rubrics, which I would share with my students for each assignment so they know what they are going to be graded on before completing their art piece, would likewise set up the expectation that students piece of work within the Studio Thinking mindset.

Having a curriculum that fosters reflection, initiative, and critical thinking is essential to a meaningful art education. Non but do they provide the framework for a challenging art feel, but the skills that are adult in theories such as DBAE, Constructivism and Studio Thinking transfer into every aspect of learning and how students provide show of learning. Contrary to the opinions of the occasional dolts that tell me my career choice is ambrosial, education and learning art is an intentional exercise that is foundational to every other academic try.