Reflection #1

    While and after reading EISNER’s two chapter, The Role of The Arts in Transforming Consciousness and Vision and Versions of Art education, I have a chance to think of many points and perspectives it suggests. He starts the first chapter with demonstrating the importance of the arts in the human society by using scientific evidences. According to EISNER human being experiences, learns and develops the world by using the fully advanced sensory. Because of the sensory, human can build a wide range of distinct cultures and its aspects that have improved the society.      

“But the sensory system does not work alone: it requires for its development the tools of culture: language, the art, science, values and the like. With the aid of culture we learn how to create ourselves. (EISNER, p2)”

   Based on this point of view, he figures out how the arts work for human society and how arts have affected on our consciousness. From his perspective, work in the art is not only a way of creating performances but also creating our lives by expanding our consciousness, shaping our dispositions, satisfying our quest for meaning, establishing contact with others and sharing a culture. I totally agree with him in terms of cognitive function of arts since throughout time and place, without the artistic and aesthetic ways by using human brain and sensory, human society and culture would never have existed. As a tool of building cultures, the arts help us to notice the world and help our new creations including ideas, philosophies and technologies which can be evanescent settle down in the world and last for a long time.

“Art is a mode of human experience that in principle can be secured whenever an individual interacts with any aspect of the world. (Dewey)”

    In the chapter 2, Eisner talks primarily about the visions of art education such as DBAE, visual culture, creative problem solving, development of creativity and etc. Dealing with 7 visions, he suggests five principles that art education take into account. I mostly agree with his view except the first principle. He believes that art education should not sidetracked or attempt to justify its primary educational mission by focusing its efforts on outcomes even though art is kept marginalized because art is itself of value. I understand and respect his view but I doubt it. It sounds too ideal to bring the principle into the center of the education. Without visible outcomes, police makers, schools, principles, teachers and parents who suspect its educational effectiveness would not recognize the value of art education. Sadly enough, because of this reason, many educators and art teachers have been trying to show and prove the effectiveness of arts in education in order to convince the people. I believe unlike Eisner’s view, art educators and teachers need to scientifically research, provide scientific  outcomes and persuade the distrustful people because it is almost only way to establish arts as a main curriculum in education.              

      

   Freedman’s chapter deals with how visual art are related to visual culture and how we understand and use visual culture educationally. Pointing out the current changes, he describe visual culture is about our everyday lives and experiences.

“However things have changed fine art is still critically important but it is only one form of visual culture worthy of study. Visual culture as a whole must be seen as real in the sense that it is a major part of everyday experience. People cannot only speak freely; they can visually access, display and duplicate, computer manipulate and globally televise.(Freedman”)   

   As he points out that visual culture is much more informal than fine art in terms of traditional education, visual culture would be considered and understood as not only educational concepts but also the aspects or tendency of society. In terms of that, I agree with him that visual art places in the visual culture and it doesn’t matter whether visual culture education takes place inside or outside the school because art education dealing with visual culture helps to develop rich meanings through life experience.  

He indicates the following concepts as foundations of teaching visual culture.

1)     Reconceptualizing the field

2)     Meaningful aesthetics

3)     Social perspective

4)     Interactive cognition

5)     Cultural response

6)     Interdisciplinary interpretation

7)     Technological experience

8)     Constructive critique

     Among these factors, I was impressed by the first foundation he indicates, reconceptualizing the field. I still remember when I was taking the art classes in the middle and high school. I was very confused by the variety of arts and classification of arts when dealing with textbooks focusing on traditional view of arts. It looked like it really loves to classify and distinguish arts according to period, culture, media, style, technique, intent or purpose. I had learned arts and art history separately based on the classification. One thing obvious was that the more complicated classifications there were, the harder time I had for understanding. May be for that reason, I have forgotten almost everything I have learned. However, I am experiencing differently now. Even though I still have many things to learn about arts, I think I am pretty good at understanding and dealing with arts and its aspects. That’s because the classes in my degree program successfully offer a chance for me to think and experience arts wholly according to concept or BIG IDEA. So I believe art teachers need to reconceptualize the field of art by using the concept of visual culture in order to help student make connection with real world and approach arts more meaningfully.