What type of issues should be allowed and what type of issues should not be allowed to be discussed or brought up in the art room? Who is to say what is and what is not art?
There are many issues in which the art room is faced with. So what are the topics in which we are allowed to discuss in the art room? Are art educators supposed to stick to all of the historical aspects of art? Or should they be able to discuss topics which are more recent in our society?
Growing up in the '90's I only remember learning about Picasso, Monet, and other famous artists from history. We didnt learn about recent artists or contemporary artists. They were all from years and years before. But in today's world there are more contemporary artists which could be discussed in the art room. These artists could inspire kids and show them something new that they may enjoy doing. These types of contemporary art could benefit some kids, so why not incorporate contemporary art/artists into the art room? Are art educators allowed to look at and discuss these artists? Or do they need to stick to the "black and white" artists who we've studied all along.
With this day and age there are so many new and unusual things which could be incorporated into the art room. However, what is stopping many people from incorporating these contemporary artists into the art curriculum? Are they afraid to incorporate these newer artists? Are they afraid to steer away from the "norm"?
When I observed at an elementary school, I saw the teacher doing projects with the kids which dealt with century old traditions from different cultures. They were not studing new issues or art. Do educators have a specific criteria that they must follow or can they steer off from that and incorporate newer aspects of art into their lessons? It just bothers me that these kids are doing the same exact projects that I had done 14 years ago when I was in their shoes.
I dont believe it is a negative thing to incorporate more contemporary artists into the school curriculum. I mean it is a good thing to learn about art history and those artists, however, once and awhile it is a good idea to steer away from that and learn about newer artists and their art. Students need to be exposed to ALL types of art, new and old.
How will they benefit from art education if art teachers just teach them all about art history? Are we as art educators doing our jobs by not exposing them to the contempory art and artists?
2 comments:
Having been in the same education classes, I feel that our current education is trying to change teaching methods according to what artists we utilize in the classroom. I think that our generation of teachers will really try and use contemporary artists in the classroom because it shows that art is happening now...and it is not just a bunch of dead white guys from the past!
This is true...i never looked at it in the way that we are the future art educators and we are the closest thing to knowing what kids want to learn about in the art room. And knowing what we wanted in the art program will help us decide what is best to teach our students.
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