Art+Education

Much visual information in society today is delivered by mass media and technology, such as television, movies, computers, and video games. The audience participation is passive, rather than active. With art activities the artist is the initiator, constantly making new decisions through trial and error. This process can be intimidating for young minds unfamiliar with the process of creating in a visual form. Teachers need to motivate and stimulate students so that they gain confidence in this hands-on approach. The general consensus of public opinion and research today is that “What is very clear. . . is that people across the country want a much more engaging and broader education for students” (Deasy, as cited in Buchanan, 2008, p. 36). Art can engage young minds in an active creative process that engenders pride in personal accomplishments. In art, critical analysis of a problem can take place, and an all-encompassing solution may be achieved. Citing Eisner (2005), Catterall and Peppler (2007) explained, The arts teach children “to make judgments in the absence of rules. . . [that] problems can have more than one solution. . . [and that] the goal one starts with can be changed midway in the process as unexpected opportunities arrive.” And straight to the heart of this study, “that the forms of thinking the arts develop and refine are precisely the forms of thinking that our ever-changing world, riddled as it is with its ambiguities and uncertainties, requires in order to cope.” (p. 550) Art is a multidimensional way of looking at the world. It gives students a discipline of learning and thinking, whereby the positive and negative may be viewed together.