FALL 2003 ART 207, "DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN'S ART"

(815-12/19 2003) Class meets: 2 -3:50 pPM T and Th, in Taylor 201.

Course professor: Dr. Michael Simmons Office Hours: T 4:15-5PM, TH 12noon-1:45PM Ayres 111

Phone: 898-4553 email: mfsimmons@csuchico.edu

COURSE OBJECTIVES: The purposes of the course are to:

1. provide the means toward understanding children's art.

2. provide basic knowledge and philosophic background toward facilitating children’s visual art

processes and content.

COURSE CONTENT:

In recent years the field of Art (Visual Art) Education has seen some changes. We have known for a long time that Art is not merely a recreational activity related to studio practice (the materials and activities approach); nor is it just a cognitive activity related to art appreciation or criticism (looking at and talking about art). Art is a valuable tool for the encouragement of development of the mind (using higher order thinking skills), the emotions (expression of significant

human experience) and the senses (sensitive awareness of the physical and visual environment).

There are some basics that do not change. Parents, teachers and other facilitators must understand the differences among children. They must understand likenesses and differences in children's art within and between stages of development, as well as other aspects of children's growth and development. It is even more important now than in years past, that adults become aware of the importance of visual arts (actually all of the arts), art processes and art content, and their place in educational programs. It is toward the child's thinking, feeling and perceiving, in the context of

the Visual Arts, that we will direct our inquiry in this course.

The course consists of a series of lectures and readings concerning the philosophy, processes, and content of the Visual Arts. Experiences (including studio practice) addressing artistic perception, creative expression, cultural and historical contexts, and aesthetic valuing will be provided

in relation to the growth and development of children.

TEXT: Herberholz, Barbara & Herberholz, Donald, Artworks for Elementary Teachers. 9th Edition,

San Francisco: McGraw-Hill, 2002, ISBN: 0-07-240707-7

Materials assembled by Dr. Sharon Smith and Dr. Michael Simmons

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS must be submitted in final form, on time, proof read and typed.

A COURSE FEE of $20 is required for use of studio materials.

CLASS ATTENDANCE: Students missing more than two class meetings will have their participation

score dropped. Upon the third absence, participation grades will be reduced by 10 points, as well

as for each absence thereafter, to a maximum of 20 points.

GRADING is in accordance with the university catalog, and based on percentage of points achieved

In relation to points available:

ART 207 DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN'S ART SYLLABUS (page 2)

The course grade will be based upon 225 points* weighted in the following manner:

2 tests 75 + 25 points = 100 points total

quizzes & short homework assignments = 20 " "

Field study assignment = 15

art exhibit review assignment = 10

assignments & studio problems = 85 " "

participation = 20 (received for attendance and participation

____ in all studio activities and discussions.)

= 250 total points available

Note: Actual points possible may vary. Letter grades are determined by % of possible points

attained: above 90% in A range, above 80% in B range---and so on.

The Arts ( all of the Arts) provide alternative ways of learning, perceiving, thinking, and feeling.

Each of the Arts provides its own way of relating to the world and to other human beings in the world, past and present. The Visual Arts, for their part in providing these alternative "world views," provide strategies of perception and ways of synthesizing those perceptions that cannot be attained in any other way. Certain approaches to problem solving (use of higher order thinking skills) and approaches to communication (creative expression) can only be mastered through the Visual Arts.

There are many art forms within what is called the Visual Arts. Each is unique in itself.

The California Department of Education published the Challenge Standards for Student Success. Visual and Performing Arts in 1998. Now called the Content Standards for Visual and Performing Arts, they reinforce the information presented in the The Visual and Performing Arts Framework for

California Public Schools. Both documents provide general goals and objectives to be applied to

teaching and learning the Arts in the California schools.

According to the The Visual and Performing Arts Framework for California Public Schools, there are four instructional components of the Visual Arts. They are to be examined to provide some understanding of their importance to learning and to the quality of human existence. The four instructional components are; Artistic Perception, Creative Expression, Cultural and Historical Context, Aesthetic Valuing. These four instructional components carry over to all levels of maturity in children and adults, as well as to all cultures. The Framework's four instructional components (with an emphasis on creative expression) will be applied, during the semester, in relation to children and their visual art development. (See the summary sheet describing the focus of each "Framework" instructional component.)

VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS FRAMEWORK: A SUMMARY OF THE FOUR INSTRUCTIONAL COMPONENTS OF THE VISUAL ARTS M.F. Simmons/Art Dept.

According to the Visual and Performing Arts Framework for California Public Schools: Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve, there are four instructional components, through which to explore the Visual Arts. All four are important.

COMPONENT 1: ARTISTIC PERCEPTION (aesthetic perception)

ATTENDING is the process through which the audience engages visual forms under this component. Some actions involved would be to see, discriminate, recognize, respond, analyze, and synthesize. Through artistic perception, (I call it aesthetic perception) one achieves "sensitive awareness." This is an active awareness of visual, tactile and spatial qualities of works of art, nature and events in the physical environment. Understanding of sensory qualities and elements of design, as well as interpretation of perceptual relationships, fall within this component. Howard Gardner's term "artistic perception," is more closely tied to semiosis.

COMPONENT 2: CREATIVE EXPRESSION

QUALITATIVE COMMUNICATION is the process engaged in by the artist. This involves the application of artistic knowledge and skills toward creation of imaginative expression. Central to this is the ability to form the mental image. " Forming the expressive Image ", whether in the mind or through the medium of a particular art form, is the ultimate outcome. Acquisition of skills in the use of tools, application of techniques and development of style in media are found here. Understanding and application of concepts of composition and visual design fall within this component as well.

COMPONENT 3: HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT (Art Heritage)

CONNECTING or "context forming" is the process involving the art historian or anthropologist. Acquisition of knowledge and understandings of historical and cultural developments and their relationships between the needs of various eras, cultural themes and aesthetic points of view are important to this component.

COMPONENT 4: AESTHETIC VALUING

MEDIATING or the reading of visual images is the process. This involves analyzing, interpreting, forming associations through metaphor and analogy, evaluating, and forming judgments. It is the work of the aesthetician and critic to clarify aesthetic meaning and to make judgments about art forms, content, techniques and processes. Through mediation and reflection one forms the criteria for personal judgment in the Visual Arts. Through all of this, aesthetic meaning emerges. "Meaning forming and clarification" is the elusive goal, as well as process, of this component; the

outcome being a deeper coherent understanding of oneself and of the world.

VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS FRAMEWORK FOR CALIFORNIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE TWELVE. California State Department of Education,

Sacramento, 1996. (ISBN 0-8011-1261-3)

Howard Gardner, "Art Education and Human Development." Occasional Paper 3, (second printing), The Getty Center for Education in the Arts, 1990. (ISBN 0-89236-179-4)