Alanna Gaylord's Art Education Portfolio

Description and Analysis:

            Discipline-Based Art Education (DBAE) is a framework that insures that all students receive and are involved in a well-rounded education of the visual arts. DBAE resulted from the evolution of Art Education as the rest of the culture and technology in the United States evolved. In the early to mid-20th Century, as the formal aspects of the Elements and Principles of Design became established within art education, new scientific understandings on child development and learning also incorporated creative self-expression to the art curricula. In the 1980s, Art Education took on a more standardized, systematic, and balanced approach, which resulted in the J. Paul Getty Center for Education in the Arts presenting research to create a standardized framework for an art curriculum and assessments. Thus, making Art Education a legitimate element of the core curriculum in every state. Although many other approaches to Art Education have been developed since the origin of DBAE, it still continues to be relevant because of its innovative and fundamental approach to integrating art into the curriculum for students at all levels.

        DBAE incorporates four essential art themes that allow for students to learn a variety of artistic subject matter. Art production, art history, art criticism and aesthetics are all used in this discipline to expand students’ perspectives on the artistic world within their education. Art Production refers to the creating or performing of art itself using artistic processes, techniques, composition, critical thinking, imagination and personal expression.  The Elements and Principles of Art are emphasized as a way to systematically learn about the components of artmaking and allow for learning in a variety of art processes including but not limited to sculpture, drawing, painting, printmaking, clay, fiber, and technology. In addition, critical thinking, imagination, and personal expression help to give meaning to art production as well as allow for a growth in creativity. Art History refers to the understanding of historical and cultural background of works of art. Looking at artistic influences, including culture, social change, and historical events are all important to help students interpret art and gain a wider perspective on culture to connect to the contemporary world. Art Criticism refers to students’ ability to respond to, interpret, and develop informed judgments about art. The hierarchical stages of criticism are: Description, analysis, interpretation, and judgment. Aesthetics in DBAE refers to the concepts and questions on the nature of art as well as cultural and personal ideas about beauty.  Aesthetics allows for educators to address topics that pertain to what makes art beautiful as well raise students’ awareness of the fact that people look at art and beauty differently, thus allowing for students to gain a broader perspective. DBAE’s combination of these four elements allows for students of all ages and skill-level to receive a balanced art education of quality.

            In DBAE’s comprehensive approach of combining art production, art history, art criticism, and aesthetics into its curriculum, students are offered a holistic approach to art education. In the education provided by DBAE, students are able to learn and develop life skills, which include but are not limited to: creating, composing, performing, improvising, interpreting, discussing, writing and thinking about, reporting, describing, analyzing, etc. DBAE helps to broaden students’ perspectives, not just within the arts, but also in a historical, societal, and cultural context. 

 

Reflection:

            Discipline-Based Art Education is a well-thought-out approach to educating art. It combines all the important aspects of art as well as it incorporates context outside of the art world, which helps students learn and understand in a much more universal manner. I believe that DBAE is a very valuable method in teaching art, as long as it is understood that when using this method, not all disciplines need to be educated equally. For instance, I believe that art production should be far more prevalent and should take up much more time in an art classroom than art criticism or art history. I feel as though this is common sense, that in Art Education art production is most important for students to learn, and the other elements are then used to help check in with students’ learning and keep the thought and understanding in art education. Overall, DBAE is a well-organized and holistic approach to insure that all students are involved in art education.