Art school consequential: Teaching and learning in the first year of art school.

摘要

In order to understand better the dimensions of education in the foundation year of contemporary art school, this study explores teaching and learning through the lenses of art school freshmen and foundation studio art professors. Since scholarly study of art school education is limited, the author begins with a survey of related fields of inquiry, including college student development, studio art learning in post secondary settings, and adolescent artistic development. The author makes the argument that research and theory in these disciplines informs a study of contemporary art school teaching and learning. Designed as a multiple embedded case study informed by complexity theories of educational research, this study is comprised of the following cases: teachers, students, classes, foundation programs, and colleges. The data were collected through surveys, interviews, classroom observations, and stimulated-recall interviews. Findings suggest that both students and faculty value knowing the student and having a substantive teacher-student relationship. The teaching practices of six foundation studio teachers are described, from which several categories of pedagogy are theorized: structuring the creative process, initiating dialogue, orchestrating the physical space, and modeling. Results include students' and teachers' views of the learning that emerges in the first year of art school: skills in making and thinking; concepts about art in culture and artists as makers of meaning; dispositions such as risk-taking, understanding multiple points of view and developing a work ethic. The findings are then examined in relation to the literature from which five pedagogical ideals are proposed: know the student, assist students in making meaningful artwork, teach skills, create a safe learning environment and teach students how to live creative lives. The author contends that the findings inform art school educational dialogue, arguments about the value of art education, and theories of thoughtful teaching at the college level. More study is needed in the areas of understanding artistic development in the college years, 21st century skills, and facilitating meaning making.