“Cycles of inquiry with the arts”
Three
instructors from different disciplines (literacy, music and art) experiment
with co-teaching an arts-infused curriculum in a teacher education
program. This article reports their
experience with three goals in mind:
1-
to
promote inclusion of the arts in elementary schools
2-
to
model an approach to arts education in a way that integrates the arts as a part
of the total curriculum, not just as separate disciplines,
3-
to
share the kinds of learning that happens when this approach is adopted
The
authors dedicate a good deal of their discussion to emphasizing the theoretical
framework upon which they design their approach. This theory, called semiotic theory, explains communication
exchange as meaning draped in symbols (words, actions, sounds, colors, etc.)
. A key element in this theory explains
that the meaning of any single symbol is not static, but rather, is negotiated
between the sender and the receiver and is chosen from a set of possible
meanings for that symbol. The meaning
derived at may be different for each party involved in the transaction. Why is this important? The authors suggest that this theoretical
framework allows for exploring the disciplines in an integrated fashion that
emphasizes meaning rather than form and how the medium is used rather than the
knowledge base that the medium represents.
This
theoretical framework provides the instructors with a basis for integrating
traditionally separate disciplines involved with written, visual, and musical
communication. In their course, they
explore themes such as freedom, justice, and materialism through poetry,
narrative fiction, song, dance, and paintings by considering the meanings
communicated through each medium, exploring the elements of each medium, and
analyzing how the authors used those elements to communicate. Students also explore these themes through
experimenting with each medium to communicate their own meaning and reflecting
on the process.
The
authors and their students note that a different kind of learning results from
this approach. Students gain a deeper
appreciation of the themes addressed because they are more deeply engaged in
actually experiencing them. They are
forced to connect with the themes, rather than just simply learn about the
themes. In addition, the focus on
meaning in multiple dimensions opens up their ability to understand different
perspectives. Also, the students do become
aware of the elements of each discipline (words, color, texture, shadow,
rhythm, notes, etc.) as more than just objects of study, but as tools that are
purposefully manipulated to craft a product.
And in doing so, the instructors declare, their students learn to
actually think like writers, and musicians and artists.
Three
personal connections come to mind:
1-
I’ve experimented with a few ways of integrating art awareness into my
teaching. One way is to include
representative artwork when exploring multi-cultural literature. Also, I’ve used Literature textbooks at the
middle school and high school levels that include artwork as part of the
anthologies.
2-
This article brought back to mind the quote from Marshal McLuhan “the medium is
the message.” I so clearly remember
being introduced to this concept by my 10th grade English teacher
and really not having a clue about what M.M was trying to say … now I think,
maybe, he was on the beginning edge of this semiotic theory of communication….for
what it is worth.
3-
When my oldest two went through high school there was a junior year research
project in which the students were to explore a self-identified
theme/problem/question through multi-genre research. Their research had to include music and artwork as well as poetry
and fiction. Though challenging, I
thought this was a great project …. it was discontinued by the time my second
two went through the same program. I
was told it had something to do with re-structuring the language arts curriculum
and trying to make it “relevant”. I
thought it was a great loss.
I
have to confess that this article had quite a bit of theory. The “take away” for this article was not as
great as I’d hoped it would be. But it
still challenged me to think about how to include music, art and dance in other
areas of instruction. On a practical
level, this would be promoting use of multiple intelligences. A sidebar in the article noted some other
research that shows benefits of this approach to a diversity of learners.
A
very simple thing that all teachers could do is use the three questions for
exploring meaning suggested in the article.
To reflect on art work, music, dance ask:
What
do you think about this approach to investigating communication? Have you do any of this kind of exploration
into alternate “literacies”? It would
be kinda fun to start a list of the kinds of symbolic expressions we see/hear
every day, and ask the Three Questions about:
architecture,
gardens, advertising, movies, comic books, clothing, hairstyles, jewelry ……
what else?
I
suppose we could even smell or taste the meaning…the French view cooking as an
artform and extremely high regard for their chefs who are treated as
celebrities (really!).
I
happened upon the following website yesterday which suggests using art to
stimulate writing and notes the parallel developmental stages of writing and
art. The authors of the reviewed
article also noted that the visual and performing arts also involve an
extensive revision process for producing a product. So the parallels are many.