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Fine Art and The HOTS

Posted on October 7, 2009 By

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Art and Higher Order Thinking
By: Anthony Deland

Through the arts we can reach all of the levels of higher order thinking on Bloom’s Taxonomy, Krathwohl’s Affective, and Simpson’s Psychomotor. Art making is very squarely in the psychomotor domain while the artistic and creative processes operate in both the cognitive and affective domains, often reaching the highest levels which the taxonomy outlines. In a very practical way teachers using art can effectively teach their students higher order thinking and problem solving skills. For example if we ask a student how they would like to create a work of art in a new way, or style they must synthesize all of their knowledge and experience while deciding how to render the same concept in a different manner. Jeremy Burright of Bode Middle School says that, “It is the underlying message of the art and the creative application of those tools that make an artist great. Real, creative application cannot occur until the artist is able to function consistently in Bloom’s upper levels.”(2009) The arts help develop and exercise the upper levels, this can integrate with all other subjects and greatly enhance the domain level at which these lessons are operating.

Research shows that art is also an incredible way to include all of the different learning styles and many of Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences (Woolfolk, 2008); this makes art invaluable to differentiated instruction techniques. The “Champions of Change” report commissioned by the Arts Education Partnership tells us that, “…These ‘problem’ students often became the high – achievers in arts learning settings. Success in the arts became a bridge to learning and eventual success in other areas of learning. (p. IX, 1995)” This document also says that, “Boredom and complacency are barriers to success. For those young people who out grow their established learning environments, the arts can offer a chance for unlimited challenge.” (p. X, 1995) Erikson tells us that at stage five of development teenagers are dealing with Identity VS. Role Confusion. Through the arts students can explore these ideas and perhaps find answers inside themselves, within their creative process or through exploring the final work itself. It is this connection with the inner world of students that provides such a powerful tool for education; a real connection to the student’s every day life outside of school. Art also provides an outlet for frustrations and rebellion that may take other forms if not addressed by giving students the skills to convey and express complex emotions. Through art they may better understand themselves, others and the world around them. According to Harry Broudy,

Creative modes of artistic expression gave students the opportunity to explore personal experience through artistic investigation and personal inquiry. Artistic modes of expression make possible sustained cogitation upon complex issues of life. The education of the imagination means that students can acquire images of art that function as associative and interpretative resources supplying context that broadens and deepens comprehension. (2009)

“Champions of Change” also tell us that art programs help children living in poverty and other low Socioeconomic Status (SES) individuals. It is known that 25% of students in the US live below the poverty line. Art addresses a number of issues that are affecting low SES individuals. Art can provide an outlet for the stress and frustration that living in poverty creates. Art is also teaching critical problem solving skills and creative thinking which will, in the long run, help Low SES individuals solve the problems that are keeping them in a low SES situation. Art programs can help to alleviate some of the stressors of poverty by helping individuals to creatively solve the problems of daily life making things easier on the day to day level. Art is an invaluable part of education and can be a powerful factor in ending poverty. The critical thinking, creative thinking and problem solving skills, which art teaches can be applied to all sectors of education and life. The arts, in a project based, experiential way, (Fiske et. al, 2009) teach us how to learn.

Art teaches higher order thinking

If we look at Bloom’s taxonomy adapted for the arts we can see just how the questions we ask in the artistic process teach higher order thinking skills. During a critique in class students will be asked questions which move them to think at higher levels. Each question can be directed at one of Bloom’s levels. Students will be asked to evaluate art: What is your opinion of the painting and why do you think that? Synthesizing is using the imagination to redesign the painting. What ways would you render the subject differently? Analyzing, students postulate as to what the artist was trying to accomplish with this piece of work. Application: If you could interview the artist, what questions would you ask, what do you want to know about this work and the process involved in creating it? Students can show understanding by, “getting” the work. What is the subject or theme? Knowledge of the work comes by simply describing it. (Steinecker, 2009) The above gives an example of how students are applying their cognition during a class critique, but the act of creating art employs these skills as well. When constructing a work of art we must ask ourselves what medium to use, what style, what we will paint (concept, idea, emotion, subject matter), why we are painting this, how can we achieve the aesthetic we are aiming at, and finally and most importantly, when is it finished.

As artists we are constantly taking risks and applying all of our critical thinking skills to the act of creation. During the process there are many decisions we must make by reviewing our knowledge of methods and styles and choosing the best for each piece. We learn to delve into our repertoire and critically decide what, of all that we know and all we have available, is the best for this particular project. It is a controlled situation where students are able to see direct consequences of their decisions and actions. This process mimics many of life’s challenges and with practice we can be prepared to face these eventualities. Sometimes this can be a huge risk, especially that last question of “is it finished”. When we add one more thing it can ruin a work of art. Being unafraid and jumping forward is a huge risk but delivers a huge reward when you succeed and is necessary to reach the level of Artist. Students learn the value of calculated risk taking and can immediately see its rewards. This is true for all risks we take, but in the act of creating art students can learn and embrace this without the serious risks which some of life’s decisions carry.

Art is higher order education; it affects all levels of cognition and can be utilized at any stage of development, but its emotional connection and expressive aspect fit especially well with adolescent’s developmental stage. It offers a proving ground where students can experiment with using critical thinking in the decision making processes and risk taking exercises without the high risk of failing in a do die or situation like life often presents us. Art also offers our children insight into themselves, others and the world around them, creating more compassionate, understanding and balanced citizens. Art is invaluable to a student’s education; we must bring arts back into the curriculum if we want to teach our children to contribute to their communities in a positive way.

As an art educator this research has huge implications for me. Aside from supplying data to back up what is intuitive to all artists. This research provides a way forward. Art educators must begin to be deliberate in creating curriculum which emphasizes the abilities of art education that these studies highlight. Higher order thinking can and should be carefully cultivated with intention and planning. This research also provides ammunition for activists. Advocates for the arts can now go to the board of education, or who ever it may concern, and provide them with the scientific evidence and data that they crave, and even need, to bring art back into schools. I plan to create art projects and curriculum which embrace the higher order thinking skills that art can teach in a very purposeful manner; art for higher order thinking, instead of higher order thinking as a byproduct of the artistic process. I also plan to become an advocate for art in our schools, I have always known the importance of art, but now I have evidence that it really affects kids and can be a truly motivational and beneficial force in their lives.


Works Cited:

Jeter, Deborah, 2001: Creativity Part One, Suite101.com Retrieved from http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/diversified_learning/47733/4 October, 2009

Edward b. Fiske, 2000: Champions for Change, Arts Education Partnership, Retrieved from

http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/champions/pdfs/ChampsReport.pdf October, 2009

Murphy, Jo, 2009: The Philosophy of a Creative Arts Educator, Suite101.com
http://arts-education-curriculum.suite101.com/article.cfm/educational_philosophy_of_harry_broudy_1905_98 October, 2009

Jeremy Burright, 2009: Curriculum Revision and Vertical Teaming, http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/courses/teachers_corner/180517.html October, 2009

Smith, Mark K. 2002, 2008:   Howard Gardner, multiple intelligences and education: http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm October, 2009

Jensen, Eric, 2009: Super Teaching, Corwin Press, fourth edition

Woolfolk, Anita, 2008: Educational Psychology, Pearson Education, Tenth Edition

The marginalization of art

Posted on September 5, 2009 By

Sometimes I feel quite marginalized as an art teacher. At least at my graduate school it seems like every handout has variations for Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, Science … Never Art. We are a forgotten discipline, I believe. Until schools and institutions of high learning bring some importance back to the arts as an intellectual pursuit we are lost. This is so sad for me. I was speaking with an educational psychologist the other day and they had never even heard of the impact art programs can have on “at risk” youth, ELL or IEP students. Art is the bridge that can bring many also marginalized students into academic understanding and success. The Champions of Change Document found “substantial and significant, differences in achievment and in important attitudes and behaviors…” this document also shows a marked improvement over the length of time students are involved in the arts. This means we have to not just get art into the schools but into all of the schools k-12 for the greatest effect.

Eliot Eisner recognizes the disregard for arts, “That is so, he concludes, because of unrecognized prejudices about the nature of the mind that are ingrained in our culture and legitimized by our universities. He proposes not just a philosophical re-orientation but a significant revision in college admissions requirements.”(Whitaker 95)

We need a renaissance of the arts in the U.S. schools. Not in how the arts can teach other subjects, it is a powerful resource for that as well, but in how art develops critical consciousness, higher order thinking and bridges the gap to “at risk” kids and second language learners. Art is important in achieving Dewey’s dream of progressive education. Through arts we can help to develop students who are an asset to their communities, participants in the self-directed democratic process and life long learners. A lot of buzz words but through art they can become a reality and not just monikers for progressive education. Inside this site you will find good research and ideas for and about art education. The aim is to bring about this renaissance and start reaching students in powerful and effective ways.

-Anthony Deland

learning Styles and multiple intelligences

Posted on August 31, 2009 By

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I am now a multimodal learner with preferences toward aural and kinesthetic styles. I also have mixed bag of Gardener’s Intelligences; Intrapersonal, Naturalist, Spatial. I would also add one to Gardeners list, Compositional: the ability to understand the emotional and cognitive effect of an arrangement of elements on a two dimensional surface to convey a certain concept, feeling, mood or idea. I add this because I do not think that Spatial quite hits the mark for two dimensional visual artists or graphic designers. This all means that I am a very engaged learner and that I need lots of excitement and activity based participatory lessons.
With multimodal learners, teachers as facilitators must make things exciting and ever changing. Differentiated instruction can be a very useful style of teaching to employ here. In differentiated instruction we are offering many different ways of learning the same material, whether it is a math lesson or an art lesson. In a math lesson we can think around the problems and come up with many different ways to reach a solution. For example, we can have a station with blocks where our students can build the equation, physically moving blocks from side to side, removing and adding to satisfy their kinesthetic sense and find the correct answer. We can also use color theory to illustrate an equation: blue plus what equals purple we find the solution by asking, “What do you add to blue to make purple?” Shown that blue symbolizes 2 and purple symbolizes 5 students can pretty easily, visually connect red to 3. We can offer a reading station or have students do group reading which they then present to the class to get their aural side out. When we build options for different kinds of learners into our lesson plans we essentially let our students take control of their own learning and give them a great advantage. Imagine being able to choose how you learn! We can debrief our students after class to see what worked best for them and in the future we and they can know how and what to do to help ourselves learn quickly and with high retention. In offering choices you also sharpen the critical thinking skills of your students allowing them to make decisions which affect their lives, in a safe environment. I see this as practice for the future; students get to see direct repercussions of their decisions. I know this would have helped me as I was growing up; I would even go so far as to say that this would have built confidence in my own abilities to decide and helped me to resist peer pressure.
I truly believe that differentiated instruction is the best way to reach any type of learner as it gives them the choice of picking which activity is best for them and how it will make the most sense to their brain. We all change learning styles and intelligences to a certain extent depending on our focus at the moment or the situation which we are in and differentiated instruction takes this into account, even encourages it. As Eric Jensen says, “The easiest way to reach all of your learners is to provide both variety and choice.” (Jensen, p. 38, 2009) The world of rote memo

Scan of a personal item.
Image via Wikipedia

rization and direct instruction is in the past. I think back to John Dewey when he wrote in his essay, “My Pedagogic Creed,”

“The child’s own instincts and powers furnish the material and give the starting point for alleducation. Save as the efforts of the educator connect with some activity which the child is carrying on of his own initiative independent of the educator, education becomes reduced to a pressure from without. It may, indeed, give certain external results, but cannot truly be called educative. Without insight into the psychological structure and activities of the individual, the educative process will, therefore, be haphazard and arbitrary. If it chances to coincide with the child’s activity it will get a leverage; if it does not, it will result in friction, or disintegration, or arrest of the child nature.”(Dewey, 1879)
John Dewey was the “Father” of experiential education (Neill, 2005) of which differentiated learning is a part or strategy. He clearly argues for differentiated instruction, and advocates that the child knows how they will learn best even if they do not know how to structure that learning (Neill, 2005). He then goes on to say that if the educator does not allow for and include the child in learning, that child’s education will, “…be haphazard and arbitrary.” I know that if Dewey’s ideas had taken hold way back in 1879, my education would have been a much different experience. I happen to be one of the ones who did not match up to the dominant style and got lost in the cracks. Luckily I was able to move to an alternative school where my learning style was recognized and where, I see now, I was taught strategies to compensate and take advantage of the dominate style of direct instruction. I learned to be multimodal as a survival tactic. I hope that we can help our children not only to survive but to thrive through differentiated instruction and child centered classrooms.

References

Dewey, John, 1897: The School Journal, Volume LIV, Number 3

http://www.infed.org/archives/e-texts/e-dew-pc.htm

Smith, Mark K. 2002, 2008: Howard Gardner, multiple intelligences and education:

http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm

Fleming, Neil, 2009: The VARK Questionnaire, http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire

Neill, James, 2005: John Dewey, the Modern Father of Experiential Education

http://wilderdom.com/experiential/ExperientialDewey.html

Jensen, Eric, 2009: Super Teaching, Corwin Press, fourth edition

Woolfolk, Anita, 2008: Educational Psychology, Pearson Education, Tenth Edition