student membership issue || becoming and being a teacher of art

National Art Education Association

Becoming and Being a Teacher of ArtAuthor(s): Laura ChapmanSource: Art Education, Vol. 16, No. 7, Student Membership Issue (Oct., 1963), pp. 18-20Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3190487 .

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becoming and being

a teache r

LAURA CHAPMAN

of art

Laura Chapman, Instructor, School of Art, Ohio State University

I ONCE thought that loving children, loving art, loving teaching, and loving life was all that was required to become a teacher of art.

My present view of art education began to take shape ten years ago. The intervening years have brought many rewards and frustrations and a greater understanding of the need to inquire into conditions and consequences of what I do when I teach. In order to understand the role I play as a teacher of art in the public schools of America, I have found it useful to inquire into the history of art education. This inquiry has not always been systematic but since the publication of Fred Logan's Growth of Art in American Schools the task has been made less difficult. Logan has pro- vided a means for examining the history of our field which each of us, individually, could do only by a careful study of original sources; by experien- cing the effects of historically significant ideas and teaching practices; or by simply letting time pass so that we become a part of the history we seek to understand. Inquiring into the history of our field enables us to see the dimensions of the present situation, and if history does not tell us individually what we must do, at least it helps us to see more clearly where we have been.

Historical inquiry enables us to make connections between traditions, experimental frontiers, and daily classroom practices in art education. Such connections link together the past with the now and the now with the future, thereby pre- senting for our view the rationale from which we may more clearly view our present action.

I recall, for example, an undergraduate assign- ment to "plan an art program for a school year." The plan I presented was centered on the notion that children ought to use many and unusual materials. Almost-by chance, it seems, I was con- fronted with the fact that my conception about what children ought to do was based on some knowledge that artists in the Dada and Bauhaus movements had sanctioned using many new materials for artistic ends-materials that traditionally

had been considered inappropriate for art. Later, I was able to see that my desire for choice among media in my studio grew out of the warmed-over Bauhaus tradition fostered in the college art courses I had taken. Later still, I became aware of the fact that children could make more sense out of what they are doing if I could help them see their classroom art activity in a broad context of artistic inquiry, through reference to historical precedents and the kind of attitudes artists might bring to the same kind of activity.

One can learn what the structure of the discipline of art education might be through historical inquiry. Through it we can see more clearly the relationships between hand and industrial processes as they give shape to the world in which we live. Through it we can move beyond the acceptance of a priori concepts and principles to a realization that each age formulates its own set of generaliza- tions about visual phenomena and people in order to give structure to its thinking about art and education. Through it we can begin to see that whatever social, economic, or educational significance accrues to art, is not inherent in it, but is derived from the values ascribed to it by a given people at a given time.

We begin to grasp the social significance of art as we come to understand, through historical inquiry, that works of art have served as symbols of social status; as monuments to people and causes; as instruments of propaganda, religion, and education; as rallying points for "holding to" a tradition; and as a means for advancing fads and trivia.

We begin to recognize the commercial significance of art as we inquire into the uses of materials, tools, and processes of art and as we examine the creation, exchange, and destruction of art objects -not only as these operations happen within the artistic community, but also as they reach out and shape attitudes of persons in advertising, industry, finance, and government.

Through historical inquiry we can better understand the import of present teaching practice. As we become acquainted with the historical events that lead to the gradual specialization of philosophy and the natural sciences-into the disciplines of psychology, anthropology, sociology, the physical sciences, and the several branches of philosophy-

ART Education 18



we can see how each of these ways of inquiring has come to provide us with a background of facts and values. From these and other sources we may yet hope to forge a coherent theory and philosophy for art education.

In summary, let me emphasize that becoming a teacher of art does not require that we become historians; rather, that we recognize the fact that the subjects of our attention, art and education, have a history. Looking at these subjects historically is one way of inquiring into the essential structure of our work.

Becoming a teacher of art requires that we also learn how to inquire into what is worth doing and having. Philosophical inquiry provides us with critical tools for making sense out of what we say and do. I can recall vividly my complete frustra- tion in arguing a case against having elementary school teachers use dittos. For every reason I ad- vanced against their use, the teachers offered reasons why dittos were worthwhile. My difficulty hinged not on a lack of conviction, not on a lack of reasons, but on a lack of critical understanding of the responses I had learned to say. I argued that "Dittos inhibit creative expression." They replied, "Isn't discipline required of an artist in order that

he may know how to express himself effectively?" My answer had to be yes, but I responded with, "The drawings on dittos, if not bad, at least are poorly understood by the child." They countered with "if the drawings are bad then we will find better ones, or have you make them for us, then we can be sure that the drawings are good, and that they will be understood by the child." Not a little dumbfounded, I said, "But the drawings would still be given and not as a result of the child's unique conception of the topic." And they answered, "Well, if you want to tell us that we shouldn't educate for common understanding in arithmetic and spelling and that we shouldn't use textbooks and other materials educators have dili- gently prepared for us ...." I retreated. They sighed in relief.

What is to be valued and prized in human con- duct often appears to be self-evident. Favored assumptions, opinions, and outright prejudices are often taken to be facts or infallible doctrine. The effect of uncritical acceptance of any notion ad- vanced as a cause for art education, inevitably, is confusion and contradiction in teaching practice. Failure to find reasons for what one does as a teacher, failure to find reasons which themselves can be criticized, means failure to argue one's cause effectively when the chips are down.

We cannot avoid facing the fact that there are alternative positions within the field of education. If we are to become the teachers we can become- professional educators-we need to learn how to require of ourselves and of each other the kind of criticism which leads us to question whether what we believe .... is fit to believe. We need to know how to do philosophical inquiry.

Becoming a teacher of art requires that we learn how to do artistic inquiry. This means that we sometimes learn about science and technology in order to gain controls over the processes in which we are engaged. Geology, for example, made no sense to me until I took a course in ceramics; physics was irrelevant to teaching art until, teaching children to use hammers effectively, I was faced with the task of casting; chemistry was com- pletely mysterious, even magical, until I set about mixing plaster, firing clay, and etching metal. My study of other sciences began to make sense as basic principles were seen to be operating when mold appeared on the papier mache, or when the yarns selected for a piece of weaving turned out to be made of fibers which greatly expanded and con- tracted with the humidity.

But becoming a teacher of art requires that we become artists-not merely technicians and masters of fact and media. As we become more and more able to choose among alternative ways of directing ourselves to a task-of choosing the materials and

October 1963 19



controls in light of the present circumstances and the goal we wish to achieve-we learn how to behave like the artists we can become. Design prob- lems and projects, experiments with materials, and the exercise of craftsmanship are useless unless they help us to pay attention to and care about what we are doing when we are painting, drawing, or sculpting. My undergraduate design teacher seem- ed to think I should care about line and color and craftsmanship apart from any context except what he called "pure" design. He acted as if color was everywhere the same whether in paper or paint, or corroded metal or leaf. Color, for him, was

always somehow embodied in the set of colored

papers we had to use. In contrast, my painting teachers illustrated how color in paintings was a function of the paint formula, the proportion of vehicle to pigment. The formula, however, was relative to the kind of light present when you look at a color; or the thickness of the film of paint; or texture of the surface to which it had been applied; or what you were looking for when you looked at a color.

It is no mere accident of time which enables me to recall the names of Karl Zerbe, and Hale Woodruff, and Murry Jones-for they taught me how to care about painting. My design teachers

controls in light of the present circumstances and the goal we wish to achieve-we learn how to behave like the artists we can become. Design prob- lems and projects, experiments with materials, and the exercise of craftsmanship are useless unless they help us to pay attention to and care about what we are doing when we are painting, drawing, or sculpting. My undergraduate design teacher seem- ed to think I should care about line and color and craftsmanship apart from any context except what he called "pure" design. He acted as if color was everywhere the same whether in paper or paint, or corroded metal or leaf. Color, for him, was

always somehow embodied in the set of colored

papers we had to use. In contrast, my painting teachers illustrated how color in paintings was a function of the paint formula, the proportion of vehicle to pigment. The formula, however, was relative to the kind of light present when you look at a color; or the thickness of the film of paint; or texture of the surface to which it had been applied; or what you were looking for when you looked at a color.

It is no mere accident of time which enables me to recall the names of Karl Zerbe, and Hale Woodruff, and Murry Jones-for they taught me how to care about painting. My design teachers

American Tradition in Painting, John McCoubrey, New York, George Braziller, Inc., 1963, 124

pages (68 black and white plates), $4.95. Dr. McCoubrey believes that there is something

distinctively American about American painting. Beginning with the colonial period he works his

way up to the present day by comparing certain selected works by outstanding American artists with each other as well as with artists from other lands. Along the way he identifies such character- istics as a curiously unusual flatness of figures and other forms in space, a lack of sensuous appeal be- cause paint is consumed rather than cherished, and a kind of painterly, psychological remoteness as

being uniquely American.

American Tradition in Painting, John McCoubrey, New York, George Braziller, Inc., 1963, 124

pages (68 black and white plates), $4.95. Dr. McCoubrey believes that there is something

distinctively American about American painting. Beginning with the colonial period he works his

way up to the present day by comparing certain selected works by outstanding American artists with each other as well as with artists from other lands. Along the way he identifies such character- istics as a curiously unusual flatness of figures and other forms in space, a lack of sensuous appeal be- cause paint is consumed rather than cherished, and a kind of painterly, psychological remoteness as

being uniquely American.

taught me how not to care about their conception of design... I have forgotten their names.

Becoming a teacher of art requires that one resolve the dilemma which is posed by the prob- lem of wanting to do teaching and wanting to do studio work. To say it is a simple matter to main- tain quality on both fronts at the same time is to

judge that either studio work or teaching requires less than one's entire effort. For those who will not

accept Karl Zerbe's dictum that teachers, faced with this division of effort, inevitably will sacrifice studio work for teaching, there is at least the happy thought, punctuated by painful struggle, that the two kinds of work support one another, and that Zerbe himself is an artist-teacher.

Becoming an art teacher is learning how to do

inquiry, how to use the fruit of one's inquiry, and

deciding what to use it for. It you have chosen to teach art, being an art teacher is what you ought to be doing whenever you are not thinking about

becoming one. If we are to become and function as professional

art educators, our historical, philosophical, and artistic inquiry must surely be tempered with a

knowledge of the broad field of education-

including first, last, and always-those wonderful and unpredictable beings that people it.

taught me how not to care about their conception of design... I have forgotten their names.

Becoming a teacher of art requires that one resolve the dilemma which is posed by the prob- lem of wanting to do teaching and wanting to do studio work. To say it is a simple matter to main- tain quality on both fronts at the same time is to

judge that either studio work or teaching requires less than one's entire effort. For those who will not

accept Karl Zerbe's dictum that teachers, faced with this division of effort, inevitably will sacrifice studio work for teaching, there is at least the happy thought, punctuated by painful struggle, that the two kinds of work support one another, and that Zerbe himself is an artist-teacher.

Becoming an art teacher is learning how to do

inquiry, how to use the fruit of one's inquiry, and

deciding what to use it for. It you have chosen to teach art, being an art teacher is what you ought to be doing whenever you are not thinking about

becoming one. If we are to become and function as professional

art educators, our historical, philosophical, and artistic inquiry must surely be tempered with a

knowledge of the broad field of education-

including first, last, and always-those wonderful and unpredictable beings that people it.

It would be only fair to say that the exposition is cogently reasoned and many of the analyses of the works considered are compellingly and beau-

tifully written. In spite of this I am unable to

accept the stated conclusions.

What the book amounts to is a literate expression of one art historian's private opinion in public print about American art in its entirety. The argu- ments tend to be so sweepingly and glitteringly overgeneralized and oversimplified that obvious

exceptions are not even considered in the text. I

suspect that there will be art historians who will

agree with the book's viewpoint. Others may not. While I thoroughly enjoyed reading Dr. McCou-

brey's writing style, I find no convincing demon-

It would be only fair to say that the exposition is cogently reasoned and many of the analyses of the works considered are compellingly and beau-

tifully written. In spite of this I am unable to

accept the stated conclusions.

What the book amounts to is a literate expression of one art historian's private opinion in public print about American art in its entirety. The argu- ments tend to be so sweepingly and glitteringly overgeneralized and oversimplified that obvious

exceptions are not even considered in the text. I

suspect that there will be art historians who will

agree with the book's viewpoint. Others may not. While I thoroughly enjoyed reading Dr. McCou-

brey's writing style, I find no convincing demon-

ART Education ART Education 20 20



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