LENGUAJE PROBABILÍSTICO

This section discusses the works of Aguirre (2004: 259), Lam and Kember (2004:

295), Parker (2005: 190 and 194) and Downing (2005: 274) on the learning aspects of secondary school art education. They are consistent with the general view of art education in terms of perception, sense of awareness, technique and skill and art appreciation as discussed earlier.

Aguirre (2004: 259):

To conceive art as an experience allows one to overcome the traditional dichotomy between artistic processes and aesthetic processes, where the former is understood to be the action of producing a work of art and the latter the action of contemplating it or perceiving it aesthetically. The aesthetic experience unites the artist and the spectator since it converts the artist as an interpreter of the experiences which surround him and the spectator as the recreator of the experience of the artist.

Aguirre argued that creative processes and art appreciation should not be taught separately and she further explained (2004: 261):

To interpret is to redescribe others so as to rediscover ourselves.

Aesthetic comprehension, thus understood, as well as providing knowledge of others, stimulates one‟s own sensibility, enriches the imagination and makes sense of our personal experiences. In short, what it does is to give us an identity.

This means that creative processes should enable students to reinterpret the meanings of the actual artworks of the artist through self-imagination in order to reflect their personal identity in their artworks.

Page 68 On the other hand, Lam and Kember interviewed some of the secondary school art teachers and here are some of the responses (2004: 294-295):

I think the most important role of art education is to develop in students the unique function that lies in the subject that we term aesthetic education. It is basic to the subject, and the development of this ability can help the students like or appreciate arts-visual arts-helps broader their horizon, and to stimulate their thinking more.

The respondent indicated that aesthetic experience through art appreciation is important in art education.

It focused art teaching on developing the thinking and judgement of students. Art is used as a means but not an end in art education. The expectation is to help students become thinking persons in society.

The respondent indicated that art helps to develop students‟ critical thinking and assessment skills.

To integrate well into society and develop positive attitudes towards their own living, by achieving emotional release or personal expression through engagement in art activities.

The respondent indicated that through art activities, students learn to express their emotional thoughts and develop a positive experience with the society through art.

This means that art is a form of therapy.

The nature of art knowledge is governed by some rules, i.e. the skill and content knowledge of the subject. There are different forms of art and each of them requires particular skills and techniques to be formed.

The respondent indicated that it is important to learn technique and skills as a form of art knowledge.

Page 69 Parker (2005: 190 and 194):

The National Advisory committee on Creative and Cultural Education further substantiate the point but refer in this context to imaginative activity. The outcome of imaginative activity can only be called creative if it is of value in relation to the task in hand. Value here is a judgement of some property of the outcome related to the purpose.

Whilst freedom to take risks and experiment is an essential aspect of creativity, so is the development of skills, knowledge and understanding.

... the creative process: preparation and incubation. In preparation, students are set the project and offered initial structure in terms of layout and organisation to support the development of ideas; in incubation, ideas evolve and, within the boundaries of the initial focus, decisions are made that allow the individual to explore personal viewpoints.

Learning technique and skills are important but learning to develop their ideas through imagination, exploration, experimentation are equally important in their creative processes as well.

Downing (2005: 274):

The most commonly cited category of effects was art form knowledge and skills. This included the development of skills and techniques as well as increased awareness of artist and genres and art appreciation.

Knowledge in the social and cultural domain primarily the increased understanding of social, environmental and citizenship issues through the study of issue-based art images.

Developing students‟ technique and skills is to learn to understand different art styles, which also enable students to appreciate social and cultural awareness from these art styles through art appreciation. Downing also said:

... focusing on the heightened awareness of the relevance of art to pupil‟

own lives and the subsequent effect this has on their motivation and enthusiasm for studying and creating artwork.

Page 70 It is also important to realise students‟ potential and cultivate their self-esteem through art. Downing (2005: 275) went on to say:

Creativity and thinking skills, particularly the development of pupil‟ lateral thinking skills.

Communication and expressive skills, primarily increased visual communication skills through the study of art for meaning.

Learning art also develops students‟ communication and thinking skills too.