Reflection # 1 Ideally, I want you to use reflection assignments to write about your opinions, personal connections, and new ideas that you have formed in response to the assigned readings. At some point in the semester, I will likely stop giving you suggestions on what you might write about . . . and instead you will just write. Never feel obligated to respond to every single reading for the week; you can just respond to the parts that most caught your interest. However, your connections to the reading should be clear and I should be able to tell that you did complete the readings, rather than just providing a random meandering response. Since this is our first reflection and some of you may want a little more direction, your reflection could refer to (but is not limited to) one of the following topics addressed within our readings: 1) Eisner’s reading on “Visions and Versions of Art Education” introduces you to a variety of contemporary curricular approaches in art education. Thinking back on your own experiences as a student, which visions and versions do you think you were taught by your art teachers? Why? What was your opinion of these approaches? (If you, yourself, have taught art, what approaches did you use? What was your opinion?) OR Which visions and versions of art education seem to match up best with your chosen track as a graduate student at a university? (either art therapy, arts administration, or art education)? Why? OR Which visions and versions of art education do you think are best? Why? Economics 304 Homework #3 – Dagwood and Homer and the Savings Function Due Wednesday, 9/23 at the beginning of class – you must hand in homework in the section you are registered in - no late papers accepted! Instructions:Please show all work or points will be taken off. Good luck! This HW assignment is very relevant to the Great Recession experienced in the US from December 1997 - June 1999. In particular, we experience a significant and negative wealth shock and map out how this effects the consumption decisions of households. We let the Fed 'come to the rescue' and lower real rates of interest to extremely low (and negative) levels, much like they did during the Great Recession! It is here that we can really see how and why consumers react differently to a change in real interest rates based on whether they are a saver or a borrower. The intuition is hopefully clear: the saver, Dagwood in what follows, is worse off due to the fall in real rates and Homer, our borrower, is better off due to the lower real rates. This homework also addresses the net (aggregate) effect on consumption in an economy that consists of both savers and borrowers (like economies do), and also considers the outcome if the borrowers become credit constrained, like many are given that so many mortgages are under water, much in line from the excerpt below (Click Here for entire article). We conclude by considering the idea that the Fed may ...

1. Reflection # 1
Ideally, I want you to use reflection assignments to write about
your opinions, personal connections, and new ideas that you
have formed in response to the assigned readings. At some
point in the semester, I will likely stop giving you suggestions
on what you might write about . . . and instead you will just
write. Never feel obligated to respond to every single reading
for the week; you can just respond to the parts that most caught
your interest. However, your connections to the reading should
be clear and I should be able to tell that you did complete the
readings, rather than just providing a random meandering
response.
Since this is our first reflection and some of you may want a
little more direction, your reflection could refer to (but is not
limited to) one of the following topics addressed within our
readings:
1) Eisner’s reading on “Visions and Versions of Art Education”
introduces you to a variety of contemporary curricular
approaches in art education. Thinking back on your own
experiences as a student, which visions and versions do you
think you were taught by your art teachers? Why? What was
your opinion of these approaches? (If you, yourself, have
taught art, what approaches did you use? What was your
opinion?)
OR
Which visions and versions of art education seem to match up
best with your chosen track as a graduate student at a
university? (either art therapy, arts administration, or art
education)? Why?

2. OR
Which visions and versions of art education do you think are
best? Why?
Economics 304
Homework #3 – Dagwood and Homer and the Savings Function
Due Wednesday, 9/23 at the beginning of class – you must hand
in homework in the section you are registered in - no late
papers accepted!
Instructions:Please show all work or points will be taken off.
Good luck!
This HW assignment is very relevant to the Great Recession
experienced in the US from December 1997 - June 1999. In
particular, we experience a significant and negative wealth
shock and map out how this effects the consumption decisions
of households. We let the Fed 'come to the rescue' and lower
real rates of interest to extremely low (and negative) levels,
much like they did during the Great Recession! It is here that
we can really see how and why consumers react differently to a
change in real interest rates based on whether they are a saver
or a borrower. The intuition is hopefully clear: the saver,
Dagwood in what follows, is worse off due to the fall in real
rates and Homer, our borrower, is better off due to the lower
real rates. This homework also addresses the net (aggregate)
effect on consumption in an economy that consists of both
savers and borrowers (like economies do), and also considers
the outcome if the borrowers become credit constrained, like
many are given that so many mortgages are under water, much
in line from the excerpt below (Click Here for entire article).
We conclude by considering the idea that the Fed may be
making matters worse with their zero interest rate policy.
Edward Harrison at Credit Writedowns describes the Fed's zero

3. interest rate policy as "toxic," noting that it is a transfer from
savers and fixed-income investors to borrowers. On net, this is
stimulative if the spending propensities of the latter exceeds
that of the former, but the willingness of the borrowers to spend
is constrained by weak household balance sheets. The Fed is
thus pushing on a string, and possibly even making matters
worse by reducing the income flow to households.
1. (30 points total). Suppose we have Dagwood, who has a
current income of $350K and expected future income of $100K.
He has $ 80K in current wealth (i.e., ‘a’ = $80K), but this is
before he opens that #[email protected]% envelope. He has
$20K expected future wealth (i.e., af = $20K).
Dagwood’s behavior is consistent with the life-cycle theory of
consumption. For one, he perfectly smoothes consumption and
two, since he is in his peak earning years, he is saving now so
that he can maintain his current level of consumption in the
future. Given that Dagwood faces a real interest rate of 0. 04,
answer the following questions.
a) (5 points) Calculate Dagwood’s optimal consumption bundle
showing all work. Then draw a completely labeled graph (the
two period consumption model) depicting this initial optimal
consumption bundle as point C*A (please use the space below).
Note, for all C* calculations, round down to one decimal point.
(10 points for a completely labeled graph – be sure to label the
no lending / no borrowing point = NL/NB and the slope of each
budget constraint)
b) (5 points) Now Dagwood can’t help himself and opens up
that envelope and “hallp" he says, his “a” or current wealth has
lost seventy five percent (75%) of its value and thus falls from
$80K to $20K. Recalculate Dagwood’s ‘new’ optimal
consumption point and label on your graph as point C*B. Is
Dagwood worse off or better off? Explain (hint, what has
happened to his budget constraint (aka opportunity set)).
THE FED TO THE RESCUE!

4. c) (5 points) In steps Ben Bernanke (he was chair of the Fed
when the Great Recession hit the US economy in 2008) and with
the agreement of the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee),
the Fed conducts massive amounts of open market purchases
and get the real rate of interest all the way down to - .04
(negative 4% = -.04). Recalculate the optimal bundle for
Dagwood and add this point to your graph and label as point
C*C. (Note, point C*C incorporates the shock to wealth in part
b))
d) (5 points) Is Dagwood better or worse off due to the fall in
the real rate of interest? Explain being sure to discuss exactly
how the substitution and income effects play a role here. Be
sure to define what the income and substitution effects are and
how they play a role in Dagwood’s decision to alter his
previously optimal bundle (we are comparing part b) to part c)).
Also, comment on whether these income and substitution effects
work in the same or opposite direction (i.e., is it a tug of war or
do they work in the same direction?) in this particular case.
2. (30 points total) Dagwood’s neighbor, Homer Simpson, does
not abide by the life cycle theory of consumption. Homer has a
“let’s live life like it’s our last day” mentality and thus, he
prefers to consume more today, relative to the future. In
particular, Homer prefers to consumeexactly twice as much
today (c), relative to consumption next period (cf). Homer’s
current income equals $150K and his future expected income =
$150K. He has no wealth (neither current nor expected) since
he lives like today is his last! Homer faces an initial real
interest rate of 0.04, just like our friend Dagwood. Please
answer the following questions.
a) (5 points) Solve for Homer’s optimal consumption basket
today (C*) and his optimal consumption basket next period
(Cf*). Please provide a completely labeled graph depicting
these results and label this point as C*A.
(10 points for a completely labeled graph – be sure to label the

5. no lending / no borrowing point = NL/NB and the slope of each
budget constraint)
Now Homer, of course, is not affected by the crashing market
since he has no envelope to open!
b) (5 points) Homer goes to work and the rumor being spread
around the work place is that future demand is increasing as
Homer works in the ‘green energy’ field and business (grants,
etc) has never been better. As a result, Homer revises his
estimate of future income (yf) up to $250K (his current income
is not effected). Recalculate the optimal bundle for Homer and
add this point to your graph and label as point C*B. Is Homer
worse off or better off? Explain (hint, what has happened to his
budget constraint (aka opportunity set)).
THE FED TO THE RESCUE!
c) (5 points) In steps Ben Bernanke and the Fed and they
conduct massive amounts of open market purchases and get the
real rate of interest all the way down to - .04 (negative 4%).
Recalculate the optimal bundle for Homer and add this point to
your graph and label as point C*C. (Note, point C*C
incorporates the shock to Homer’s future income in part b)).
d) (5 points) Is Homer better or worse off due to the fall in the
real rate of interest? Explain being sure to discuss exactly how
the substitution and income effects play a role in Homer's
consumption decisions. Also, comment on whether these income
and substitution effects work in the same or opposite direction
(i.e., is it a tug of war or do they work in the same direction?)
in this particular case.
3. a) (30 points total) (5 points) What is the net effect of this
expansionary monetary policy (i.e., negative real rates of
interest) on consumption, all else constant (this is after the
shock to Dagwood's wealth (a) and Homer's expected income
(ye))? To answer this question, assume we have an equal
amount of "Dagwoods" and "Homers" so we can simply add the

6. change in Dagwood's consumption to the change in Homer's
consumption. Please give the actual change in aggregate
consumption, given this expansionary policy.
b) (5 points) Now consider the case where Homer is credit
constrained and thus, cannot qualify for cheap loans since his
balance sheet is a wreck. As such, the real rate of interest that
Homer faces is 08% (r = 0.08), and not the ultra low negative
real rate = -.04 that Dagwood (who has a solid balance sheet)
faces. Please re-answer part a) above, assuming that Homer
faces a real rate of 0.08 and Dagwood faces a real rate of (-.04).
Use the actual numbers, that is, add the change in Dagwood's
consumption (you already did this in 3a)) to the change in
Homer's consumption, given that he faces a real rate of 0.08, all
else constant. Are your results consistent with this pic (click
Here)? Why or why not?
c) (5 points) Are your results in b) consistent with this passage,
why or why not?
Edward Harrison at Credit Writedowns describes the Fed's zero
interest rate policy as "toxic," noting that it is a transfer from
savers and fixed-income investors to borrowers. On net, this is
stimulative if the spending propensities of the latter exceeds
that of the former, but the willingness of the borrowers to spend
is constrained by weak household balance sheets. The Fed is
thus pushing on a string, and possibly even making matters
worse by reducing the income flow to households.
write your answer to part c) here.
We are now going to derive and draw (depict) two desired
savings functions for Homer and Dagwood respectively. Note
importantly that savings in the present context is defined simply
as y-c, that is, current income minus current consumption (these
are both "flow" variables). Note also that savings can be
positive or negative, it depends on whether you are a saver or
borrower. In this assignment, Homer is the borrower so his
savings is negative where Dagwood is the saver, and thus, his

7. savings are positive. To derive a savings function we let real
interest rates vary and map out the corresponding change in
desired savings, all else constant.
c) Using the results from 1 b) and 1 c), where a = $20K, derive
the desired savings function (for Dagwood) labeling the point
from 1b) as point A and the results from 1c) as point B.
Connect the points and we have the savings function for
Dagwood. Make sure you put in parentheses next to the savings
function what we are holding constant and show your work.
(5 points for a completely labeled graph – be sure put all the
relevant shift variables in brackets next to the Sd as we did in
class)
We now move on to the results for Homer. We are going to do
the exact same exercise that we did for Dagwood. Note that
since Homer is a borrower, his savings is negative and thus, all
points in the diagram will be left of the origin.
d) Using only the results from 2b) and 2c), where yf = $250K,
derive the desired savings function (for Homer) labeling the
point from 2 b) as point A and the point from 2c) as point B.
Connect the points and we have the savings function for Homer.
Make sure you put in parentheses next to the savings function
what we are holding constant.
5 points for a completely labeled graph – be sure put all the
relevant shift variables in brackets next to the Sd as we did in
class and please show your work.
e) (5 points) . Suppose you were Ben Bernanke’s cousin and
was head of the central bank in an economy filled with
Dagwoods (savers). Suppose also that your economy was in a
recession and you wanted to stimulate consumption today in
pursuit of your dual mandate (try to get the economy to grow at
potential, achieve NAIRU). Suppose the current real rate of
interest is zero. Would you raise or lower real interest rates to
stimulate consumption? Explain in detail using the substitution
and income effects.

8. PAGE
1
* rxi"^;,ted f"o*
A p T qlll l J
o n d t h e
CREATION
of
MIND
$C )-OO)-
E L T I O T A ' . E I S N E R
Y A I E U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S / N T W H A V E N
& L O N D O N
2 5
V I S I C N S A N D V E R S I O N S
OF ARTS EDUCATION
AWAY OF SEEING IS ALSO AWAY OF NOISEEING
Visions of the aims and content of arts education are neither
uni-
form nor discovered simply by inspection. What is considered
most
important in any field-the aims to which it is directed-is a
value,
the result of a judgment, the product not only of visionary
minds

9. and persuasive arguments, but of social forces that create condi-
tions that make certain aims congenial to the times.l Yet we
often
assume that the aims to which a field is directed are given by
the
field itself: mathematics has aims defined by mathematics,
Scien-
tific studies aims defined by science, historical studies aims
defined
by history, and so forth. This is only partially so. Mathematics
can
be taught in order to accomplish various ends; science can be
used
to teach scientific modes of inquiry to students or it can be
taught,
for example, to advance their understanding of the content of a
chemistry course. Similar options exist in the arts. There is no
single
sacrosanct vision of the aims of arts education. Examples of this
di-
versity abound in the broad field of arts education today and in
the
past. Let me describe some of the visions that direct the aims
and
content of arts education today. In describing these various
visions
I do not imply that they are likely to be found in their "pure"
form.
I describe them separately to make each vision vivid; in
practice,
however, there is likely to be a mix of these visions in any
school
or classroom.
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DISCIPTINE-BASED ART EDUCATION
one of the important visions of art education is represented in
what is called discipiine-based art education.2 Especially in the
vi-
sual arts, the art form in which this conception is dominant,
DBAE
addresses four major aims. First, DBAE is intended to help stu-
dents acquire the skills and develop the imagination needed for
high-quality art performance.r Such performance requires, it is
ar-
gued, sophisticated forms of thinking. In this vision, art
educarors
should design curricula that deverop such skills. To acquire
them,
students need to learn to think like artists. This means they will
need to develop their sensibilities, foster the growth of their
imag-
ination, and acquire the technicai skills needed to work well
with
materials.
second, DBAE is aimed at helping students learn how to see
and talk about the qualities of the art they see. Seeing, a form of
cognitive achievement, cannot be taken for granted. Nor can one
assume that experience in the creation of art will, by itself, be
suf-

11. ficient to develop the ability to see the qualities that
collectively
constitute visual art or any visual display from an aesthetic
frame
of reference. Seeing from an aesthetic perspective is a learned
form
of human performance, a kind of expertise. DBAE programs are
intended to foster its development. Being able to see from an
aes-
thetic perspective requires an ability to focus on the formai and
ex-
pressive qualities of form rather than solely on its utilitarian
func-
tions. It requires the ability to slow down perception so that
visual
qualities can be inspected and savored. It requires one to search
for
qualitative relationships and ro note the quality of experience
they
engender. Such dispositions and modes of attention can be fos-
tered through teaching.
In addition to developing students' ability to create and per-
ceive art, DBAE programs have two other aims. One of these
per_
tains to helping students understand the historical and cultural
context in which aft is created, the other to questions regarding
the values that art provides.a The former is closely tied to art
his-
tory, the lamer to a philosophical field called aesrherics, which
ad-
dresses questions pertaining to the justification of claims about
the
V I S I O N S A N D V E R S I O N S O F A R T S E D U C
A T I O N

12. I
i
I
i-
value and function of art. Historical and cultural understanding
is
believed to help students grasp the relationship between the
social
context in which the arts are created and their content and form.
Understanding this context can significantly influence the kind
of
meaning students are likely to derive from the work, Addressing
questions related to aesthetic theory is believed to help students
become a part of a deep and enduring philosophical
conversation.
Is there an objective basis f or justifying judgments of quality
in art?
Does art provide knowledge? Can works of art lie? Can
everything
be art or only some things? How important is beauty in a work
of
art? Can a work of art be ugly?
Advocates of DBAE claim that it provides a more comprehen-
sive approach to art education than other approaches, that it ad-
dresses the four sorts of things that people do with art: they
make
it, they appreciate its qualities, they locate its place in culture
over
time, and they discuss and justify their judgments about its
nature,
merits, and importance. The four major curricular components
of

13. DBAE parallel these activities.
I indicated earlier that ideas about the aims of a field are in-
fiuenced not only by visions of educational virtue promoted by
charismatic leaders, but also by their congeniality to the times.
These two features, visions of what is important and its accept-
ability to a community at certain periods in its history, apply to
DBAE. The theoretical basis of DBAE was first advanced by
Jerome
Bruner through his ideas about the relationship between curricu-
lum and the structure of the disciplines.5 These ideas were
devel-
oped in response to the Soviets'launching of Sputnik 1, the first
manned spacecraft to circle the Earth, on October 4, L957. That
event prompted the U.S. government to try to improve science
and mathematics education in the schools to help our nation
catch
up. Preparation in the sciences and mathematics seemed crucial
to national interests. Bruner's argument that students learn best
when they experience a discipline in a form similar to the form
of
inquiry used by scholars in that discipline appealed to anxious
ed-
ucators seeking to meet new expectalions for more rigorous and
s u b s t a n t i v e c u r r i c u l a . 6
Supported by large-scale federal funding, curriculum reform in
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science and math was soon under way. No comparable funding
was available for curriculum development in the arts. But to art
educators too, Bruner's ideas seemed to make good sense. The
re-
sult was the development of a conception of arts curricuia that
ex-
amined the arts in terms of their component disciplines. Art
edu-
cators found these disciplines in the art studio, in art history, in

16. art
criticism, and in aesthetics. It was a vision of curriculum that
art
educators believed would restore substance and rigor to what
was
broadly perceived to be a "soft" subject. Since the t 990s DBAE
has
been the dominant model for curriculum development in the vi-
sual arts in the United States. This approach owes much not
only
to Jerome Bruner but also to the work of Manuel Barkan, an im-
portant figure in art education in the 1960s and I970s.7
VISUA.L CULTURE
A second vision of art education has a distinctly different cast.
It fo-
cuses on using the arts to promote an understanding of visual
cul-
ture.8 By promoting visual culture I refer to efforts to help
students
learn how to decode the values and ideas that are embedded in
what might be called popular culture as well as whar is called
the
fine arts.e
Since the early 1960s there has been a great interest in matters
of cultural, social, gender, racial, and economic equity. Ours is
a
nation in which everyone eligible can vote, but not everyone has
equal influence regarding who gets elected. Money and position
make a difference. Those who control images, those who
influence
decisions about which images will be shown, those who manage
the media control a disproportionate amount of power in the
soci-

17. ety. The arts, some claim, can and should be studied through a
pro-
cess of critical analysis designed to help students learn how
people
are influenced through the mass media. In this view any art
form
can be regarded as a kind of text, and texts need to be both read
and interpreted, for the messages they send are often "below the
surface" or "between the lines." Learning how to read the mes-
sages of a visual text is thus a way of protecting personal rights.
It
is also a way of determining whose interests are being served by
the images that surround us.ro
Reading images as texts in order to reveal their political and
often covert purposes is one form of reading. Another is
develop-
ing the student's ability to use the arts to understand the values
and
life conditions of those living in a multicultural society. In this
view,
art education becomes a form of ethnology. Graeme Chaimers,
one
advocate, writes:
We in ort educotion listened to psychologists when they
provided ort re-
loted informqtion obout child grov*h ond development . . . more
recenily
we hove listened to ihose psychologists who hove become
concerned wilh
left qnd right hemisphere brqin reseorch. Bul we need
informotion obout
groups os well os obout individuqls. ltwould seem thot the
tribql ortist is se-

18. cure so long os he or she is with the tribe ond shoring their
volues. An eth-
nologicol opprooch is o woy of looking ond o meqns to help us
understond
these volues.
Anthropology provides knowledge of the nqture of people, ond
cul-
turol onthropology finds its relevonce in the contribution it
mqkes to under-
sionding culture. Educoiors in their roles qs odministrqtors,
supervisors,
curriculum developers. reseorchers. ond teochers need ond cqn
moke use
of relevont sociol informotion. Any understqnding of the role of
oris edu-
cqtion in the public schools requires thot we exqmine the vqlues
ond beliefs
of society ond its chonging institutions, communilies, ond group
relotion-
ships, os well qs the potterns of smoll groups or "tribes" within
the schools.
Any delinition of "educotion" must include reference to
teoching, leorning
ond setfing. lt would seem thot culturol onthropology, being
concerned with
holistic understqnding, involving the collection ond description
of culturol
ortifocts moy be o rewording study for onyone concerned with
estoblishing
o foundolion for orts educotion, by ossisting us to see both
educotion ond
ort in their iolol settings.ll
In Chalmers's view art needs to be studied in its social contexl,
and it is here that anthropology can help. Art education, in this

19. view,
becomes a means for understanding and improving the culture.
Now one may very well argue that in a society with as many
social and economic inequities as our own, it is appropriate that
at-
V I < I ' I N < A I ' I T V E D < T ' I N C A I A D T C E h I
I ' A ? I N I ' I ' ' A I I ' T N h V E D C I A N C A E A D I
C E N I I ' A ? I A N
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20. tention to such inequities surface to a level of priority. A1ter
all, if
the society is hurting, perhaps our first priority should be to try
ttr
alleviate the pain. If the study of the alts can provide such
relief,
why not?
This general orientation to afi education is consistent with a
number of other developments in the society. I speak here of the
impact of multicuhuralism, feminism, and postmodernism, for
all these movements represent efforts to bring about substantial
change in how the world is viewed. virtually all of them
challenge
foundationalism and opt for a perspectivalism thar is skeptical
about "intrinsic" values; what is artistically good is what people
value, and what people value is the result of the social forces I
described earlier rather than qualities inherent in the work. The
tastemakers working through a controlled medium influence
pub-
lic taste, including what museums purchase and display. The
Greek
verities of truth, beauty, and goodness are relics of the past; it's
one's

21. perspective that matters. Art education, focused on the visual
world
within this frame ol reference, is interested in helping students
be-
come astute readers of visual images and sensitive, politically
in-
formed interpreters of their meanings. The interprelation of
mean-
ing, in this view, is in large measule a matter of social and
political
a n a l y s i s .
CREATIVE PROBLEMSOLVING
A third vision of art education is related to creative
problemsolv-
ing, particularly the kind used in the field of design. one of the
best
examples of this approach to art education was the program of-
fered at the German Bauhaus from l9l9 to the early 1930s. The
German Bauhaus functioned as a school of design, first in wei-
mar and later in Dessau, Germany, until March I932, when it
was
closed by the Nazis. It attracted some of the foremost artists,

22. archi-
tects, and designers working in Europe at the time, including
wal-
ter Gropius , L6szl6 Moholy-Nagy, and Wassily I(andinsky' Its
aim
was to address problems having social import in technically
e{fi-
cient and aesthetically satisfying ways.I2 The task as its
members
saw it was to use the machine as an ally in order to create a
clean
aesthetic that exploited the natural characteristics of the
materials
with which the designer worked. But pethaps above all, the Bau-
haus was interested in preparing designers who could
conceptual-
ize and analyze well, who could problematize existing assump-
tions and challenge traditional expectations when a better way
to
solve a problem could be found.
The program that the faculty of the school created employed an
approach that invited students to become creative
problemsolvers.
For example, the foundation program, which was offered to stu-
dents during the first year of their work, would ask them to
build a
structure out of water-based clay as tall as possible and with no
part
of the structure thicker than the thin side of a coin.
Furthermore,

23. the aesthetic quality of the product they designed was very
impor-
tant. Its form, not only its function as a designed object,
mattered.
To accomplish this task, students had to understand and de-
velop a feel for the material and its structural possibilities.
Learning
to address such tasks, tasks that have an infinite number of
possible
solutions, prepared students for other, more socially important
tasks in a variety of fields such as product design and
architecture.
The Bauhaus tradition is currently alive and well in many
schools of design and especially in departments of engineering
in-
terested in developing the problemsolving capacities of their
stu-
dents and refining their aesthetic judgment.rr Most such schools
are oriented to meeting social needs; to do so they focus on
inven-
tion, foster analytic abilities needed to figure out what will
work,
and develop skill in the use of machine tools. The aim is to
enable
students to think like designers, and designers have problems
whose
solutions are empirically testable-as General Motors, Sony, and
Apple know quite well. This tradition has its counterpart in sec-
ondary-school art programs that ask students to deal with
practical
problems-the design of a new container for CDs, for example-
in which both practical and aesthetic criteria are important'
Such
tasks are intended to help students become aware of a wide vari-

24. ety of considerations-economic, structural, ergonomic, and aes-
thetic-in the design Process.
V I S I O N S A N D V E R S I O N S O F A R T S E D U C
A I I O N
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A T I O N
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25. CREATIVE SELF-EXPRESSION
A fourth vision of art education aims in a very different way at
the
development of creativity. The approach is articulated by two of
the world's most influential art educators, the Austrian Viktor
Lowenfeld and the Englishman Sir Herbert Read.la Both Lowen-
feld and Read were influenced by World War II. Lowenfeld
emi-
grated from Austria to the United States in 1938. Read spent the
war in a besieged England. Both saw the conditions in Germany
that led to the war as partly the result of an educational system
that suppressed the normal human urge to express creative im-
pulses. As a result, that urge found an outlet in aggressive and
re-
pressive tendencies; the culture set up the young for the
dictator-
ship that emerged in GermanY.
Both Read and Lowenfeld believed the arts to be a process
that emancipated the spirit and provided an outlet for the
creative
impulse. For Lowenfeld, the expression of this creative impulse
had not only an educational benefit to offer, but a therapeutic
one
a s w e l l :
The child who uses creotive octivity os qn emotionol outlet will
goin free-
dom qnd flexibilif.y os o result of the releose of unnecessory
tensions. How-
ever, the child who feels lrustroted develops inhibitions ond, os
o result, will

26. leel restricted in his personolity. the child who hos developed
lreedom ond
flexibility in his expression will be oble to foce new situqtions
without diffi-
culties. Through his flexible opprooches toword the expression
of his own
ideos, he will not only foce new situotions p.operly but will
odiust himself
to them eosily. The inhibited ond resiricted child, occustomed
to imitoting
rother thon expressing himself creotively, will prefer to go
olong sel potterns
in life. He will not be oble to odiust to new situotions quickly
but will rother
try to leon upon others os the eosiest woy out. Since it is
generolly occepted
thot progress, success, ond hoppiness in life depend greoily
upon the obil-
ii"y to odiust to new situotions, the importonce of ort educotion
for person-
olity growth ond development con eosily be recognized.l5
Read shared similar sentiments: "Generally speaking, the ac-
tivity of self-expression cannot be taught' Any application of an
external standard, whether of technique or form, immediately
in-
V I S I O N S A N D V E R S I O N S O F A R T S E D U C
A T I O N
cluces inhibitions, and frustrates the whole aim. The role of the
teacher is that of attendant, guide, inspirer, psychic midwife."r6
Given the times-the 1940s-the views of the child that

27. Lowenfeld and Read promulgated fell on receptive ears and
eyes.
When a nation is fighting a war to banish totalitarianism, it is
not
surprising that a conception of art education that gives centel
stage
to the cultivation and protection of what was most individual
about the child would find a receptive audience.
Both Lowenfeid's and Read's ideas about human nature had a
psychodynamic quaiity. In Read's case the influence came from
Carl Jung, in Lowenfeld's {rom Freud. Both thought the artistic
impulse resided in the unconscious and that it was the business
of
teachers, especially afi educators, not to interfere with this
natu-
ral process. For Read, art was not so much taught as caught' The
teacher was to be a kind of midwife to the child's creative
natule.
For Lowenfeld, the arts were a corrective to school practices
that
were repressive. Both men regarded the alts as a means of
human
development.
Although the orientation of the Bauhaus also put a premium
on promoting creativity, creativity in these two views sprang
from
different sources and served different ends. The Bauhaus
focused
on practical problem solving using various materials; a
classroom

28. reflecting the ideas of Lowenfeld and Read engaged children in
painting and sculpture to foster creative expression of their per-
sonal experience, including their fantasy Iife. Teacher
intervention
was very limited, with little or no attention paid to historical
con-
text. But the dominant idea in both approaches is that children
and their art develop largely {rom the inside out rather than
from
the outside in.
ARTS EDUCATION AS PREPARATION FOR THE WORLD
OF WORK
A lifth vision of art education is a very pragmatic one, using the
arts to develop the skills and attitudes needed in the workplace.
Much of the rhetoric concerning school improvement centers on
the importance of schooling to increase our competitive
economic
Derformance in the world economy. According to some critics,
as
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o u r s c h o o l s g o , s o g o e s o u r e c o n o r n y . l 7
G i v c n t h i s p o s i t i o n r c g a r d -
i n g t h e e c o n o m i c f u n c t i o n o f s c h o o l s , w h
a t i s i l t h a t t h c a r t s , w h o s e
{orms of performance look quite different from those with
practi-
cal work-related outcomes, can offer to the work world? Are
there
practical consequences to arts education, and if there are, do
these
consequences relate to the world of work?

30. The rationale proposed by some is that experience in the arts
develops initiative and creativity, stimulates the imagination,
fos-
ters pride in craft, develops planning skills, and in some arts
fields
helps the young learn how to work together. AII these personal
at-
tributes are vocationally relevant. Thus, even though the
projects
students work on in an art ciass might not look as if they have
much to do with the workplace, they are very much a part of the
"skill set" students need to become productive workers.
Listen as the chief executive officer of a large corporation de-
scribes the importance of the arts to the world of work:
Students must be grounded in the bosics. Bosic reoding. Bosic
moth. Bosic
composition, Aren't those the only skills students reolly need?
Everything
else is icing on the coke, right?
Wrong. Todoy's students need orts educoiion now more thon
ever. Yes,
ihey need the bosics. But todoy there ore fwo sets of bosics.
The first-reod-
ing, wriiing, ond moth-is simply the prerequisite for o second,
more com-
plex, equolly vitql collection of higher-level skills required to
function well
in todoy's world.
These bosics include the obility to ollocote resources; to work
success-
fully with others; to find, onolyze, ond communicote
informotion; to oper-

31. ote increosingly complex systems of seemingly unreloied ports;
ond, finolly,
to use technology. The orts provide on unporolleled
opportunil.y to teoch
these higher-level bosics thot ore increosingly criticol, not only
to tomor-
row's work force, but olso todoy's.18
For many, the practical workplace justification for the arts in
the education of the young is its most persuasive rationale. Aes-
thetic experience might be nice, but it can be secured outside of
school. Preparation for work is something every student will
some-
day need. If the arts can contribute to success in this realm, it
will
have something really important to offer. As I said earlier, when
V I S I O N S A N D V E R S I O N 5 O F A R I S E D U C
A T I O N
t l r t ' r c i s a s o c i a l n c e d , p c o p l e l o o k f o r w
a y s t o m e e t i t . S i n c e t h e
worlrl is bclievccl to be becoming increasingly competitive, the
cluality of the workforce is increasingly important. Art, those
whtr
embrace this view believe, will find a secure home in our
schools
if it can contribute to the creation of such a workforce.
THE ARTS AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
A sixth vision of arts education emphasizes its cognitive conse-
quences; work in the arts contributes to the deveiopment of
com-
plex and subtle forms of thinking.re Ironically, the arts are
often

32. thought to have very little to do with complex forms of thought.
They are regarded as concrete rather than abstract. emotional
rather
than mental, activities done with the hands not the head,
imaginary
rather than practical or useful, more closely related to play than
to
work. Yet the tasks that the arts put forward-such as noticing
subtleties among qualitative relationships, conceiving of
imagina-
tive possibilities, interpreting the metaphorical meanings the
work
displays, exploiting unanticipated opportunities in the course of
one's work-require complex cognitive modes of thought. Exam-
ined analytically, work in the arts provides an agenda rich in
such
opportunities.
At a time when the development o{ thinking skills is particu-
larly important, at a time when schools are expected to prepare
people to work in more than a single occupation during their
life-
time, the presence of a program that fosters flexibility,
promotes a
tolerance for ambiguity, encourages risktaking, and depends
upon
the exercise of judgment outside the sphere of rules is an
especially
valuable resource. Although the cognitive consequence of
engage-
ment in the arts has been advanced since the first quarter of the
twentieth century, and despite the fact that it has ardent
followers,
it is a way of thinking about the aims of art education that is
still
trying to secure a firm foothold in the larger educational

33. commu-
nity. The arts have long been perceived as being "affective"
rather
than cognitive, easy not tough, soft not hard, simple not
complex.
Among the major proponents of the cognitive character of artis-
tic activity is Rudolf Arnheim, a scholar whose work bridges
the
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fields of art history, psychology, and art education. In his book
7i-
sual Thinking, he argues that perception itself is a cognitive
activity:
By "cognitive" I meon oll mentol operotions involved in the
receiving, stor-
ing ond processing o[ informotion: sensory perception, memory
thinking,
leorning. The use of ihis term conflicts with one to which mony
psycholo-
gists ore occustomed ond which excludes ihe octivity of the
senses from
cognition. lt reflects the distinction I om trying to eliminote;
therefore I must

34. extend fhe meoning of the terms "cognitive" ond "cognition" to
incluoe per-
cepiion. Similorly, I see no woy of withholding the nome of
"thinking" from
whot goes on in perception. No thought processes seem to exist
ihot con-
not be found to operote, ot leost in principle, in perception.
Visuol perceP-
tion is visuol thinking.20
Arnheim is not alone in this view Ulric Neisser, a leading
cogni-
tive psychologist, regards perception as a cognitive event, and
Jean
Piaget was loath to make a sharp differentiation between the
cog-
nitive and affective sides of our thought processes.2r My own
con-
ceptual work regards all forms of awareness as cognitive
events.22
Surely the arts, which traffic heavily in acts of perceptual
differen-
tiation, meet such a cognitive criterion.
The cognitive character of the arts is recognized not only by
psychologists but by philosophers. Nelson Goodman, a former
lo-
gician who in the I960s became interested in the arts, has this to
say about the relationship of the arts to the process of inquiry, a
process fully cognitive in character:
A persistent trodition piciures the oesthetic ottitude os possive
contemplo-
tion of the immediotely given, direct opprehension of whot is
presented, un-
contominoted by ony conceptuolizotion, isoloted from oll

35. echoes of the
post ond lrom oll threots ond promises o[ the future, exempt
from oll en-
terprise. By purificotion-rites of disengogement ond
disinterpretotion we
qre oble to seek o pristine, unsullied vision of the world. The
philosophic
foults ond oesthetic obsurdities of such o view need hordly be
recounied
until someone seriously goes so for os to mointoin thot the
oppropriole oes-
thetic ottitude toword o poem omounts to gozing ot the prinied
poge with-
out reoding it.
He goes on to say:
V I S I O N S A N D V E R S I O N S O F A R I S I D U C
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I moinioin, on the controry, thot we hove to reod the pointing os
well os the
poem, ond thot oesthetic experience is dynomic rother thon
stqtic' lt in-
volves moking delicote discriminqiions qnd discerning subtle
relotionships,
identifying symbol systems ond chorqcters within these systems
qnd whot
these chorocters denote ond exempliFy, interpreting works ond
reorgoniz-
ing the world in terms o[ *orks qnd works in terms of the world.

36. Much of
o,-ir.
""puri"nce
ond mony of our skills ore brought to beqr ond moy be
trqnsformed by the encounter. The oesthetic "ottitude" is
restless, seorching,
testing-is less ottitude thon oction: creotion ond recreotion'23
What would arts programs look like if they emphasized the
cognitive consequences of work in the arts and wanted to
exploit
such work for educational purposes? In some way such
programs
would not be very different from the programs that are now
avail-
a b | e , a s l o n g a s t h e o r i e n t a t i o n s l h a v e d e s c r
i b e d w e r e h i g h - q u a l i t y e x .
amples of their species. After all, all good work in the arts
requires
subtle and sophisticated forms of thinking. Yet there are some
fea-
tures of arts activities that seem particularly appropriate for
pro-
moting cognitive development' For example' programs that ask

37. students to conceptualize their own aims in the art form they are
t o w o r k w i t h , p r o g r a m s t h a t a r e p r o b l e m s o l
v i n g i n c h a r a c t e r ' p r o -
grams that invite students to be metacognitive about their own
work-that is, reflective about their own thinking processes-
and that encourage them to be articulate about their judgments
about art.
C o g n i t i v e d e v e l o p m e n t C a n b e f o s t e r e d a s s
t u d e n t s a r e a s k e d t o
compare and contrast works that became increasingly similar-
say, comparing and contrasting original works to Iakes and
forger-
ies-and then to select the original and to provide reasons for
their
choices. There is a host of ways in which curricular tasks could
be
formed to practice and to assess the development of specific
forms
of cognition.
Such curricula need not focus exclusively on art production'
although they could. They could also make it possible for
students
to engage in forms of thinking that helped them see connections

38. between the form and content of works of art and events occur-
r i n g a t t h e s a m e t i m e i n t h e c u l t u r e i n w h i c h t
h o s e w o r k s w e l e
35
V I S I O N S A N D V E R S I O N S O F A R T S E D U G
A T I O N
created. In so doing students would practicc synthetic lorms o1
thinking. For example, understanding the content ol
sevcnteenth-
century Dutch painting requires some understanding o{ the geo-
graphic location of Holland, its dependency on commerce, and
the
rise of a wealthy merchant class. The student is at once engaged
in
geography, history, and economics as well as aesthetics.
. The key to this approach to art education is to design curricrtla
around the forms of cognition and understanding one wants to
de-
velop. This is much like the tasks designed for students
attending
the German Bauhaus. They wanted to train designers who
under-
stood the social context their work was to serve and who could
approach design problems mindful of that context. A similar ap-
proach could be taken in creating programs for elementary-
school
children.
USING THE ARTS TO PROMOTE ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE

39. Related to the cognitive orientation to art education I have de-
scribed is a seventh vision, one that justifies the arts in the
schools
through their contribution to boosting academic performance in
the so-called basics. As I have indicated, society's receptivity to
the
aims of a field of study is closely related to the extent to which
its
members believe a field will promote the realization of what it
val-
ues. This is certainly the case regarding the attractiveness to
some
of using the arts to increase the academic performance of
students.
The claim is that the more arts courses children and adolescents
take, the better they will do in school. In the area of music, we
have
what is called the "Mozart efIect."2a Infants and preschoolers
ex-
posed to classical music several times a week do better on a test
of
spatial ability than their peers who have not been so exposed.
The
result, some claim, is that, in effect, music makes you
smarter.2s
Other data, from large-scale surveys, show that students who
enroll in art courses in high school get significantly higher
Scholas-
tic Achievement Test scores than students who do not take art
courses; the more art courses, the higher the SAT scores.
However,
more courses in any field are positively associated with higher
SAT
scores. In fact science and math courses are most highly

40. correlated
V I S I O N S A N D V E R S I O N S O F A R T S E D U C
A T I O N
with SAT scores. Putting aside for the present the adequacy of
the
rescarch design and therefore the adequacy of the research, the
aim in this orientation is to use aft as a way to achieve what
some
believe are more important ends, higher test scores in math and
science.26
The reasons for wanting to do so seem ciear enough. So many
efforts have been made to improve school performance that
some
citizens are at wit's end about what to do. In the 1980s the
reform
effort, Ied by President Ronald Reagan, flew under the banner
of "A
Nation at Risk." Eight years later President George Bush
launched
"Goals 2000." Five years after that President Bill Clinton led
the
way with "America 2000," a new version of the earlier effort.
Clearly, U.S. policymakers have made numerous attempts to
turn
the educational system around; and yet there is a strong feeling
that these efforts have not really been successful. Under such
cir-
cumstances, people ask, "Why not try the arts?"
For some arts educators, especially those who feel profession-
ally marginalized, this newfound utility seems like a life raft.
But

41. can a field make its most important contributions through
seeking
outcomes that other fields might achieve at least equally well?
And,
more fundamentally, will the data support the claims made
about
effects on student performance in academic areas? Will the
design
of the research support the data? What happens to the reasons
for
a field's place in the schools if research shows that such claims
are
overblown, or that evidence to support them is weak, or that
other
approaches to boosting academic test scores are more efficient?
INTEGRATED ARTS
Another vision of arts education conceives of the arts
curriculum
as being integrated into other arts and other nonarts curricula.
This conception, sometimes described as "integrated arts," is
often
used to enhance the student's educational experience. The inte-
grated arts curriculum is typically organized into one of,fogS,tl-
ricular structures.
First, the arts are sometimes used to help students understand
a particular historical period or culture. For example, study of
the
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o
Civil War might include the photographs of Mathew Brady or
the
music and architecture of the period. It can explore the forms ot
dress worn by people of different social classes and can illumi-

43. nate the period through literature. The objective is to broaden
the
means through which the student's understanding is advanced by
consulting not only academic historical accounts of the civil
war
but also other materials of the period, materials that may in the
end speak as eloquently as any written history. Thus art, music,
lit-
erature, and history come together around a particular historical
period.
A second form of integration, this one within the arts them-
selves, is intendeil to help students identify the similarities and
the
differences among the arts. For example, all the alts are
concerned
w i t h t h e c r e a t i o n o I e x p r e s s i v e f o r m , b u l
t h e m c a n s e m p l o y e d t o
achieve such a work are not identical. Indeed, although one can
experience rhythm in a visual work of art as well as in music,
the
meaning of rhythm in music and the meaning of rhythm in the
vi-
sual arts are different. Students, in this vision of the arts
curricu-

44. lum, have the opportunity to discover what the arts have in
com-
siderations, developmental considerations, physical features of
the
rnaterials, Iayout, and aesthetic matters would be taken into ac-
count. In other words, the problem itself is one that begs for
mul-
tiple perspectives, and these multiple perspectives need to be
inte-
grated into a whole that makes it possible for the play lot in this
case to function successfully. Thus, curricula can be designed
that
a r e p r o b l e m c e n t e r e d a n d t h a r r e q u i r e t h e
i n t e g r a t i o n o f s e v e r a l
disciplinary perspectives, including the arts.
Today these and other functions of arts education are put for-
ward as reasons to include the arts in school programs. Among
the
things we can learn from the descriptions I have provided is that
the grounds for including a subject of study in the school
curricu-
lum change with the times. We can also learn that it is unlikely
that there will be a consensus that there is only one enduring
func-
tion for arts in the schools. What matters most in any field of
study
depends on the context, and the context is influenced by the
eco-
nomics and politics of the time.
I have been speaking about the sources of direction for a field
and have emphasized what members of a society believe its
needs

45. to be and the ways in which they believe a field might meet
those
needs. But the direction in which a field travels emanates not
only
from perceived needs, but also from imagined desired
possibilities.
For example, the development of computer technology has sug-
gested to many that the computer can become a technology of
un-
paralleled importance in the arts. What does such a vision imply
for the creation of school programs in the afis? What does a
com-
puter allow students to do with images that other technologies
don't, and what might such a resource mean for the development
of cognitive skills? What we have here is the creation of
opportu-
nities through the development of a tool that was Little more
than
dreamed of filty years ago. The lesson here is that the future is
af-
fected by inventions that we cannot now foresee.
But the aims of a field depend upon more than either the con-
text or the time; they also depend upon a view of education and
human nature and upon beliefs about how schools and schooi
pro-
grams might function given those views of education and human
mon but also what they have to offer that is distinctive'
f t) A rhird approach is to identify a major theme or idea that
can
:/ be explorcd through work coming not only from the arts but
from
other fields as well. The concept of metamorphosis, for

46. example,
can be illustrated through the way in which a melody is altered
in
a symphony, by the ways in which the demographics of an area
change the terrain. and by changes in a sequence of images in
film
and photography. Metamorphosis is a biological concept, but its
manifestations can be located in a host of other domains and
dis-
ciplines. An integrated curriculum can help students see the
con-
nection between biological meaning and other meanings, artistic
and nonartistic, that pertain to the concept.
A fourth structure for integration of the afis is related to the
practice of problemsolving. Students can be invited to define a
problem that requires that it be addressed through several disci-
plines, including the arts. For example, if high school students
were asked to design a play lot for preschool children, design
con-
V r < I ^ N < A N I } , F P S I C I N S c t F A R I S E D U
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T S E D U C A T I O N

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nature. Put another way, conceptions and convictions about edu-
cation need not be abandoned, which is not to say that context
should be disregarded.
What one has when one looks at the current picture of art ed-
ucation is a field, like all fields in education, whose aims vary
over
time and whose current aims are diverse. We find a field whose
justifications for support rest most often upon a medley of
reasons
and beliefs. some clear, others not; some grounded, some not;
some the result of habit and tradition, some not. As I said, the
aims
of a field are not determined solely by the field's subject matter.
And in all human affairs in which matters of importance are to
be
decided, there is often a lack of uniformity of view.
In some ways, the diversity of views regarding what art educa-

48. tion should be may represent a tension between principle and
prac-
tice. Principles that cannot bend are rigid. And what is rigid
often
breaks. Practice that is not principled has no compass; it does
not
know where it is headed. We need to be both practical and
princi-
pled, creating the appropriate mix for the particular occasion.
SOME PRINCIPLES TO GUIDE PRACTICE
What, at this point in time, should art education try to achieve?
Taking into account the considerations of context I have just de-
scribed, I present my view of art education in terms of five prin-
ciples.
Principle One. In justifying its case, art education should give
pride of place to what is distinctive about the arts. Art
education
should not get sidetracked or attempt to justify its primary
educa-
tional mission by focusing its efforts on outcomes that other
fields
can claim to serve equally well. Nor should art educators make
re-
search claims about the effects of art education on, say,
academic
forms of performance for which there is little or weak research
ev-
idence.
The primary reason for fealty to this principle is that what is
distinctive about the ans is itself of value. Few members of a
school
faculty are as concerned with the education of vision as are

49. teach-
ers of art. The visual arts make visible aspects of the world-for
ex-
V I S I O N S A N D V E R . S I O N S O F A R T S E D U
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ample, their expressive qualities-in ways that other forms of vi-
sion do not. The abiiity to see the world in this way is no small
ac-
complishment. It engenders meanings and qualities of
experience
that are intrinsically satisfying and significant'
P r i n c i p i e T w o ' A r t e d u c a t i o n p r o g r a m s s h o
u l d t r y t o f o s t e r t h e
growrh of artistic intelligence. The conjunction of art and
intelli-
gence is not colnmon. Ability in art is assigned to talent' ability
in
,,intellectual" subjects like mathematics and science to
intelligence'
For all the reasons I stated earlier, there has been a separation
of art
from intelligence. Yet as John Dewey pointed out in the
William
James Lectures he gave at Harvard in 1932, intelligent
reflection

50. is a fundamental condition in the creation of art.27 Arts
teachers
help, or ought to help, their students get smarter about art in all
its
manifestations, including the arts in popular culture' Being able
to
compose the qualities that constitute a successful work is no
triv-
ial intellectual accomplishment.
There is no good theoretical reason to assign exclusive rights
regarding the exercise of intelligence to those who use language
or
numbers well, or who shine on traditional academic tasks.
Human
intelligence takes many forms, and each of them serves
important
social and cultural purposes.28 Such achievements should be
ac-
k n o w l e d g e d , i f f o r n o o t h e r r e a s o n t h a n t h a t
n o t d o i n g S o C r e a t e s
significant educational inequities for those whose proclivities
are
in the arts. In the broadest o{ terms, art education might be said
to
have as one of its major missions the development o{ altistic

51. intel-
ligence, a concept rooted in Dewey's theory of art and
qualitative
thought.
principle Three. Art education proglams should help students
learn how to create satisfying visual images, how to see and re-
spond to what we call the arts and other visual forms' and how
to
understand the role the arts play in culture' Put simply' art
educa-
tion should help students learn how to create and experience the
aesthetic features of images and understand their relationship to
the culture of which they are a part'
In identifying these domains for curriculum development there
is no implication that they need to be addressed as independent
units. They can, and probably in most situations they will, be
ad-
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52. LiuZhiju
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dressed in an integrated fashion, but that decision is one that is
best made in light of the situation itself.
Principle Four. Art education should help students recognize
what is personal, distinctive, and even unique about themselves
and their work. There is so much in our schools that pushes for
uniformity of response-standardized testing, for example-that
one of the important contributions that art education can make
to
students is to help them become aware of their own
individuality.
The arts, if they are about anything, are about the creation of a
per-
sonal vision. The teacher of spelling, assuming the same words
are
given to a class, seeks unity of response from his students. The
same is true for most teachers of arithmetic. Even the teaching
of
writing puts a premium on teaching students to imitate
prototypes.
In fact the dominant climate of the early grades of schooling is
one
of highly rule-governed tasks and standardized expectations.
For
many tasks, such as spelling and arithmetic, uniformity of
outcome
is necessary. To communicate we impose and observe common

53. rules regarding how words are to be spelled. We heed
convention.
Yet because the school curriculum is so heavily weighted
toward
rule-governed fields of study, what schools seem to teach best is
nrle following. The arts, however, march to a different
drummer.
In most of the arls we seek diversity of outcome. We are
interested
in the ways vision and meaning are personalized.
Outcomes of this kind are subtle. They require interpretation.
They express themselves in the way forms are nuanced.
Recogni-
tion of personal distinctiveness requires an ability to notice sub-
tleties about one's own work. Noticing subtleties is something
art
teachers can teach. I believe we ought not to abandon such
aims.
Principie Five. Art education programs should make special ef-
forts to enable students to secure aesthetic forms of experience
in
everyday life. As one Chinese scholar is said to have
commented,
"First I see the hills in the painting, then I see the painting in
the
hills." After a while it is not art that imitates life; it is life that
imi-
tates art. The outcomes of art education are far wider than
learn-
ing how to create or to see the objects populating museums and
galleries. The world at large is a potential source of delight and
a
rich source of meaning if one views it within an aesthetic frame
of

54. V I S I O N S A N D V E R S I O N S O F A R T S E D U C
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rcfe rcnce. It can be said that each subject studied in schools
affords
the student a distinctive window or frame throueh which the
world
can be viewed.
To see the world as matter in motion, the way a physicist
might, provides a unique and telling view. To see it as a
historian
might is to get another angle on the world. To see it from an
aes-
thetic frame of reference is to secure still another view. Each of
these views makes possible distinctive forms of meaning.
Educa-
tion as a process can be thought of as enabling individuals to
learn
how to secure wide varieties of meaning and to deepen them
over
time. The outcomes of education can thus be said to diversify
and
deepen the kinds of meanings people know how to construct and
to provide them with the appetite and ability to shift frames.
I expect that each of these principles will have different de-
grees of prominence in different settings. This is as it should
be.
But each commends itself as an important part of the overall
agenda for arts education. A well-taught program that paid
atten-
tion to these principles in its construction would enhance the
ed-
ucation of the students it serves.

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