Monday, November 7, 2011

Art Appreciation in young children

My research is narrowed down to inform educators of young children about the use of artwork in developing literacy, communication, investigation and appreciation.
Question: How do educators lead children to investigate art in an actively engaging manner?
How do children benefit from talking about art?
Do children have an opportunity to talk, reflect, and discuss their artwork and the works of others?
Can discussion about artwork foster verbal communication, art appreciation, diversity and respect?

By using non-judgmental comments to initiate a discussion about art, the teacher is modeling conversation and description languages. Teachers can initiate and lead children into artworks to begin dialogue (Tollifson, 2011). Children can begin to understand and respect the various points of views that can be read from a picture.
Encouraging children to ask questions about art provides opportunities for them to pursue answers. Visual investigation skills will be developed.  Through open-ended art projects children have an opportunity to talk about and describe their art to their peers and to adults. This builds confidence and value in their artwork and the respect for other artwork (Mulchey, 2009).


References:
Carpenter, F.(1918). Stories pictures tell, Book Two. New York: Rand McNally & Co. Available on Project Gutenberg at http://bit.ly/fChx3Q
Fowler, Judith N.(2002). Through the eyes of a novice Viewer: Learning about art in the museum. Art Education, 55(1), 33-39.
Kreiner, L.E. (1993). Toward a definition of art. Art Education, 46 (3) Critical reflecting. pp.7-11.
Mulchey, C. (2009). The story in the Pictures: Inquiry and artmaking with young children. New York, NY. Teachers College Press.
Stankiewicz, M.A. (1985) A picture age: Reproductions in picture study. Studies in Art Education, 26(2) 86-92.
Swan, A., The role of media and emerging representation in early childhood.
Art Education,Vol. 58, No. 4 (Jul., 2005), pp. 41-47.
Tollifson, J. (2011). Enhancing students’ responses to art through qualitative language.
Art Education, 64 (6), 11-19.

3 comments:

  1. I couldn't play the viedo :(
    You might want to look into VTS (visual Thinking Strategies). It offers a chance for viewer to express what they feel or see in a piece of art. We used this technique at the museum I use to work at. It was very sucessful and empowered the view to create their own dialogue with the artwork.

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  2. There is a book that is a resource book called "How to talk to children about art." I think you might use it as an example in support of (or as a hindrance to) the type of visual investigation and communication you're after.
    http://www.amazon.com/How-Talk-Children-About-Art/dp/155652580X

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  3. http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/jun/01/the-eyes-have-it/
    Juliet posted this one on fb. The article confirms VTS for critical thinking and communication.

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