SchoolArts - April 2008

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Continued from page 14.

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ChoiceBasedArtEducation CBAEAssumptions
Sohereweareagain,withasmall Somecommonfundamental
segmentofthearteducationcom- assumptionsmadebyproponents
munitylookingatyetanother ofCBAEarethatthechildisanart-
newsetofbuzzwords,thesebeing ist,theworkspaceiscomprisedof
Choice BasedArt Education(CBAE), activitycentersspecifictoselected
combinedwith Teachingfor Artistic artmedia,andtheteacheristhe
Behavior(TAB).Atfirstglance,one facilitatorforstudentchoice-mak-
cannotfaultthetitles.Asartistsand ingwithinthatworkspace.
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ourstudents. toolittlein
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onecomestounderstandhowthese media,makeartusingachosen
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theimportanceofbothformand earlymiddleschoollevels.Mostof
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advantages of this methodology in

DBAE

CBAE

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Should We Be Concerned?thehighergradelevelshaveyetto _{betestedovertimeandonawide}scale. The problems in applying the concepts of CBAE to art programs

^{KenViethandDanBush}intheuppergradesarepredictable.
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theGettyCenterforEducationin TodayCBAEisanapproachthat studentstendtobedrawntoward
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government.Someofthesephilo- etyofmedia,andlessemphasison indepth.Inanenvironmentbuilt
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funding,whileothersleaveusin ameansforvisualcommunication depthcanbeproblematicbecauseof
frustrationastohowtoputthem andexpression.Mostoftheweb- thevarietyandnumberofskillsthe
intopractice.Onthesurface,all sitesdedicatedtoCBAEprovide teacherisrequiredtoteachsimulta-
appeartohavegoodintentions.Itis ampledescriptionsofmodifications neously.
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dent perception of art as a means for
visualcommunication. ContinuedonpageXX.

as artists. This involves improving skills in both the formal and the expressive problem-solving areas.

Questions about CBAE

Our main question regarding CBAE is this: Is accentuating “student choice” regarding the media of art occurring at the expense of higher-level thinking?

CBAE raises other questions:

1. How does CBAE differ from the classic laissez-faire art programs of the past?

2. To what extent is the teacher’s attention divided by the number and diversity of problems arising from the multiple activity centers?

3. How can the teacher provide for students who need greater structure?

4. How does the teacher deal with students who choose to handle subject matter deemed as inappropriate for the school setting?

5. How can the teacher foster the making of expressive art by students who are working in a variety of different media?

6. How much of the teacher’s responsibility should be composed of teaching the technical proficiencies and lower order skills, such as; how to join together two slabs of clay or how to mix paint?

7. Does the compartmentalized environment of the multi-activity-centered artroom in CBAE diminish opportunities for sharing and group problem-solving on a class-wide basis?

8. Is the CBAE model more or less effective in helping students meet established state and national standards for art education?

We fear that this trend of CBAE/ TAB represents a direction that could potentially marginalize art educators. At worst, budget cutting administrators could use CBAE/ TAB as a pretext for the elimination of certified art educators and their replacement by aides whose job it would be to ensure that the work stations stay supplied.

Again, Is accentuating “student choice” regarding the media of art occurring at the expense of higher level thinking? We continue to believe that the role of the professional art educator is to present significant visual problems for students to address and to guide the processes by which students develop as artists.

Dan Bush is an art education video producer. danbush@patmedia.net

developing student proficiency in a variety of media and competence in creating art with meaning. Learning how to make choices is an important aspect of maturation and nothing in our experience contradicts this. But the artist/teacher is not simply a facilitator or a referee. The professional art educator is responsible for developing sound visual problems for students to address and for guiding the processes by which students mature

Ken Vieth is the author of From Ordinary to Extraordinary and Engaging the Adolescent Mind, and coauthor of The Visual Experience, all published by Davis Publications. kvieth@crusoe.net