POINT OF VIEW
ART: A Catalyst for Compassion
As teachers of art, we can help students think about
what makes beauty
in their lives and the
commonalities that
bind us together. We
can also help them to
become more thoughtful about their aesthetic
judgments rather than
tell them what their
judgments should be.
More importantly, we
can expose students to
other artistic choices
while respecting their
personal preferences and
values.
The result may
be that students will
respond to new ideas
and situations with
compassion and tolerance. They may extend
their artistic awareness
to a wider sphere, or
they may choose to stay
within the context of
their own cultural patterns for the purpose
of improving social
conditions, refining
the human landscape, and preserving
their natural environment, always
with an eye for equality and beauty.
The following
questions may
help us think
about ways we can
make art a catalyst for compassion:
1. Do you teach art in context so that
an artwork, whether already existing
or in the process of being created, is
seen in relation to social and emotional consequences as well as aesthetic qualities?
Eldon Katter
Projects such as Pinwheels for Peace offer students opportunities for
developing compassion for others. Photo by Nancy Walkup.
2. Do studio art experiences allow
students an opportunity to be mindful
of the cultural realities that surround
them?
3. Do art history
and criticism
experiences
allow students
an opportunity
to identify with the cultures that gave
rise to artworks?
4. Do you incorporate references to
general history or provide a historical frame of reference for students’
encounters with art?
We can expose students to
other artistic choices while
respecting their personal
preferences and values.
5. Do you have a time-line in your classroom?
6. Do you have maps in
your classroom?
7. Do you encourage
geographic literacy
and enable students to
understand how people,
the arts they create, and
the places they inhabit
are intertwined and
influence each other?
8. Do you enrich the
study of art with the
frequent use of stories,
narratives, biographies,
autobiographies, and
journals?
9. Do you remind students to think about art
as the story of artists
whose actions, beliefs,
concerns, decisions, and
struggles help to shape
the world?
10. Do you stress the
importance of creativity
and the role of individual artists in establishing or furthering new
norms?
11. Do you emphasize
the role of artists in
increasing awareness
of environmental issues and abuses,
as well as to the beauty of the natural
world?
12. Do you call attention to the ways
that artists can make a difference in
how people think about social injustices and suffering in the world?
13. Do you focus on human commonalities when you introduce students
to the art of a wide range of cultural
groups?
Eldon Katter is co-author of Explorations
in Art (Davis Publications) and former
editor of SchoolArts. ekatter@ptd.net
