Postmodern Principles
This morning David and I discussed a very interesting article that he had just read the night before. He gave me a copy of Olivia Gude’s, January 2004 Art Education article, Postmodern Principles: In Search of a 21st Century Art Education. It was just the kick in the seat of my pants that I’ve been needing.
In the article, the author makes the argument for teaching Postmodern Art concepts such as appropriation, recontextualization, hybridity, juxtaposition, gaze, layering, interaction of text and image, and “representin’” instead of focusing solely the elements of art and principles of design. These ideas are not foreign to me. Along with a social justice curriculum, they were a main focus of my art education training at NYU. When I entered the teaching world I was all prepared and excited to deal with these issues in my classroom.
Something happened though between that time and now. Perhaps it was the pressure of seeing other more experienced teachers covering the elements and principles and feeling like I was denying my kids something or doing something wrong? Or maybe it happened when I went from teaching high school to elementary school? Maybe I thought “How is a 1st grader going to understand the idea of recontextualition when they can barely write their own name?” Whatever the reason, I am now feeling inspired and ready to tackle some of these issues (at a very elementary appropriate level) in my classroom.
Two of my favorite resources that deal with these types of ideas are the Getty’s Sprial Art and PBS’s Art 21 series. If you are unfamiliar with these wonderful resources, I highly suggest taking the time to become familiar with them.
I am also very interested in Olivia Gude’s ideas, and agree with you that it reminds us of the true fundamentals of art and why what we teach is so important. I (being an elementary art teacher) also struggle with getting caught up with ‘in the study of’ projects and simplifying things to e&p’s. I really enjoy your site, you have such great ideas! Congratulations with your baby, enjoy being a Mom!
07 Jan 2010 at 2:29 pm
Olivia was my art ed prof in college and agree she has great ideas! I also felt torn between teaching what was in my heart and preparing the kids for future classes in my department with the elements and principles. I wish there were more hours in the school day to get it all in. Congratulations on the beautiful baby girl!
26 Jan 2010 at 8:41 pm
Kate,
That’s so cool that Olivia was your teacher!!!! I bet you must have had lots of interesting conversations! Which university did you attend?
Thanks for your congratulations!! I can’t believe she is almost two and a half months already!!!
26 Jan 2010 at 11:49 pm
One of my students connected me to your site. I’m so glad that you find the work useful in thinking about your deepest goals as teachers. On my e-Portfolio, I have posted a great Elements and Principles project. It does a good job of teaching this vocabulary in a fun and authentic context. It takes 2 weeks. Now what cool stuff can you do with the rest of the year?
Check out these resources for OG articles and Spiral Workshop theme-based curriculum.
Spiral Art Education
http://spiral.aa.uic.edu
The newest materials are on the Olivia Gude and the Spiral Workshop e-Portfolios on the NAEA site.
http://naea.digication.com/omg/Welcome/
http://naea.digication.com/Spiral/Welcome?
09 Feb 2010 at 9:10 pm