GED3828

Education, aesthetics and the arts

Not offered in 1999

Dr R Small

12 points - 3 hours per week - Second semester - Clayton

Objectives Upon successful completion of this subject, students should be familiar with a body of theoretical considerations and a set of approaches and skills that will enable them to appreciate the importance of underlying philosophies of aesthetic education; have acquired and practised forms of discussion, criticism and creative thinking that will be coherent, consistent and defensible; have acquired knowledge of and interest in other fields of the curriculum and educational endeavours, particularly those having to do with values education and the education of the emotions, that have a direct bearing on their work.

Synopsis This subject is intended for those interested in the theory and practice of the arts in educational institutions and for setting those interests in a more tightly conceived and articulated theoretical framework. It will address such questions as the following: why teach the arts in schools; what is involved in understanding and responding to works of art; what is the relationship between the arts and aesthetics (and the idea of 'the aesthetic'); between feeling and reason (with some reference to the idea of the education of the emotions); is there a language of the arts; what might be meant by the idea of aesthetic 'meaning'; do the arts have a political purpose; what is the relationship between art and morality; what status do aesthetic judgements have - are they merely matters of taste; art and culture (and the notions of 'high' and 'popular' or 'folk' culture); arts education and multiculturalism; the problem of subjective reaction and objective appraisal; evaluation and assessment in the arts; the arts and criticism; artistic practice and education.

Assessment Written (6000 words): 100%

Prescribed texts

Abbs P (ed.) The symbolic order Falmer, 1989
Best D Feeling and reason in the arts Allen and Unwin, 1985
Robinson K and others The arts in schools Gulbenkian Foundation, 1982
Smith R A and Simpson A (eds.) Aesthetics and arts education Illinois U P, 1991

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