ELLIOT EISNER - ¿Qué puede aprender la eduación del arte?

Art Education: Importance and Impact

The Need for Arts in Education

• The speaker emphasizes the significance of art education in Mexico, arguing that it deserves attention alongside other important subjects in schools.

• The discussion centers on three main objectives of arts education: mental development, understanding meaning, and enriching experiences for young learners.

Development of Mental Skills through Arts

• Arts education fosters mental skills by allowing students to engage with problems that lack singular correct answers, unlike traditional subjects such as spelling or arithmetic.

• In contrast to convergent thinking found in many academic areas, the arts encourage divergent thinking where multiple solutions can exist.

Individual Expression and Problem Solving

• Engaging with the arts allows children to imprint their unique perspectives on their work, preparing them for real-life situations that often involve complex problem-solving.

• The process of creating art involves making relationships between various qualities (e.g., auditory or visual), which parallels how students must organize information across different subjects.

Understanding Quality and Relationships

• Unlike algorithmic approaches used in traditional learning (like arithmetic), the arts require a sense of 'rightness' regarding when a piece is complete or well-organized.

• This cultivation of careful attention to qualities and relationships is essential not only in art but also in everyday life interactions.

Flexibility and Nuance in Artistic Creation

• The arts promote adaptability; artists often change direction based on new ideas that emerge during the creative process.

• This flexibility contrasts with rigid educational frameworks, encouraging children to think creatively and adjust their goals dynamically throughout their projects.

Expressive Form as Communication

• Art is fundamentally about expressive form; it conveys feelings and attitudes through its composition.

• Artists like Diego Rivera and Rufino Tamayo exemplify how form can express content uniquely, teaching students that artistic expression can communicate complex ideas beyond words.

What Role Do the Arts Play in Expressing Grief?

The Impact of 9/11 on Artistic Expression

• In the aftermath of 9/11, people in New York City created makeshift memorials, referred to as "little cathedrals," on sidewalks to express their grief and loss.

• The arts serve as a vital medium for expressing emotions that are difficult to articulate in literal terms, highlighting their importance in human experience.

• Artistic expression allows individuals to communicate feelings and thoughts that transcend ordinary language, showcasing the depth of human emotion.

• The creation of art during times of tragedy cultivates opportunities for collective mourning and appreciation among communities affected by loss.

• This phenomenon illustrates how art can play a crucial role in healing and processing grief within society.