Visual Arts Education, Common Core and 21st Century Learners: Literacy in Art

1. Visual Arts Education, Common Core and 21st Century Learners: Literacy in Art CI804 Wichita State University May 3, 2012

2. Outline • Literature Review • Research Question • Methodology • Results • Conclusion • Discussion • References

3. Introduction Visual arts education: • Visual Language-Can artwork be “read?” • Connection-How does art connect? • Creativity-What is creativity? • Motivation-What’s motivation got to do with it?

4. Visual Language • Art is a language. • Drawing ideas-our first “written” mean of communication. • Arts strengthen literacy and are vital to language development (Danko-McGhee & Slutsky, 2007). • Artwork can be read (Barrett, 1997; Valentine, 2008).

5. Connection • Content of permeable borders. • Visual arts can connect to other content areas. ex: Common Core • Association-making connections between disparate ideas-is primary mental operation of creative thinking (Andersen & Milbrandt, 2005; Heilman, 2005; Koeslter, 1976; Rothenberger & Hausman, 1976; Mednick, 1962).

6. Creativity • What is creativity? • Creativity is the root of where skills come together to solve find/solve problems and make real-world applications in a variety of processes (Gnezda, 2011; Jaquith, 2011; Clark, 1992; Roe, 1963). • Art and creative enterprises have survival value (Dissanayake, 1988). • 21st Century Skills-creativity, innovation, critical thinking, problem finding/solving, communication, collaboration, and decision making (Rushlow, 2011; Eisner, 2004; Rasmussen, 1998).

7. Motivation • What’s motivating you? • Infusing art into curriculum provides therapy, motivation, and another language to communicate with (Aschbacher, 1996). • Autonomy + Motivation = Activates Creativity • Personal interest, involvement, curiosity, satisfaction, and challenge are common intrinsic motivators (Jaquith, 2011).

8. Can first graders learn how to “read” artwork through D-Coding? D-Coding Model (Barrett, 1997)

9. Methodology Participants • Six first grade students • Three male and three female • Three African-American, two Caucasian, and one Hispanic student.

10. Methodology Strategy: Barrett’s (1997) model of reading artwork. D-Coding • Describe- (What do you see?) • Decide- (What is this artwork about and how do you know?) • Defend- (What makes this worthy of “reading” or famous?) • Destruct- (What might you change and why?)

11. Results • First grade students are capable of “reading” artwork using D-Coding Model. They are also successful at making connections, and drawing conclusions with teacher directed discussion. • With help, students can communicate understanding with complete sentences and ideas. First trial at d-coding art, students did not make complete thoughts or misunderstood the question at least half of the time. • All six students could perform, successfully, D-coding steps 1,2, and 4 in second attempt with guided discussion. • Some students had trouble defending why the art was important to look at or why it could be famous.

12. Results Gain Scores

13. Conclusion With help, first grade students can effectively “read” or d-code artwork. Students were observed using vocabulary from art d-coding exercise during art-making process, and were demonstrating new skills when solving their own visual problems. Spending time teaching visual literacy connects to areas beyond just describing and looking at artwork and can improve vocabulary and problem solving skills.

14. Discussion • D-coding matches Common Core Standards for visual arts. • How could D-coding be taught to 25-30 first graders at a time? • D-coding isn’t just for the art room. • Students recognize at a young age, through art, that there are multiple solutions to a problem.

15. Recommendations • More time • Larger group size • Compare results of different age groups

16. References Andersen, T., & Milbrandt, M. (2005). Art for life: Authentic instruction in art. New York: McGraw Hill. Aschbacher, P. (1996, May). A flare for the arts. Educational Leadership, 53(8), 40-43. Barrett, T. (1997). Talking about student art. Worcester, MA: Davis. Clark, B. (1992). Growing Up Gifted. New York: Merrill. Danko-McGhee, K., & Slutsky, R. (2007). The impact of early art experiences on literacy development. Reston, VA: National Association of Arts Educators. Dissanayake, E. (1995). Homo Aestheticus. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press.

17. References continued… Eisner, E. (2004). The arts and creation of mind. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Gnezda, N. (2011, January). Cognition and emotions in the creative process. Art Education, 64(1), 47-52. Heilman, K. M. (2005). Creativity and the brain. New York: Psychology Press. Jaquith, D. (2011, January). When is creativity? Art Education, 64(1), 14-19. Koestler, A. (1976). Bisociation in creation. In A. Rothenberg & C. R. Hausman (Eds.), The creativity question (pp. 108-113). Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Mednick, S. (1962). The associative basis of the creative process. In A. Rothenberg & C. R. Hausman (Eds.), The creativity question (pp. 227-237). Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

18. References continued… Rasmussen, K. (1998, June). Visual arts for all students: Making connections between art and life. Education Update, 40(4). Roe, A. (1963). Psychological approaches to creativity in science. In A. Rothenberg & C. R. Hausman (Eds.), The creativity question. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Rothenberg, A., & Hausman, C. R. (1976). The creativity question. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Rushlow, B. B. (2011, March). More than meets the eye. Educational Leadership, 68(6). Valentine, P. D. (2008, February). Thinking like an artist. Educational Leadership, 65(5).