How Black Mountain College Applied their Beliefs and Philosophies of Education

By: Nina Bubolz

BMC
Founded in 1933 in Black Mountain, North Carolina 25-100 Students a year Not an Art School- Arts+ Interdisciplinary

Encouraged to take risks, grow as a community, It was challenging and intense; a thrilling and thriving place to be intellectually. required nothing but expected everything - a total commitment of emotion, intellect, and
creativity.(BMC ).

Radical Thinkers
Josef and Anni Albers of the Bauhaus school, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Robert Rauschenberg, Buckminster Fuller, Willem de Kooning, Cy Twombly, Robert Motherwell, Franz Kline, M.C. Richards, Charles Olsen and Jacob Lawrence

While the college was short lived (19331956), Still produced radical thinkers, citizens, artists, and impacted higher education/liberal arts.

What were the founding philosophies and beliefs?

John Dewey
1859 1952 20th Century Philosopher: Experimental Education

Learning by doing
The teacher is not in the school to impose certain ideas or to form certain habits in the child, but is there as a member of the community to select the influences which shall affect the child and to assist him in properly responding to these influences (Dewey, 9). School as social institution, mirror democracy

Relating content creates deeper, and longer-lasting connection with the new knowledge
Experience and interact with the subject matter, learning and curriculum

John Andrew Rice

1888 1968 Founded BMC He was an educational theorist and teacher Left Rollins -The centrality of artistic experience to support learning in all disciplines; -the value of experiential learning; -the practice of democratic shared governance by faculty and students; - the value of social and cultural endeavors outside the classroom; -elimination of oversight from outside trustees - Thus yielding a more complete person.

Philosophies
-The centrality of artistic experience -The practice of democratic shared governance by faculty and students -Elimination of oversight from outside trustees -The students interest -Learning through process not fact memorization -Teacher as resourceful guide - To be aware , feel and see truth -No feelings spared for the sake of truth.

Governance
Democratic example. There were no outside controls the governing body was made up of devoted, full time staff members and select student representatives Self-goverend sense of meeting Likeliness of a beneficial and satisfactory outcome.

Work Program
Construction, wiring, farming/harvesting, kitchen duty, cleaning, repairs my own experience was such that I did learn by doing. Building a community, equality, learning by doing, democracy, interdisciplinary experience Applied cooperative intelligence

People must be as free as possible to make their own choices and create their own lives - that radical but fundamentally American vision of individual responsibility BMC individual responsibility supported the decision to omit tests, grades, regulations and requirements . Allowed professors a freedom in choosing subjects to teach fearless experimentation and rigor of the courses inevitably encounter extensive reading, papers,projects and class discussions Lecturing was extremely rare

The Classroom & Roles

Joseph Albers
1888 1976
-1923-1933 Bauhaus School of Art and Design Germany - Bauhaus similar to BMC -Not focused on end product. To open eyes. - Disciplined approach to composition, practice, self-control, line, color and medium

-There is no meaning to teaching art unless it is a teaching for how to live your life (cooperation of elements) -Teacher to develop the artist in everyone -Through process, develop engagement and understanding, more than appreciation

John Andrew Rice Classroom

-The Socratic method was/is referred to as thought in action -Develop skills applicable elsewhere -Not to be confused with debate -Teacher not providing facts and answers/ preconceived solutions - Stripped -Students would submit a written work once a week -Critique

Graduation
-Non-traditional graduation process -no credits, nor grades yet high expectation -Juniors small classes, seniors tutorials

-Readiness and assessment

-Took it twice: the first time grueling as he was not ready, and the second time enjoyable as he was much more matured in his work. -Focuses on student

Conclusion
-Downfall

-Radical initiatives born of a restlessness of an unsatisfactory old system.

-Many progressive and liberal arts colleges went on to take and borrow from the BMC

-Philosophies were fulfilled through: self governance, work program, how not the what & complete person, seminar, focus on student development

Discussion
How is Seton Hill alike and different from Black Mountain? What would you have liked or disliked about attending Black Mountain?

BMC: A Radical Vision: Education." Black Mountain College Organization. 2010. Web. _ <http://www.blackmountaincollege.org>. Dewey, John. The Child and the Curriculum, and The School and Society. [Chicago]: University of Chicago, _ 1956. Print. Duberman, Martin Bauml. Black Mountain: An Exploration in Community. Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith, _ _ 1988. Print Harris, Mary Emma. The Arts at Black Mountain College. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 1987. Print Katz, Vincent, and Martin Brody. Black Mountain College: Experiment in Art. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2003. _ Print. Oman, Erica. "The Art Story: Black Mountain College." The Art Story: Modern Art Movements, Artists, _ _ Ideas and Topics. 2012. Web. 20 Apr. 2012. <http://www.theartstory.org/school-black-_ ___ mountaincollege.htm>. Reynolds, Katherine C. "He Influence of John Dewey on Experimental Colleges: The Black Mountain _ _ Example." Reading. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. San _ __ Fransisco. Sept. 1995. 1995. Web. 15 Apr. 2012. <ht://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED385200.pdf>. "Webb School," Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2012, Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. 23 Apr 2012 _ __ _ http://www.tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=1481 _ __

Works Cited