AngelinaBurkley

Art133
UnitPaper1
IdentityanBigIdeas
InthefirstunitwewerelearningaboutidentityinrelationtoBigIdeasandwhatthose
meanforartists.Bigideasaretheoverallthemeofanartist'sworkbutBigIdeasaredifferent
fromsubjectmatterthatmaypresentedinanartistwork,(Walker,149).Itisimportanttolearn
aboutthisaspectofartbecauseIdontthinkmanypeoplethinkaboutartashavinganidentityor
teachingothersabouttheiridentityandwhatthatcantranslatetofordifferentpeople.Through
theexplorationinthearticleslikeArtmakingasMeaningMakingbyFranco,WardandUnrath
andinthearticleTeachingMeaninginArtmaking,bySydneyWalkerwe'reabletoseethe
importanceinteachingartingeneralandtheimportanceofteachingthemeaninginartandwhat
thatcouldprovideforsomestudentsandtheirdevelopmentasindividuals.
Walker(2001),discussestheideathatartistaughtbutweneverreallyquestionwhyits
taughtorwhatwecanlearnfromit.Thisisimportantbecauseartinitselfhasanidentityandwe
needtoknowwhatthatmeanstousasteachersandstudentsneedtoknowwhatthatmeansas
wellorbeabletointerpretitsoitwillbeeasierforthemtounderstandthemselvesandtheir
identities..Walkerstatesthat,Personalinterestplaysasignificantroleindirectingtheartists
choiceofideas,(Walker,148)Thisisacriticalideabecauseifstudentsdonthavepersonal
interestinaspecificsubjectmatterortheyarenotgiventhechancetoexplorewhattheir
personalinterestmaymeantothemitcanstifletheircreativityandmakeitharderforthemto
learnandtheteachertoteachthetopicorsubjectmatter.Withtheideaofidentityinart
educationwealsoneedtorecognizemanythingsgointoteachingartsothatstudentcanactually
takemeaningoutofit,Artinstructionshouldembracearthistory,artcriticism,andthe

philosophyofart.Implementationofcomprehensivearteducationnotonlyexpandsthecontent
ofartinstructionbutalso.altersthenotionsofsuchfactorsasthelearner,theteacher,creativity
andadultartwithinthecontextoftheclassroom,(Walker,143)Ifwecanchangethestructure
ofhowartistaughtandlearnedthestudentmaybeabletofullygraspbiggerideasposedto
them.OnewaytodoIcoulddothisinnafterschoolprogramwithkindergartnersistopose
essentialquestionslike,Whatisyourfavoritesubject(s)inschoolandwhy?,orIcouldask
them,Whydoyoulikecomingtothisafterschoolprogram?becausethereisnooneanswerto
thisquestionbutmultipleandnoneofthemarerightorwrongandtheycanteachstudentsmany
thingswithouttheirrealizingit.Anotherwaytochangethecurriculumtobetterteachthe
subjectmattercouldbetointegrateBigIdeasintodifferentsubjectsbeingtaught.Forinstance,
insteadofonetopiclikerelationshipsbeingtaughtinanartclassIcouldalsousethattopicto
teachaboutscience,mathematicsorhistory.Icouldteachaboutrelationshipsinascienceor
chemistryclassanddoademonstrationonitandalsoincorporateadessentialquestionlike,
Whatdorelationshipsmeantoyou?Thiscanmakeitsotheconceptscanbetaughtatmultiple
levelsandunderstoodatthosemultiplelevels.
References:
Franco,M.J,Ward,A.,&Unrath,K.(2015).Artmakingasmeaningmaking:Anewmodelfor
preserviceelementarygeneralists.ArtEducation,68(5),2833.

Walker,S.(2001).Teachingmeaninginartmaking.Worchester,MA:Davis.