a disciplinary approach to teaching the arts

National Art Education Association

A Disciplinary Approach to Teaching the ArtsAuthor(s): Robert J. WernerSource: Art Education, Vol. 33, No. 5 (Sep., 1980), pp. 24-25Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3192466 .

Accessed: 16/06/2014 22:09

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

National Art Education Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to ArtEducation.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.163 on Mon, 16 Jun 2014 22:09:27 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=naea

http://www.jstor.org/stable/3192466?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


A Disiplnar

Approach~~~~~~~~~

Teaching

the Arts

"It is Very Possible in This Time of Economic Retrenchment and Staffing Cutbacks That We Stand to Lose Much More Than Has Been Proven That We Will Gain by an Inter-Disciplinary Approach."

Robert J. Werner

In addressing any discussion about the merits of either an inter-

disciplinary or a disciplinary approach to teaching the arts, I believe we must be concerned with precisely defining the terms that we are using. The professional literature of the past few years has given a great deal of space to discussing the inter-disciplinary approach under a variety of titles for programs, such as allied arts. com- prehensive arts, arts in general education, and even aesthetic education. National programs sponsored by both the Federal government and private foundations have been the vogue of late. All of this has done little to clarify our terminology to any degree.

A generally accepted definition would probably be similar to the one used by the New York State Educa- tion Department, which simply states that an "inter-disciplinary approach to learning combines and interrelates two or more disciplines or subject areas." However, this does not fully explain some of the recent work in this field which has developed more specific designations that most of our literature has not yet taken into ac- count under the general rubric of "inter-disciplinary studies." The fol- lowing are examples of these ap- proaches:

1) Multi-disciplinary, that teaches two or more subjects independently under a general umbrella such as "fine arts" or "humanities" with no ex- tended cooperation or coordination between them. This would be the situ- ation in most traditional school sys- tems that often begin with these programs.

2) Pluri-disciplinary, in which there is cooperation between the disciplines in the presentation but without exten- sive coordination of the concepts being presented. This is perhaps where most experiments with inter- discipline studies begin and sometimes end.

3) Cross-disciplinary, indicates that one discipline's concepts dominate the others in a one-way communication. This, I would suggest, is often the case in the humanities offerings, particularly when they are under the auspices of literature or English de- partments.

4) Inter-disciplinary should refer to a program in which there is a high level of coordination of concepts and in which all participating disciplines

coordinate their teaching of concepts towards the development of an over- riding set of values or concepts.

5) Trans-disciplinary, in which there is a multi-level coordination of the entire education system with ef- fective inter-relations and discussions between all disciplines within that system. This Utopia is sometimes held as the ultimate in the inter-disciplinary literature.

For the sake of further discussion, I would like to primarily concentrate on my concerns about the general im- plementation of inter-disciplinary coordination.

Concerns

1) The Coordination and Communi- cation Needed for an Inter- Disciplinary Approach-Most of the literature that deals with this topic in some depth has indicated a consider- able amount of time is needed for coordinating this approach between several disciplines, particularly at the secondary level. They recommend that all teachers should be present for all the lessons and have a sufficient amount of time for individual and group preparation. There should also be a clarification of terms or concepts among the disciplines. This seems very unlikely in school organizations where the specialist teachers today seem to find it nearly impossible to have enough time for preparation as it is. The time for communication and planning among the teachers respon- sible for this type of instruction should not be minimized. There are many who fear that some administrators see this approach as a means of providing an opportunity to reduce the amount of time given to each of the separate arts for both preparation and teaching.

2) Superficial Exposure-Over the past decade or two we have been con- stantly creating an additive curriculum as more and more responsibilities have been placed upon the public schools to address various educational and social needs through their curriculum. I share the concern of many that this type of general integrated arts would be seen as another step in adding a new curricular em- phasis with less time for in-depth study for everyone. Such a lack of time would create superficiality and delute each of the several arts in-

Art Education September 1980 24



volved. This in turn could lead to a lack of prestige for all the arts. Spe- cialists who have worked so hard for their position in the school curriculum should think twice before relinquish- ing this position. It is not inconceiv- able that more than one administrator has seen an integrated arts program combining the work of two or more specialists within their school as particularly attractive at a time when budgets and curricula are being forced to cut back.

3) Maintaining the Uniqueness of Each Art-We stand to lose the uniqueness of each art discipline and the preser- vation of the value of each art in man's society by combining them into an inter-disciplinary approach that does not in itself provide substantial insight or answer the challenges of superficiality we now face in education. We are all aware that the strength of many programs in our school has come from the depth of experience that they brought to the students by providing significant arts experiences. In this regard, much of the literature gives cause for concern in that integrated arts programs are often sub- stantiated by what they do in support- ing other areas of the curriculum, particularly those which at the present time seem to have more financial and political support, such as special education, education for the handi- capped, and similar curricula. If the arts do not keep their own value as arts in and of themselves but are simply used for their educational useful- ness, we are apt to set education in the arts back decades. We must not lose the ground that we have gained in arts education but should stress the impor- tance that this area of study can have as a discipline in its own right.

4) The Ability to Remain Innovative-The above factors all impinge upon something that has not been touched on in most of the professional literature to any extent, and that is simply, whether it is possible, based on the normal professional preparation, for teachers in an inter- disciplinary approach to remain innovative. What is often reported are short-term projects in which the innovative approach has been tried with some success. Little has been reported over a long-term period of five or more years in which this innovation has been kept at the same level of ac- complishment, particularly where

money for consultants and materials was kept at a level to carry through the initial "halo effect" that any new project seems to have. Certainly the comparison to the steady achievement that is possible now in a single discipline with in-depth study has not been addressed to any degree.

5) Pre and In-Service Teacher Education-Of greatest concern is the education of teachers to be effec- tive in an inter-disciplinary curriculum. Professional training already is so prescribed by certification regu- altions that many are concerned as to how we can adequately train teachers for their professional responsibilities within the present four-year professional curriculum of a single discipline. This is heightened by the lack of background with which the students come to their major discipline.

For the past fifteen years or more, the discipline of music, for example, has had several national programs to develop a better approach to the intra-disciplinary education of teachers so that their professional training would give them the insights and skills to deal with all aspects of their one art. If this has been a prob- lem, and indeed it has, would not the preparation of teachers with the skills needed for teaching in an inter- disciplinary course be staggering?

From teacher preparation to public school programs at every level, we have developed arts programs that equate understanding with partici- pation and involvement. This has re- quired time and well-structured programs from the elementary level on. It has been our experience that in either professional preparation or school programs, non-performance courses leading towards "appreciation" or "understanding" rather than personal experience with the art medium often leads to less than satisfactory results. In the literature that I have studied in regard to inter-disciplinary studies even at the college level, the most successful have been based on a curriculum in which competence in a single discipline has been basic. Thus, I feel an attempt to further fragment and diversify the specialization of teachers in the arts could have serious ramifications in the quality of their students' experiences over a period of time.

There are few general fine arts majors and as yet no program of cer-

tification for them as inter-disciplinary arts teachers that I am aware of; however, many teachers in one art form or another have been attracted to the sis- ter arts as a result of the aesthetic satisfaction they have achieved in an in-depth study of one of these arts. Perhaps this should serve as -amodel for us in these considerations. Let us provide an in-depth education in at least one discipline that will provide the kind of satisfaction that will in- spire students to seek other experiences in other arts. It would seem to me that at the very least we must train teachers to have the self-discipline and the personal experience of an in- depth education in at least one art form, and the skills to communicate it to children.

In conclusion, I must repeat the primary concern of many-that we be extremely careful not to throw away what we have worked so hard through the years to achieve: a place for the teaching of our various arts within the public school curricula. It is very possible in this time of economic retrenchment and staffing cutbacks that we stand to lose much more than has been proven that we will gain by an inter-disciplinary approach. I would be less than candid if I did not say that I am suspicious that some of the support that we are receiving from educa- tors and their interest in inter- disciplinary studies has behind it the hope that new and more economical means of instruction in the arts can be found. This is often supported by teachers in the arts who feel threatened and believe that their con- tinuing employment might well de- pend upon joining this trend toward integration, little mindful of the effect that it might have on demoting the status of their art to simply be an aid to the "basic" subjects.

There is no panacea for any of our challenges in education, but I hope that we will examine very carefully any change that could delute the experiences that have been a part of a good education in the arts. If we are really serious about inter-disciplinary studies, let us start with a change in certification requirements that would allow for the training of professionals with such diverse backgrounds and then provide them the remuneration that reflects this breadth of training.

Robert J. Werner is director, School of Music, University of Arizona, Tuc- son, Arizona.

Art Education September 1980 25



a disciplinary approach to teaching the arts

Documents