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A Museum Collaboration and Interdisciplinary Adventure with Preservice TeachersAuthor(s): DEBORAH KUSTERSource: Art Education, Vol. 61, No. 5 (September 2008), pp. 33-39Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20694755 .

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A Museum Collaboration

and Interdisciplinary

Adventure

with Preservice Teachers

fcfo* BY DEBORAH K?STER

m "Why don t you practice what you preach?"

^?? m / How many times have we heard, said, or thought that?

As an art education professor, I plead guilty as

charged. Contrary to what I advocate, I plan each semester of my art education methods and

practicum courses with a tightly scheduled and

prescribed agenda of separate, specified topics to

present to my students. Kowalchuk (1997) denoted

that universities rarely teach art content in the

format that is appropriate for presentation in the

schools. She cited art history courses, for example, that typically present information chronologically through lecture. Bohn, Reed, and Jerich (2001)

noted that universities traditionally promote the

"teacher-as-dispenser-of-knowledge" model (p. 15) and reward individual achievement, not collabora

tive work (Rutherford, 2005). Are preservice art

teachers graduating from our institutions having

only upon rare occasion personally experienced the

teaching strategies we preach to be most appro

priate and meaningful? If people have difficulty applying what they know in novel situations (Perkins & Salomon, 1988), how can novice teachers be

expected to successfully bridge the gap between educational theories and practice?

This is an account of my journey of reformatting my courses to provide preservice teachers personal

experiences with theories that I believe are impor tant, and, therefore, putting into practice my own

preaching. The purpose of this article is to describe

an investigative project implemented the fall semester of 2006 with my art education students.

I describe here what I witnessed my students

experiencing, as well as my own reflections of this

semesters adventure.

Teaching Strategies One important curriculum strategy that I promote

to my future teachers is critical, aesthetic inquiry in

response to interpreting works of art. Critical, aesthetic inquiry is based on an ongoing wondering and questioning about art (Parsons, 2000). It

incorporates new contextual information, with an

ongoing reexamination of ones views in light of the

new information. The viewer understands that

interpreting a work of art includes active dialogue with others so as to consider different voices for an

intersubjective understanding (Parsons, 2000; Cary, 1998; Mayer, 1999; Moxey, 1994). Critical, aesthetic

inquiry supports scholars such as Bruner (1986), Paul (1993), Stout (1997), and Weil (1994), who believed learning is a constructive process.

Knowledge cannot be simply transmitted; we must

make sense of things for ourselves. The ways

knowledge is processed and how it reflects human

interests, ideology, and experiences need to be a part of the curriculum. "The emphasis is not on content

SEPTEMBER 2008 / ART EDUCATION 33



3



itself, but on how students think about content, on digesting ideas and finding meaning in art and all other subjects through their own

thinking" (Stout, 1997, p. 98). To promote critical, aesthetic inquiry the

teacher takes on the role identified by Bohn, Reed, and Jerich (2001) as "orchestrator-of

learning" (p. 49), who arranges and exposes students to a variety of experiences, view

points, and contexts. The teacher

supports learners in under

standing how to evaluate the information in relation to their interpretations. David N. Perkins (1994, 2000) emphasized critical inquiry into works of art as a way to develop what he calls the

"intelligent eye." He speaks of the goal to

develop reflective thinking, a capacity of mind

that implies "patience, open-mindedness, concern, commitment, persistence, and a spirit of investigation" (Smith, 2000, p. 120).

Another important teaching strategy is

introducing interdisciplinary connections or

integrating other disciplines within the study and creation of works of art. The contextual

information such as the social, historical, and

cultural help students better understand the

significance and meanings of art from an

interdisciplinary perspective (Wilson, 1986; Tarnas, 1991; Shlain, 1991; Neperud, 1995; Ulbricht, 1998). According to Ulbricht (1998), collaboration adds another dimension to

interdisciplinary curriculum, allowing each

participant to make unique contributions to

the learning environment. Ulbricht recom

mended using interdisciplinary teaching so that new understandings are developed as a

result of the connections.

In addition, having personally been both a classroom teacher and a museum educator, I stress the value of museums as community resources and collaborative partners. I was

continually astounded by the significance of

interacting with original works of art for

visitors of all ages. Hazelroth and Moore

(1998) were not exaggerating when they stated that: "Original works are inherent storehouses

of profound and lifechanging experiences"

(p. 23). Teaching with objects of art opens indispensable avenues for understanding ourselves and creating links of understanding into other societies throughout the world past and present. Art teachers that include

interdisciplinary connections when planning museum visits can provide rich experiences for

their students (Berry, 1998; Floyd, 2002).

The Project The project was centered on a partnership with the Arkansas Arts Center, the

states primary art museum, which is located in Little Rock, within commuting distance from the university where I teach, the University of Central Arkansas

(UCA). I wrote and received a grant from the UCA Foundation to have six works

from the Arts Center s permanent collection reproduced into teaching poster sets.

The posters would include information about the artist, the artwork, the historical/

cultural contexts, suggested inquiry strategies and extension activities printed on the

backside. The reproduction posters were to be made available for use by teachers in

schools across the state.

The selection process for the six works of art was rather intuitive on my part. I met

with the Arts Center s Curator of Education and we began looking at works with released copyrights. After randomly looking at various choices, several "called to

me," with one or two falling into certain categories. Eventually an underlying relation to music was identified with several works, so we proceeded to search for

other works under that theme, attempting to diversify in terms of art styles, media,

subject matter, and cultural contexts. The resulting six finalists were: At the Clef Club (1975) by Romare Bearden; Jazz Band (1922) by Max Beckmann; Suprematist Composition (circa 1922) by Ilya Chashnik; Isadora Duncan (circa 1910-1916) by Robert Henri; Addicted to Rhythm-M-#1 (1994) by Stoney Lamar; and Dark Rapture (circa 1935) by Howard Stern.

My art education students were given the challenge to research the art and artists

represented by these six works from the Arts Centers collection. They chose what

information would be most helpful and applicable for teachers in the classroom. In addition, they were to design specific suggestions for ways to utilize the works of art to build curricular lessons and units. Weight was given to their assignments because

they were participants in a project that would result in a product for other educators

to utilize. We spent the large part of the semester investigating these six works of art

from various perspectives. Though I had chosen the works of art, I was not

acquainted with several of the artists, nor did I have a preconceived idea as to the

final outcome of our project. I was in the role of facilitator, not expert.

Our Semester's Adventure The first days of class I lead students in spontaneous interpretive activities to

cultivate personal connections to the works of art.11 asked, "Which one of these

works of art would you choose to be a new friend and why?" While closely observing each work, they brainstormed lists of adjectives, adverbs, nouns, and

verbs to form descriptive and cumulative sentences and cinquain2 poems. After this

acquaintance period, students were asked to list questions they had about their "new

friends," which formed the outline or foundation for their future research and my future facilitative planning.

I scheduled times for students to conduct their research using primary sources

within the Arkansas Arts Center Library and while actually viewing the original artworks. To integrate other disciplines into our inquiry, I provided images of our six

works of art and sought responses and connecting references from several literature

and music professors at UCA. Students' questions about Henri's gestural drawing of

Isadora Duncan prompted me to contact a modern dancer from Little Rock to

further our understanding. In our search for musical connections to Chashnik's

Suprematist Composition, my Internet searches led me to a Russian saxophonist,

Sergey Letov, who had participated in a "Suprematizm Project" in 2003. We

corresponded over the course of the semester, and I purchased a compact disc of

their original musical performance for my students to experience. In addition, I

integrated a connection to technology as a teaching tool by introducing WebQuests3 and requesting students create WebQuests that referenced our local Arts Center's

works. Finally, I arranged times with cooperating art teachers for my students to

teach art units to children in local elementary and high schools.




Some of the interdisciplinary highlights from this semester s project included dancer Lucy DuBoses visit to

our classroom. As we focused our attention on Henri's

drawing of Isadora Duncan, she read key passages from

Duncans autobiography, My Life. She draped herself and

performed a dance much as Duncan would have as we sat

encircled around her. It Was as if the drawing took on life and we could visualize Robert Henri passionately striving to capture her essence. Edward Gordon Craig was quoted as

describing Duncan:

She was speaking her own language, not echoing any ballet master, and so she came to move as no one had

ever seen anyone move before. The dance ended, she

again stood quite still. No bowing, no smiling?

nothing at all. Then again the music is off, and she

runs from it?it runs after her then?for she has gone ahead of it. (Zavrel, 2002) Dr. Jonathan Glenn, a professor from the English

department and associate provost, also honored us with

a visit. Glenn thoughtfully considered what poems came

to mind when viewing our focused works of art. The

minimalist and non-objective qualities of Chashniks (a student of Kasimar Malevich) Suprematist Composition was fascinating. Glenn thought of poet Archibald MacLeish (1925) as he viewed this composition of red and black squares:

MacLeish's poem, "Ars poetica," is a sort of manifesto

for the being rather than the meaning of a poem. After a series of lovely analogies (which, of course,

refer relentlessly to things outside the poem, just as we might expect redness or rectangularity or the

sense of "entrance" in Ilya Chasnik's work to evoke

connections in a viewer's mind), MacLeish throws

down this famous challenge: "A poem should not

mean / But be." (personal communication, Sept. 23,

2006) Glenn made another interesting comparison with the

poem, "How Everything Happens (Based on a Study of the Wave)" written by May Swenson (1970) and

published in Iconographs (1970). This poem was referenced in relation to Addicted to Rhythm-M-#1 (1994) by Stoney Lamar. Just as Lamar's wooden sculpture piece echoed the rhythms within the wood, the structure of the

poem echoed the rhythm of a wave. Glenn's poetic

readings opened our eyes to the artistry of language as a

parallel to visual imagery.

The value of the investigative process using primary sources was exemplified in our trips to the Arkansas Arts

Center. My students experienced first-hand the support and cooperation of the museum staff. The librarian

gathered files and books on each of our artists and

opened the library before public hours to accommodate

our class time. The curators allowed us into the vault area

for viewing pieces not currently on display, and actually included the Bearden work in the coinciding permanent collection exhibition especially for us. I witnessed my students' enthusiasm for their "mission" heightened as

they were treated as important players in this collabora

tive project. One student noted, "I learned about dealing with museums 'behind-the-scenes' and that they are

receptive, not standoffish at all, in dealing with educators.

They have great resources, like the library and some

contact information" (personal communication,

December 11, 2006). Another student exclaimed, "Museums are our friends. They have a great amount of

resources that we can use. I didn't know museums had a

library, much less that it was open to the public"

(personal communication, December 11, 2006).

By the time in the semester we visited the museum,

we regarded the artworks as our personal "friends."

Students spent a long time closely examining and

recording the finest of details, and noting the differences in our previously seen reproductions to the original

pieces. I especially remember their responses to Bearden's

watercolor, At the Clef Club, displayed in one of the

galleries. The size (41V2 in. 29 in.) was much larger than expected and the brilliance of the colors spontane

ously applied was quite striking. As one student put it:

This research helped me tremendously in preparation for a lesson unit. First, going to the Arkansas Arts

Center and seeing At the Clef Club was exciting and motivational. Seeing it made me eager about what

was to come. I wanted to learn more. Second, I

believe the more you know about an artist, his

techniques, and the artwork itself, the better you will

do in presenting a lesson plan to a class. Also, if a

teacher is excited about what they are presenting, students will feel that excitement, and they will be

more receptive, (personal communication,

December 11,2006)

Artist Stoney Lamar is a contemporary artist, living in

North Carolina. The Arts Center provided one of my students his contact information, and she was able to

conduct an interview with Lamar over the phone. Her

excitement about actually talking to the artist was

evident in the following class time as she shared this

experience, as well as in the quality of her research paper. As she revealed, "I learned how much work is involved

in researching artists and I viewed the artwork in a

different light?a better connection. This was a new and

different experience and it made writing a paper less

painful?more interactive" (personal communication,

December 11,2006).

36 ART EDUCATION / SEPTEMBER 2008



"Seeing it made me eager about what was to come. I wanted to learn more. Second, I believe the

more you know about an artist, his

techniques, and the artwork itself, the better you will do in

presenting a lesson plan to a class.

Also, if a teacher is excited about what they are presenting, students will feel that excitement, and they will be more receptive."

The Beckmann and Chashnik works were retrieved from the vault for students to study.




Some Concluding Reflections I came away from the semester s experience with a determi

nation to continue teaching these art education courses

centered on a focused project from which all assignments will

connect. As one student remarked, "Being completely saturated

with something like that was amazing" (personal communica

tion, December 11, 2006). The project not only provided the framework for my assignments and students' research, but I was

surprised at the way it bonded my students into a cohesive team

working toward a common goal. We began having our own silly insider jokes and references, such as the appearance of

Suprematist squares as temporary tattoos or on headings of

assigned papers. Another positive outcome was when students

were formally presenting their research to the rest of the class; the others listened with invested interest because everyone had

submitted the questions that the researcher was addressing. Even one student who was less enthusiastic remarked, "It's good to get that familiar with an artwork. I really didn't like doing it at the time, but when I got done, I felt like I had a new best friend" (personal communication, December 11, 2006).

From another vantage point, I believe I W3S able tO

have the "luxury" of facilitating a project with such a narrow scope and focus because my students came to my classes with a broad knowledge base of art history and studio production. Within the context of their previously acquired skills and knowledge, we could zero in on this project. Though I

was able to connect my courses' objectives and assignments

smoothly within the focused project, I was relying on other

courses to have prepared my students with other skills and

knowledge that were taught in a more traditional lecture or

studio-based manner. In other words, I gained a further

appreciation for the necessity of varied types of teaching

strategies to meet the various learning goals and needs of

students.

Along with all of the accomplishments, the application of this

investigative project into exemplary art lessons that were taught in local schools was not as successfully realized. My art

education courses include a field component, therefore toward

the later part of the semester, students were required to write a

short unit of 4-5 lessons to go out and teach in the public schools. I included incorporating our focused artworks in their

field assignment. However, much to my surprise, students

faltered in ideas of integrating the artworks into their lesson

plans. When faced with the challenge of planning and teaching a short art unit, their primary focus went to a studio skill or

technique that they wished to present. With the art production element as the starting point for their planning, they found

focusing on the six artworks to be too limiting. Instead of

embracing the experiences they had recently undergone, they desired to present skills and knowledge that were more familiar

and mastered. I think building art lessons around studio

production is a more natural inclination for preservice teachers.

My students were less willing to experiment with new teaching

strategies when faced with the unpredictable and stressful

situation of teaching unknown students in a school setting.

Though my students had a valuable experience with critical

inquiry and interdisciplinary approaches to exploring selected

works of art in collaboration with a community art museum, I

learned that I cannot assume that they will be able to immedi

ately and confidently transfer their experience and under

standing into effective curriculum units. My students used the

artworks in their lessons in a minimal way, but our semester s

project did not directly prepare them for writing an art unit. As I continue to create and facilitate similar types of problem based projects in the future, I must also integrate meaningful studio experiences that can become models for my students'

applications into their own curriculum writing, thus continuing to better practice what I preach.

Deborah K?ster is Assistant Professor of Art at the University of Central Arkansas, Conway. E-mail: [email protected]

REFERENCES

Berry, . (March 1998). A focus on art museum/school collaborations. Art Education, 51(2), 8-14.

Bohn, A.P., Reed, J.H., & Jerich, K.R (2001). A cooperative venture in

support of innovative and reflective college teaching. Journal of Cooperation & Collaboration in College Teaching, 10, 49-57.

Bruner, J. (1986). Actual minds, possible worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Cary, R. (1998). Critical art pedagogy: Foundations for postmodern art

education. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc.

Duncan, I. (1942, 1927). My life. New York: Liveright.

Floyd, M. (2002). More than just a field trip... Making relevant curricular connections through museum experiences. Art

Education, 55(5), 39-46.

Hazelroth, S., & Moore, J.G. (1998). Spinning the web: Creating a

structure of collaboration between schools and museums. Art

Education, 51(2), 20-25.

Kowalchuk, E. (1997). Differing perceptions of art and teaching: Examining how beginning and experienced teachers think about art in instruction. Prepared for Stories about Perception: Honouring the

Work of Ron MacGregor. Vancouver: University of British Columbia.

MacLeish, A. (1925)."Ars poetica." [On-line] Retrieved July 26, 2007 from http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15222

Mayer, M. (1999). Precious minds and precious objects: Implications of the new histories for art education. (Unpublished Dissertation). The

Pennsylvania State University.

Moxey, K. (1994). The practice of theory: Postconstructuralism, cultural

politics, and art history. New York: Cornell University Press.

Neperud, R. (Ed.) (1995). Context, content, and community in art

education. New York: Teachers College Press.

Parsons, MJ. (2000). Stages of aesthetic development. In R.A. Smith

(Ed.) Readings indiscipline-based art education (pp. 274-280). Reston, VA: National Art Education Association.

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Paul, R. (1993). Critical thinking: How to prepare students for a rapidly changing world. Dillon Beach, CA: Center For Critical Thinking and Moral Critique.

Perkins, D.N. (1994). The intelligent eye: Learning to think by looking at art.

Santa Monica, CA: Getty Center for Education in the Arts.

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Readings in discipline-based art education (pp. 153-161). Reston, VA:

National Art Education Association.

Perkins, D.N., & Salomon, G. (1988). Teaching for transfer. Educational

Leadership, 46(1), 22-32.

Rutherford, J.W. (2005). Architects meet arts adminstrators. Art Education,

58(4), 13-19.

Shlain, L. (1991). Art and physics: Parallel visions in space, time, and light. New York: Morrow.

Smith, R.A. (2000). Introduction. In Ralph A. Smith, (Ed.) Readings in

discipline-based art education: A literature of educational reform (pp. 119-122). Reston, VA: National Art Education Association.

Stout, C. J. (1997). Multicultural reasoning. Studies in Art Education, 38(2), 96-111.

Swenson, M. (1970). How Everything Happens (Based on a Study of the

Wave). In Iconographs; Poems (Unknown Binding). New York: Scribners.

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Torp, L., 8c Sage, S. (2002). Problems as possibilities: Problem-based learning for K-16 education. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and

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Ulbricht, J. (1998). Interdisciplinary art education reconsidered. Art Education,

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Weil, D. (1994). Towards a critical multicultural literacy. Inquiry: Critical

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Zavrel, B.J. (2002). Isadora Duncan and 'The Dance.' [On-line] Retrieved July 23, 2007 from http://www.meaus.com/isadora-duncan.htm

ENDNOTES 1 These interpretative strategies were taken from Berry, N., et al. (1998).

Experience Art: A Handbook for Teaching and Learning with Works of Art.

Aspen, CO: Crystal Productions.

2 Cinquain poems contain five lines. The first line is one word, the second line is two words, the third line is three words, the fourth line is four words, and

the final line is one word. A template may be found on page 68 in Berry, N., et

al. (1998). Experience Art: A Handbook for Teaching and Learning with Works

of Art. Aspen, CO: Crystal Productions.

3 For more information about WebQuests visit: http://webquest.org/index.php and http://webqueat.org/search/

%3

rt esluc?tioii

Master of Art Education (MAE) 36 credit hours.

Designed for teachers who are already licensed.

Pamela G. Taylor Sarah Bramqan Melanie Buffinolo

Nancy Lantpert Sara Wilson McKa

Applications due January 15 for fall admission For more information, contact [email protected]

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