First, I am not sure I want art to be every child’s favorite subject. Strange as it may sound, I actually enjoy trying to “win over” a student who is resistant or initially apathetic about participating in one of my classes. Besides, we shouldn’t assume that all children love art any more than we should assume they love reading or math. We have to engage them and share art/artists that can get them excited to learn more on their own.

I totally agree that students are often left outside the final process of creating curriculum, but they are not exactly disregarded altogether. While it would be a great challenge (and a worthy one) to have students participate in this process, perhaps conversations and informal surveys/interviews can help a school or district inform their curriculum through student participation?

The word “differentiation” is thrown around a lot and I always worry when teachers are asked to do it without any specifics as to what it looks and sounds like. While I think the teachers I work with on a daily basis do a pretty good job of differentiating instruction, I am curious about what you think a differentiated classroom and curriculum would look and sound like? How would it be different from the classrooms you are describing? Also, and I mentioned this in the original column, I don’t see much evidence of student ideas being suppressed. Rather, I see teachers who are often challenged with the idea of effectively incorporating contemporary themes and processes into their classrooms.

I completely agree with your statement, “…coercing (students) to comply with assignments of which they have had no input, and rendering them as passive recipients of knowledge is problematic. Not only does it limit the possibilities of what students are capable of creating and learning, it removes them from the experience of designing and solving their own artistic problems.” As art educators who realize this and are willing to tackle the issue, it’s our responsibility to make the learning fit the learner more closely. This involves more than just coming up with new assignments. It involves looking at what our students know and are able to do both when they arrive and by the time they leave our classrooms. Then we must compare this with what they knew and WANTED to learn coming in. From there it’s a matter of adjusting our curriculum and being flexible moving forward.

There is a major problem in art education today.

Art should be every child’s most favorite subject in the school curricula. Humans are connected by evolution to artmaking.

Within the hetergenous classroom populations that provide
the bulk of students in general art education programs, students are basically left outside the curriculum decision making process.

My observation, is the vast majority of art teachers execute a curriculum that is planned by them, outside of student’s innate abilities, talents and interests.

Students generally do not have input into these important decisions.

Learning for the most part is not consensual.

Most art programs do not differentiate instruction for heterogenous classroom groups.

Now let’s make a distinction. If a student consents to a certain approach to learning, is told what to do, and how to do it, that is the student’s choice.

But when a student’s ideas are ignored or suppressed, that is what I call marginalization.

Art learning should have integrity and credibility with the students who experience it. Students have to care about their learning in order for it to sink in. Otherwise, it goes into one ear and out the other. Learning experiences should be personal and profound.

Placing students at the periphery of curricular decision making, coercing them to comply with assignments of which they have had no input, and rendering them as passive recipients of knowledge is problematic. Not only does it limit the possibilities of what students are capable of creating and learning, it removes them from the experience of designing and solving their own artistic problems. From an art advocacy perspective, this is poisonous.

One cannot make the claim that art education experiences empower students to become independent, innovative, creative thinkers if they are left out of the decision making processes central to the ideas they express.

Joe, thanks so much for allowing my comments.
Best wishes, and warmest regards.
Sincerely,
Clyde