An Art Appreciation Teaching Model for Visual Aesthetic Education

Author(s): Per Johansen

Source: Studies in Art Education , 1979, Vol. 20, No. 3 (1979), pp. 4-14
Published by: National Art Education Association

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1320168

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4

An Art Appreciation Teaching Model for Visual Aesthetic

Education

Per Johansen

Most art educators agree that some form nent

of of aesthetic education. Broudy (Note
aesthetic education constitutes an impor- 1), on the other hand, indicates that the
tant aspect of education in the visual arts. result of aesthetic experience is not
However, there is disagreement among aes- primarily cognitive. He holds that the
theticians and educators as to exactly what great exemplars of art refine and increase
"aesthetic education" stands for. Smith the precision of feeling, just as science in-
(1970) has indicated some of the different creases the orderliness and precision of
views related to the meaning of the term: thinking. Thus, Broudy's position is that
aesthetic experience refines feeling as op-
The expression 'aesthetic education' has posed to thought.
a variety of meanings. It can imply (1) The third use of the term referred to by
any kind of education in music, litera- Smith can be dismissed as being too broad
ture, the visual and performing arts, etc.; to be properly called "aesthetic educa-
(2) a particular approach to arts instruc-
tion". It, too, represents a misuse of the
tion, e.g., one that stresses the refine-
term. The fact that a program combines
ment of a special kind of aesthetic experi-
the arts and the humanities and also might
ence, judgment, attitude, form of under-
standing, or way of knowing, in contrast, stress team teaching says nothing about
say, to the development of a general cre- whether the focus of the program is upon
ative disposition; (3) an interrelated arts the aesthetic aspects of works of art or
and humanities program, which might other phenomena.
stress team teaching; (4) the development The fourth use of the term given by
of sensitivity to the aesthetic aspects of Smith is exemplified by the work of
anything whatsoever, including the Gotschalk (1968) and Villemain (1966).
aesthetic character of the environment, or
These writers, in contrast to Broudy and
even of teaching and learning activities,
Smith, conceive aesthetic education as an
irrespective of subject or context of
schooling. 'Aesthetic education' may education that develops sensitivities to
imply all of the above things and other the aesthetic aspects of experience within
things as well. (p. 13) any endeavor. It does not limit itself to the
use of exemplary works of art in the class-
The first use of the term given by Smith, is room, but also allows for the use of the
inconsistent with its usage in the litera- popular arts, crafts, nature, and utilitarian
ture of aesthetics (Arnstine, 1966, Got- objects.
shalk, 1968, Kaelin, 1968, Reid, 1968, and This brief discussion of aesthetic educa-
Villemain, 1966) and can, therefore, be re- tion points to some of the recurrent prob-
garded as a misuse of the term. lems in aesthetic education which can be
The second use of the term is expressed in the following questions:
exemplified in the work of Broudy 1. (Note
What are the objectives of aesthetic
1) and Smith (1968). For these writers, education?
aesthetic education is best accomplished 2. How, if at all, is aesthetic education
through the exclusive use of aesthetic different from "visual arts education"?
exemplars in the form of a relatively small 3. Should aesthetic education utilize
number of classic value models. These only art exemplars rather than crafts, ad
value models are the works of art which, vertizing, nature, etc. as models for
in the opinion of art experts, represent theaesthetic experience?
highest standards of aesthetic quality. 4. Does art appreciation differ signifi-
Smith stresses a method for refining cantly from art criticism, and if so, how?
aesthetic experience which is based on 5. How, if at all, is the structure of art
Feldman's (1971) theory of art criticism, appreciation relevant to achieving the ob-
and emphasizes the intellectual compo- jectives of aesthetic education?

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An Art Appreciation Teaching Model 5

6. What, if any, is the significance of art contextualistic view of aesthetic experi-

criticism in aesthetic education? ence. From this position, "quality" is un-
7. Through what kind of teaching can derstood as the total character derived
the objectives of aesthetic education be from a fusion of all the felt parts of a
best achieved? whole. This total felt quality is referred to
These questions and the preceding dis- by Dewey as "pervasive quality" (p. 37).
cussion indicate that the nature and Dewey strongly emphasizes that neither
breadth of aesthetic education is still prob- past associations nor present visual
lematic. stimuli alone control aesthetic experience.
Given this background, it is clear that He discounts the notion of an instantane-
theory construction and program devel- ous experience as a biological and psycho-
opment relative to aesthetic education re- logical impossibility and instead sees an
quires a conceptual analysis of different experience to be the result of "fund-
views of such education. Based on such ing"-the cumulative building of percep-
analysis, the nature of aesthetic education tions (p. 123).
in the context of the visual arts-i.e., the Kaelin's (Note 4) work is especially sig-
nature of visual aesthetic education-can nificant in the context of education in the
be explicated, and objectives for such edu- visual arts because it provides a visual
cation can be formulated. Once the objec- aesthetic theory. The theory stresses the
tives of visual aesthetic education are for- technique of bracketing-a tuning out of
mulated, adequate teaching models for theoretical and practical concerns when
achieving these objectives can be devel- perceiving an object. When bracketing is
oped. accomplished, only immediate, felt qual-
In this paper, a teaching model for the ities as they appear to conscious attention
appreciative dimension of visual aesthetic are attended to. The felt qualities of an ob-
education will be presented. However, be- ject, in this view, can include associations
fore the said model is delineated, the if they are controlled by the perceived
major theoretical sources utilized in its qualitative structure (Ecker, Johnson &
construction will be briefly outlined (Note Kaelin, 1969, p. 584). Kaelin (1968) agrees
2). with Dewey and Ecker (1963a) that aesthe-
tic experience, conceived as full subject-
Theoretical Sources object interaction, constitutes the heart of
In assembling a theoretical foundation both art creation and art appreciation. In
for the model to be presented, the work of contextualism, aesthetic experience is cen-
Shiel was pivotal. Shiel (1976) developed a tral to education in the visual arts.
set of "learner achievement objectives" In view of the theoretical sources pre-
(Note 3) for visual aesthetic education. sented so far it becomes clear that aesthetic
Her objectives were based upon a solid education as conceived in contextualism
theoretical framework made up primarily fits Smith's second broad definition.
of Dewey's (1934) contextualistic aesthetic However, whereas Broudy's conception
theory, Kaelin's (1968) theory of visual emphasizes refinement and precision of
aesthetic education, and Maccia's (1973) feeling, and Smith's conception empha-
theory of pedagogical epistemology. sizes development of capacity for theoreti-
From
her analysis of four kinds of aesthetic cal thinking, the contextualistic concep-
theory referred to by Pepper (1965) as tion emphasizes development of capacity
"contextualism", "formism", "mecha- for qualitative thinking (Dewey, 1934,
nism", and "organicism", Shiel concludes Ecker, 1963a, Villemain, 1966, Villemain
that Dewey's contextualistic theory is and Champlin, 1959).
superior for visual aesthetic education in The work of Maccia (1973) in pedagogi-
that it offers an account of aesthetic expe- cal epistemology represents an adequate
rience as a complete interaction between system for generating educational objec-
human beings and works of art and other tives for visual aesthetic education. Mac-
phenomena (p. 32). cia's classification of dimensions of know-
Vivid perception of the total felt quality ing parallels the theoretical-qualitative
of a situation constitutes Dewey's (1934) distinction of Dewey, Villemain,

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6 STUDIES IN ART EDUCATION 20/3

Champlin, and Ecker, and also makes per- constitute the configuration of a singular
formance a cognitive matter. Figure 1 whole. In acquaintive knowing, the focus
shows Maccia's dimensions of knowing. is upon parts and relations as they func-
Maccia's types of performative knowing tion within a particular object or person.
as extended by Shiel (1976) are not rele- Appreciative knowing is "discrimination
vant to the construction of the present of the qualitative order of a singular entity
model. However, Maccia's definitions of with respect to relevant standards of qual-
types of qualitative knowing and types ofitative ordering or with respect to a rank
theoretical knowing are central. According order of singular entities" (Maccia, Note
to Maccia (1973) the difference between 6). Appreciation is used here in the sense
theoretical and qualitative knowing is that of discerning or judging the fitness of
theoretical knowing is with reference to part-whole relationships. According to
the general while qualitative knowing is Maccia, such discerning constitutes an in-
with reference to the unique. Theoretical trinsic rather than an extrinsic or instru-
knowing, according to Maccia, is subject mental judgment.
to justificatory evidence, but qualitative As will be shown through the work of
knowing is a matter of display-it can be Ingarden (1973), Maccia's three types of
exhibited and needs not be demonstrated qualitative knowing outline the basic
by means of rational arguments. structure of art appreciation. Maccia's
The three types of theoretical knowingthree types of theoretical knowing, on the
distinguished by Maccia (1973, p. 60) are other hand, involve categories, principles,
instantive, structural, and criterial know- and criteria, and outline the basic struc-
ing. Instantive knowing involves identify- ture of art criticism.
ing things as one of a kind; structural Based on Maccia's classification of di-
knowing involves having an ordered un- mensions of knowing, Shiel (1976) pre-
derstanding of principles, and criterial sents three sets of learner achievement ob-
knowing involves a presentation of jectives in the area of art appreciation
adequate justifying arguments for the (recognitive, acquaintive, and apprecia-
credibility of something in relation to cer- tive objectives) and one set of such objec-
tain principles. tives in the area of art making (innovative
The three types of qualitative knowing objectives). From Shiel's objectives, two
identified by Maccia (1973, p. 58) are rec- broad primary goals of visual aesthetic
ognitive, acquaintive, and appreciative education can be derived: 1) learning to
knowing. Recognitive knowing involves appreciate works of art in increasingly
marking off one state of affairs from all greater depth, and 2) learning to create in-
other states of affairs. Recognitive know- creasingly harmonized and expressive
ing is based on past experience and in- visual entities through qualitative manip-
volves recognizing the overall quality ulation of media. The present model de-
which pervades unique states of affairs. scribes the means to attain the first of
Acquaintive knowing is distinguishing these two goals.
elements and connections that uniquely Developing a model for teaching art ap-
Figure 1.
Maccia's Dimensions of Knowing (Note 5)
Knowing

Tha One

That One That To Do

(Qualitative) (Theoretical) (Performative)

I I I I I I
Recognitive Acquaintive Appreciative Instantive Structural Criterial How What

Protocolic Conventional Innovative Creative

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An Art Appreciation Teaching Model 7

preciation depends upon a clear delinea- tities best suited as sources of aesthetic
tion of the structure of art appreciation. experience in visual aesthetic education.
For this reason, Ingarden's analysis of art Ingarden outlines Phase II of art appre-
appreciation is added to the theoretical ciation as an "active constitution of the
sources assembled by Shiel. Also, in view qualitative ensemble" (p. 307) embodied
of the need for art criticism in visual in a work of art. In this phase "we avail
aesthetic education expressed by Smith ourselves of the possibilities offered by
(1968), Feldman (1971) and others, the the work" and "search in it for such de-
structure of art criticism needs to be de- tails as would enable us to grasp new qual-
lineated. For this reason, Beardsley's con- ities entering into harmony with the ini-
ception of art criticism is also added to tial quality" (p. 307). This second phase,
Shiel's foundation. then, serves to either strengthen, modify,
weaken, or to cancel the harmony quality
recognized in Phase I.
The Concept of Art Appreciation The phrase "active constitution" paral-
Ingarden (1973) asserts that art apprecia- lels the term "comprehension" as it per-
tion is a process composed of three dif- tains to qualitative knowing of art (Note
ferent phases. The process begins with a 7). Comprehension, in this context, de-
focus on a particular work as a whole, pro- scribes acquaintive knowing of parts and
ceeds to focus on the work's parts and rela- relations in works of art. In comprehen-
tions, and ends with a re-focus on the sion, the whole work of art is not focused
work as a whole. upon as in prehension. Whereas prehen-
Phase I of the process is described by sion is of a work as one-i.e., as pervasive
Ingarden as "an intuitive grasping" of a quality; comprehension is of a work as
"harmony quality" (such as harmony of many-i.e., as parts and relations. Com-
colors or grace of movement) expressed by prehension of a work's parts and relations
a work of art (p. 307). The phrase "intui- implies prior awareness of an entity as an
tive grasping" parallels Maccia's recogni- expressive whole. Thus, one's prior
tive knowing in that it involves an overall awareness of a work as pervasive quality
impression of a unique entity. The phrase overlaps into one's awareness of the parts
also parallels what Aldrich (1971, p. 515) and relations embodied in it.
has called "prehension"-a kind of per- Ingarden holds that if the qualitative
ception peculiar to aesthetic experience. ensemble constituted in Phase II of the
Prehension focuses upon grasping the process is harmonized in support of an en-
qualitative harmony embodied in an ob- riched experience of the initially grasped
ject. quality, or if it is constituted in such a way
The phrase "harmony quality", unlike as to modify that quality, the third and
"pervasive quality", is a phrase referring final phase of art appreciation is possible.
only to a pervasive quality which is aes- If the qualitative ensemble of the consti-
thetically harmonized; i.e., a pervasive tuted object is not harmonized at all,
quality which is unified and which pos- Phase III of the process cannot be realized
sesses a certain degree of expressive in- and the aesthetic experience will termi-
tensity and complexity. Harmony quality, nate with a sense of the work having fallen
therefore, is a narrower term than perva- short of expectations.
sive quality. Ingarden describes the third phase of
In view of this distinction between the process as a "quiet gazing upon (con-
harmony quality and pervasive quality, templating)
it the qualitative harmony of the
becomes clear that only those of theaesthetic latter object and a taking in of these
which can be more specifically named as qualities" (p. 307). "Contemplation", as
the former are relevant to the process of art used here, is a final fusion of perceptions
appreciation. In other words, only entities into an experience of quality. This experi-
of high aesthetic value-i.e., works of ence is one of part-whole qualitative har-
art-can be the source of full art apprecia- mony (or lack thereof) in works of art.
tion. This conclusion suggests that exemp- Thus, contemplation, as used by Ingar-
lars from the fine visual arts are the en- den, is consistent with Maccia's specifica-

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8 STUDIES IN ART EDUCATION 20/3

tions for appreciative knowing. These ments. Each teaching movement is a dis-
specifications, it will be remembered, tinct part in a continuous process. Move-
stress the discerning of appropriateness of ment A deals with teaching students to
part-whole relationships within unique recognize visual art styles and techniques.
states of affairs. Movement B deals with teaching students
to practice bracketing and to apply a criti-
The Concept of Art Criticism cal method. Finally, Movement C de-
The phrase "art criticism" generally re- scribes a process of pedagogical dialogue
fers to a process of description, interpreta- through which students are guided in ex-
tion, and judgment of qualities embodied periencing the aesthetic aspect of encoun-
in works of art. In some theories of criti- tered visual entities.
cism, analysis is conceived as a separate
operation. However, since separating The Critical Method
formal analysis from interpretation tends This method (Johansen, 1978, pp. 130-
to encourage students to focus excessively 144) is divided into three steps corre-
upon formal structure as being isolated sponding to Ingarden's (1973) phases of
from the expressive character of a work's art appreciation. It is designed to be used
parts and relations, and since character is for ostensive rather than ranking pur-
central to art appreciation, Beardsley's poses, and in each step of the method,
(1958) conception of art criticism as de- theoretical knowings which can be used to
scription, interpretation, and evaluation is point to that which can be qualitatively
the most adequate basis for developing a known in works of art are specified.
method of art criticism designed for teach- Step I-Description. This initial step in-
ing art appreciation. The three operations volves a brief (and of necessity incom-
specified by Beardsley are, when ex- plete) description of that which is pre-
pressed, verbal; and they are usually ex- hended in one's initial experience of a
pressed in order to communicate what is work of art. What is described in this step
theoretically known about a work. In Mac- is not the parts and relations of the
cia's terms, art criticism, unlike art appre- work-as is common in most methods of
ciation, is a matter of theoretical knowing. art criticism-but the pervasive quality
The model to be presented is based experienced. Such description represents
upon the argument that a method of art a tentative hypothesis about the expres-
criticism is essential in teaching art appre- sive significance of a work. This
ciation. Concluding that this is so is hypothesis is based on intuition and is t
rooted in the position that bringing about be tested through closer acquaintance an
a refinement of aesthetic taste is the pri- analysis.
mary general goal of visual aesthetic edu- This tailoring of the critical method to
cation. Art criticism, by providing the the structure of appreciation allows an
categories, principles, and criteria which immediate holistic point of reference to be
govern and support aesthetic relevance established in pedagogical dialogue about
and excellence, and by outlining a struc- a work. Having tentatively established the
tural sequence of applying these cate- pervasive quality of the work, this quality
gories, principles, and criteria, directs is appropriately allowed to color students'
perception to a broad range of aesthetic later experience and description of the
qualities in works of art which would work's parts and relations. Thus, students
otherwise not be attended to. Thus, art are encouraged to become aware of the
criticism, if properly applied, serves to fact that a work's parts and relations are
deepen art appreciation by broadening context-bound.
the range of qualities attended to in par- Though a certain level of verbal devel-
ticular works. opment is required, no specific vocabu-
lary of art-related terms is needed to de-
The Model scribe that which is recognized as a work's
The model is composed of a method of pervasive quality. For example, a student
art criticism tailored to the structure of art may, in response to Rousseau's "The
appreciation and three teaching move- Dream", describe his or her initial im-

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An Art Appreciation Teaching Model 9

pression of pervasive quality as "weird," ing in terms of "unity," "complexity," and

"dreamlike," "quiet," "mysterious," or "intensity" (Beardsley, 1958). Degrees of
"like something is about to happen." unity, complexity, and intensity are
These simple statements are sufficient to specified through references to qualities
establish an appropriate starting point for embodied in the work under scrutiny.
teacher-student communication relative to In verbally justifying one's discerning
that particular work. The statements are judgment of aesthetic worth, adequate
cases of Maccia's instantive knowing. reasons must be given for concluding that
Rousseau's painting is identified as an in- a particular work displays appropriate or
stance of different categories-the quiet inappropriate part-whole relations. If such
category, the dream-like category, etc. De- relations in a work are highly appropriate,
scribing Rousseau's painting through one the work is sufficiently complex and in-
or more of these categories serves to tense to maintain a viewer's interest, but
communicate-to a pedagogically signifi- these qualities are not so strong that the
cant degree-that which is grasped as the work's unity is destroyed. If such relations
work's unique gestalt or harmony quality. are highly inappropriate, on the other
Step II-Interpretation. This step is de- hand, the work may either lack unity,
signed to point to-through verbal- complexity, or intensity, or it may be too
ization-that which can be comprehend- complex and/or intense to remain suffi-
ed in Phase II of appreciation. The empha- ciently unified (Beardsley, 1958). Appro-
sis in this step is upon identifying the priateness of part-whole relations, there-
character of parts and relations and inter- fore, constitutes the most basic criterion
preting their role within the expressive by which the aesthetic worth of works of
context of the work. art can be evaluated.
The character and role of figurative parts By involving a presentation of justifying
(trees, animals, etc.) and figurative ex- arguments, evaluation is primarily a mat-
pressions (anger, intelligence, shrewd- ter of what Maccia calls criterial knowing.
ness, etc.) can be talked about with refer- In presenting justificatory arguments de-
ences to principles from psychology, signed to reveal qualitative judgments,
world history, religion, or any other field references may be made both to experi-
of endeavor. The character and role of ences within the visual arts and to experi-
structural parts and structural relationsences on outside this area. Thus, principles
the other hand, requires knowledge of from and psychology, religion, literature, etc.,
references to structural principles. Useful as well as principles governing visual art
structural principles are: contrast, depth, styles and techniques may be referred to
movement, gradation, balance, equilib- as long as such references are logically rel-
rium, harmony, repetition, space, evant to the objectively observable qual-
rhythm, volume, and hierarchy. Under- itative structure of the encountered entity.
standing such principles is a matter of
what Maccia refers to as structural know- Teaching Movements
ing. Teaching Movement-A. It was con-
Step III-Evaluation. This last step is de- cluded in the first section of this paper
signed to point to that which is discerned that development of qualitative intelli-
in qualitative judgment of a work (Phase gence is the most significant general goal
III of appreciation). As noted earlier, such of visual aesthetic education. In the con-
judgment involves discerning the appro- text of the appreciative dimension of such
priateness (or lack thereof) of a work's education, development of qualitative in-
part-whole relations. Thus, such judg- telligence is evidenced by an increased
ment is a weighing of the evidence experi- ability to discern the appropriateness of
enced in direct acquaintance of the work's part-whole relations in visual entities.
parts and relations against the pervasive Thus, students should be taught to ap-
quality initially recognized. preciate increasingly sophisticated levels
To point to and make public that which of pervasive quality in works of art.
is discerned in qualitative judgment, this A student may be able to correctly de-
last step of the method involves verbaliz- scribe the pervasive quality of particular

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10 STUDIES IN ART EDUCATION 20/3

works as "funny", "mystical", "weird", qualitative essence which identifies them

etc. without having been taught art his- with their respective categories.
tory, and such statements may be adequate Teaching Movement-B. In further pre-
as a starting point for pedagogical paring students for pedagogical dialogue
dialogue. However, to appreciate and about works of art, bracketing and the
verbalize about a more subtle and sophis- structure of the critical method delineated
ticated quality describable by a phrase earlier should be taught.
such as "humorously satirical of French Kern (1969) has outlined a step-by-step
Romanticism," clearly requires knowl- procedure of activities designed to teach
edge of art history. Specifically, verbaliz- students bracketing. In this procedure,
ing about this quality requires memoriza- students are first encouraged to direct
tion of the phrase "French Romanticism" their attention to that which is happening
and, more importantly, it requires an abil- in their immediate experience. In so do-
ity to correctly discern the qualitative es- ing, students are directed to notice that
sence described by the phrase. To develop the content of such experience often in-
students' ability to appreciate works of cludes such things as fantasies, anticipa-
art, therefore, requires not only that stu- tions, and fugitive thoughts. From this
dents open themselves to aesthetic experi- point of departure, students are encour-
ence (bracketing), and that they be famil- aged to direct their attention to a particu-
iar with and able to apply a method of art lar work of art and in so doing notice that
criticism such as the one just outlined, but their experience may not only contain an-
also that they develop internal points of ticipations, fugitive thoughts, etc., but
qualitative reference through a study of also such things as space, particular illu-
visual art styles and techniques. Such a sions, objects, ideas, images, etc. At this
study provides students and teachers withpoint, students are directed to bracket out
common reference points which are usefultheir fugitive thoughts, anticipations, and
in dialogues about works of art. presuppositions about meaning so that
Studying visual art techniques does not the work of art encountered is allowed to
need to involve actual demonstration or control experience.
practicing of techniques. Being able to In order to acquaint students with the
recognize the qualitative results of such structure, purpose, and function of the
techniques and being able to discern the critical method of the model, it is recom-
significance of these results in relation to a mended that the relationship between art
work's pervasive quality are the important appreciation and art criticism be ex-
things in the present context. The tech- plained. Furthermore, it is recommended
nique in which a particular work of art is that each stage, concept, principle, and
executed is often a more significant aspect criterion of the critical method be
of that work's overall expression than is, exemplified through clear visual exam-
say, its subject matter or overall mood. For ples. For this purpose, especially designed
this reason, it is important that students visuals which focus exclusively on a par-
learn to recognize the visual results of dif- ticular concept, principle etc., are recom-
ferent techniques and that they learn to mended.
verbalize about this recognition. Teaching Movement-C. This last
To enable the teacher to point out the movement is designed to guide students
similarity of the pervasive qualities of vis-in applying the learning they attain as a
ual works belonging to the same stylistic result of the two previous teaching
or technical category, it is recommended movements. Such guidance is given in a
that several works identified with each three-staged process of pedagogical
category be shown. To clarify the dif- dialogue. The process is directly based
ference between particular styles and par- upon the steps of criticism and the phases
ticular techniques, it is recommended that of art appreciation. The stages of the proc-
exemplars from different styles and tech- ess are shown in Figure 2.
niques be shown simultaneously and that The focus of this teaching movement is
they be compared with reference to the verbal (Note 8) student-teacher dialogue

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 An Art Appreciation Teaching Model 11

about aesthetic experience of works of art
and visual entities acting as counter-
examples. (Such counter-examples give
students opportunities to experience a lack
of appropriateness in part-whole rela-
tions. Thus, students are given clear op-
portunities to arrive at negative judg-
ments.) In each stage of dialogue, a qual-
ified teacher-a person with a highly re-
fined aesthetic taste and developed ability
to communicate effectively with
students-guides individual students to-
wards refining their capacity for experi-
encing the qualities embodied in visual
entities. Such dialogue most often takes
place between the teacher and an indi-
vidual student while the remaining stu-
dents benefit from following the dialogue
as it relates to a particular visual entity
confronting the class. It is, of course, the
teacher's responsibility to insure that all
students have opportunities, at different
times, to participate in direct one-to-one
dialogue.
There may be times when particular
students, as a result of showing adequate
awareness of some aspect of a particular
visual entity, can act as guides to fellow
students who do not show such aware-
ness. However, the teacher generally play
the role of guide and is at all times respon
sible for insuring that incidents of
student-student guiding are appropriate
and pedagogically beneficial.
In each stage of the dialogue, it is the
role of the teacher to make corrective
moves designed to increase the students'
level of objectivity and sophistication in
their experience of visual entities. What
follows is a broad delineation of these
stages.
In Stage I-Impression, the student is
asked to practice bracketing and to at-
tempt to grasp the pervasive quality em-
bodied in a visual entity presented to the
class. It is recommended that the student
be given a few minutes to go through the
conscious process of focusing his or her
attention upon the work as a whole before
he or she is asked to verbalize about the
initial impression.
If the visual entity encountered is one
which is unified and appropriately in-
tense and complex, the student may have

Figure 2.
Stages of pedagogical dialogue

Art Criticism
(Theoretical Knowing)

Pedagogical Stages Step I-Description Step II-Interpre- Step III-Evaluation

of pervasive quality tation of parts in terms of unity,
(Instantive) and relations complexity and in-
tensity (Criterial)

Phase I-Prehen- Stage I

sion (grasping) IMPRESSION
of pervasive 1 (Instantive Knowing
quality in the service of
(Recognitive) recognitive know-
m
ing)
o 3:
~ 0
u0 _
*G C
Phase II-Compre- Stage II
d. hension (active EXPRESSION
< . constitution) of (Structural know-
qualitative ing in the service
ensemble of acquaintive
a< (Acquaintive) knowing)

Phase III-Appre- Stage III

ciation (discern- COMMITMENT
ing judgment) of (Criterial knowing
qualities revealed in the service of
and harmonized appreciative knowing)
(Appreciative)

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12 STUDIES IN ART EDUCATION 20/3

questions and/or by direct pointing lan-

less difficulty identifying overall expres-
guage. Such questions and pointing can
sive quality than if the entity is disunified
include
and/or inappropriately or insufficiently in-references to visual elements,
tense and/or complex. If the latter is the
structural principles, etc. Through such
case, the student may correctly notecorrective
that a moves, the teacher can bring
students
strong expressive quality does not exist in to a more sophisticated com-
the entity. Such an entity can best be de-
prehension of the character and role of
scribed as "confused" or "disunified". In particular parts and relations in visual en-
cases where a strong pervasive quality can tities.
be intuited, but where such quality is In Stage III-Commitment, students are
prehended as having very little aesthetic asked to refocus their attention on the en-
value, the quality may be described as countered entity as a whole and con-
"melodramatic", "shallow", "unconvinc- template its overall expression. As a result
ing", "trite", or "unsuccessfully trying to of Stage II, students' experience of the en-
look dassical", etc. tity now should be deeper and more objec-
In the case of exemplars of high aesthe- tive than it was in Stage I.
tic value, pervasive quality serving some In this last stage, students are asked to
particular expressive purpose is always commit themselves to either a positive or a
present and can be intuited on different negative judgment of aesthetic worth. A
levels of sophistication. It is the role of the more specific commitment to degree of
teacher, in this stage, to direct students' aesthetic worth may be included here
attention to a more objective and/or (such as very high, high, medium, low,
sophisticated prehension of particular en- very low). However, since the most essen-
tities than is evidenced by their descrip- tial function of the model is to instill a
tions. This can be done with references to basic appreciation in students of what it is
styles and techniques studied in Move- about the visual entities referred to as
ment A, and with references to the most "works of fine art" that makes these ob-
obvious discrepancies or positive aspects jects generally have much higher aesthetic
of the work's part-whole relations. worth than other visual entities, such spe-
In Stage II-Expression, students are cificity of judgment is not required in
asked to express-i.e., characterize and most cases. Also, it is assumed here that
interpret-the parts and relations of vis- the most significant reward of developing
ual entities. In so doing, students will one's ability to appreciate works of art is
communicate about their acquaintance increased depth of personal experience
with parts and relations and hypothesize rather than increased ability to rank visual
about the significance of parts and rela- entities.
tions in relation to overall content. Stu- Having committed themselves to either
dents are directed to characterize and a positive or negative judgment, the stu-
interpret a maximum amount of the parts dents are asked to justify their judgments.
and relations embodied in encountered Such justification should be made with
entities, and they are directed to first references to qualities revealed in Stage II,
notice and verbalize about dominant fea- and with references to the principles
tures. Thus, they are encouraged to be- unity, complexity, and intensity. Also,
come aware of a hierarchy of expressive such justification should be made with
importance. reference to the concept of appropriate-
In verbalizing about parts and relations, ness (or lack thereof) of part-whole rela-
students are encouraged to refer to visual tions.
elements, structural principles, and If a student, in attempting to justify a
figurative parts and expressions (when positive judgment of a particular entity,
present). It is the role of the teacher, in fails to give adequate reasons for his or her
this stage, to direct students' attention to judgment, it is the role of the teacher to
the character and role of parts and rela- ask leading questions and/or to make di-
tions they have ignored or not adequately rect pointing statements designed to re-
characterized and/or interpreted. Such di- fine the student's level of appreciation.
recting is accomplished by asking leading Through such corrective moves, the

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An Art Appreciation Teaching Model 13

teacher can make students more aware of process in which students are taught the
the intensity, complexity, and/or unity content
(or of the first two movements while
lack thereof) in particular visual entities. being periodically guided in aesthetic ex-
perience through dialogue.
Discussion The model provides researchers con-
The teaching model has now been out- cepts for their empirical studies. It also of-
lined in view of the theoretical sources fers curriculum developers and teachers in
presented. Learning achieved as a resultthe of visual arts a basis for understanding
teaching Movements A and B generally how aesthetic education fits within the
precede initiation of Movement C. How- general visual arts curriculum. This, in
ever, the possibility of incorporating the turn, has a potential for increasing the
first two movements into the third is left probability of adequate aesthetic educa-
open because it may be advisable to blend tion programs and practice within the con-
the three movements into one continuous text of education in the visual arts.

Per Johansen is assistant professor, Department of Art and Music Education, The Uni
sity of Tennessee, Knoxville.

References
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Reference Notes
1. Broudy, H.S. Aesthetic education in the secondary school. Address delivered to the 8th General
Session of the NAEA Philadelphia Conference, April 9, 1965.
2. In order to understand the model, its theoretical sources will be presented. Shiel and Maccia have
given permission to cite their work.

3. This phrase is taken from the work of E. Steiner. In Logical and conceptual analytic techniques for
educational researchers, Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1978, E. Steiner distin-
guishes between "teacher task objectives", "teacher achievement objectives", "learner task objec-
tives", and "learner achievement objectives."
4. Kaelin, E.F. An existential-phenomenological account of aesthetic education. Penn State papers in art
education, May 20, 1968.
5. This figure is taken from G.S. Maccia's presentations in his Epistemology Seminar which he
teaches at Indiana University, Bloomington.
6. Maccia, G.S. Epistemological considerations of educational objectives. Paper presented to the Philos-
ophy of Education Section, XVth World Congress of Philosophy, Varne, Bulgaria, September, 1973.
7. The meaning of the term 'comprehend' is based upon E. Steiner's presentations in her Aesthetics
and Education Seminar which she teaches at Indiana University, Bloomington.
8. Dialogues that are non-verbal have been recognized by Buber. See Buber, M. Between man and
man. New York: Macmillan, 1965.

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