C. The K to 12 Elementary Art Education Curriculum nS Learning Outcomes 4. Familiarize yourself with the K to 12 Curriculum frames for Art Education being used by the Department of Education for Grades 1-3. 2, Familiarize yourself with the Department of Education's overall philosophy and approach to Art Education in the early grades. “If you don’t know where you are going, any road can take you there.” — Letter from J.R.R. Tolkien to C.S. Lewis THINK The what and the how of elementary Art Education are outlined in the K to 12 Elementary Art Education Curriculum Guide of 2013 from the Department of Education. Copies of it can still be found online, and as of the writing of this text, no new revisions have been announced or released. In this section, we highlight the pertinent features of the conceptual framework, philosophy and rationale, content, and content standards for Grades 1 to 6 and discuss them with the intent of enabling the student teachers to understand what exactly the curriculum is asking from them. Conceptual Framework 5 3 s & $ 2 8 3 2 & = 5 5 3 8 = 8 a The essence of the conceptual frame “spiral progressio Classroom is that the in detail, complexity, work for the Art Education Curriculum is N of processes, Concepts, and skills.” What this means in the same topics are taught at each grade level, but increasing and performance standards. The Motivation behind this is 16 Teaching Visual Arts in the Elementary Gradesto give students the opportunity to truly appreciate and understand the concepts _ being taught as their applications increase and broaden with each grade level, Right away, this poses a question to would-be teachers: “Do | understand a concept thoroughly enough to teach at different levels of complexity?” For example, take the concept of composition: How can it be taught to a first grader? How will the same concept be taught for a second grader? What will my lesson on composition look like by the time | teach it to sixth graders? Such questions should help teachers in their lesson planning by limiting how much is taught at each grade level. Do not be surprised if, after careful consideration, a lesson in composition will only take half an hour once we have boiled the concept down to its essence for the consumption of very young learners. As Music and Arts are performance-based disciplines, effective learning occurs through active experience, participation, and performance, creative expression, aesthetic valuation, critical response, and interpretation. The skills that are developed include reading/analyzing, listening/observing, performing, singing, using musical instruments, movement, acting, and playing, using different art materials, techniques and processes, responding. composing, and creating Here we see that the primary means of teaching art is through “active,” i.e., hands-on experience: learners must do art in order to /earn art. This straightaway telegates teaching via lecture and discussion to the minimum, implying that a teacher of the arts must actually be skilled at said art and artistic techniques in order to demonstrate them for every student to then imitate and thus learn. Every concept we wish the learners to understand, every attitude we wish for them to develop must be taught in the context of hands-on activities and by going through the process of experiencing art. Philosophy and Rationale The philosophy and rationale of the curriculum is the country’s answer to the question, “Why teach art in basic education?” According to paragraph 2: The Arts is a visualization of a people's history and uniqueness, a reflection of their creativity and accomplishments, and a visible expression of their distinct way of thinking, communicating, reasoning, and worshiping. It is expressed in a unique symbol system that is visual, kinetic and tactile... Arts develop a distinct way of seeing, thinking, communicating, and creating in a person. Furthermore, Art develops and increases a person's ability to apply creative and new solutions, for new problems in our world. Schools, therefore, need to develop the multiple intelligences of a student through the arts. Art Education in the Elementary Grades 7rt by Filipinos are @ visual mani ion of our identity as @ people d behave from day to day, and swe read here, Philippine Arts and al ‘of what makes us Filipino—it is an are nation. This identity informs how we think an ’ DepEd views the teaching of art in basic education a worthwhile endeavor. J, sy acknowledges that the 21st century Is 2 unique period for the eal is easily accessible vig i i t to it which i arts. Nearly all information has a visual pepo ; § the Internet. To address this, the curriculum philosophy states in paragraph 3; Teaching Art to students is one way for them to process and interpret the barrage of — images and sounds, in a critical and intelligent manner As a final point, the philosophy statement in paragraph 4 reads: The focus of the K to 12 Art curriculum is PHILIPPINE ART, CULTURE and HERITAGE, appreciating the diversity of our local artists, our arts, crafts, and indigenous materials fo strengthen the student's identity of being Filipino, before he/she is introduced to the art of other countries. Here we see the how of the what: art is to be taught in basic education in a manner that informs, enlightens, supports, and promotes Philippine culture. It is up to the teacher to take the content standards and competencies listed in the curriculum guide and then deliver them to the students in a way that places Philippine art, culture, and heritage in a place of prominence in their minds. With the amount of foreign art they are exposed to ona daily basis via the Internet, this is no easy task! Elements, Principles, and Processes of Art Education From page 6 of the curriculum guide, the following elements, principles, and Processes of Art Education are presented: Art Elements and Principles Listening Seeing/Observing Reading + Reading Imitating (Recreating) . Imitating (Recreating) |" Responding Responding Creating Creating (Original works) Performing (different art processes) Evaluating * Analyzing Critically ing (Transference) + ___ Applying (Transference) Performing (including movement) Evaluating Analyzing Critically Teaching Visual Arts in the Elementary Grades Miia on etare it principle of imitation (creating a thing again) is t critical analysis is taught by analyzing Art with a critical correspondence reinforces the philosophy of Art Education | by doing art, not by merely talking about it er ee Standards When reading the DepEd curriculum guide, it is important to bear in mind that standards refers to what the program is trying to teach, defined at four levels: the Learning Area Standards set the learning goals for the entire Art Education endeavor in basic education; the Key Stage Standards define these goals for the K-3, Grades 4-6, and Grades 7-10 levels; the Grade Level Standards break them down further per grade; and the Content and Performance Standards define these goals at the classroom level. For the purposes of this text, the first three standards are quoted here from Pages 7 and 8 of the curriculum guide: Learning Area Standards The learner demonstrates an understanding of basic concepts and processes in music and art through appreciation, analysis and performance for his/her self-development, celebration of his/her Filipino cultural identity and diversity, and expansion of his/her world vision. Key Stage Standards for K-3 and 4-6 The learner demonstrates understanding of fundamental processes through performing, creating, and responding, aimed towards the development of appreciation of music and art, and acquisition of basic knowledge and skills, UNIT| Art Education in the Elementary Grades 19a towards the ig, creating, stening and observing, and responding, wards development of appreciation of music and art, and the acquisition knowledge and skills. a Grade 4 | Through the formal introduction bee ns ees can paw oe ic knowledge and skills in music and art, Edevelopie aan of cha cultural identity and diversity, and the expansion of one’s world vision. : Through exploration, the learner demonstrates a deeper understanding of basic knowledge and skills in music and art, towards self-development, the celebration of Filipino cultural identity and diversity, and expansion of one’s world vision. Grade 6 | Through application, the learner demonstrates understanding of the basic Concepts of and processes in music and art, towards self-development, the celebration of Filipino cultural identity and diversity, and the expansion of one’s. world vision. Very quickly, we can take note of a few things: * The Learning Area Standards indicate that the Purpose of learning the fundamental Principles and processes of Art are ultimately for the learner's “self-development, celebration of his/her Filipino cultural identity and diversity, and expansion of his/her world vision.” * The Key Stage Standards for K-3 and 4-6 are identical, and indicate that teaching Art in these areas are aimed at “the development of appreciation of music and art, and acquisition of basic knowledge and Skills.” The Grade Level Standards for 1-3, although worded differently, are identical in purpose. The Grade Level Standards for 4-6 are all aimed at “a dee, of basic knowledge and Skills in music and art, to [owards self-dey the celebration of Filipino cultural i it i it res world vision.” However, they dif» Grade 5: “Through exploration, the learner demonstrates a deeper understanding of basic knowledge and skills in music and art...” ° Grade6: “Through application, the learnerdemonstrates understanding of the basic concepts of and processes in music and art...” These observations imply the following: 1. Artis simply to be done in Grades 1-3. There is no emphasis on the students identifying anything. They simply do art, via “performing, creating, listening and observing, and responding.” 2. In Grade 4, students learn to identify the things that they have been doing since Grade 1. The term “formal introduction” implies an explanatory element to art lessons covering the what, the how, and the why of artistic principles and processes. 3. In Grade 5, students are expected to explore the range of artistic experiences they have been given thus far, executing the learned processes at a higher, more refined level of proficiency but also in evaluating and critiquing the works of others. 4. In Grade 6, students are now expected to apply all of their skills and knowledge in the creation of original works. The Curriculum and the Classroom Beginning on page 9 of the curriculum guide, we get into the specifics of what topics are to be taught, what learnings should the learner gain from them, and how these learnings are to be demonstrated in class as evidence that learning has taken place. As the curriculum guide lists all of these per grade level and per quarter, we are only reproducing the guide for Grade 1 for the first quarter (pages 9 and 10) for the sake of illustration and discussions: Grade 1 — First Quarter Content | 1. Elements Il, Principles I. Process 1. Lines 5. Balance 8 rewire, 2. Shapes 6. Proportion 1. Portraits 3. Color 7. Variety 2. Family Portraits ae ekae 3. Persons 4, School, Furniture 5, _ Animals/Plants UNIT) Art Education in the Elementary Grades 24art? How will we know that the students “appreciate” art? And what are the different ways in which art educators can foster this “appreciation”? Discuss your answers in class. HARNESS In the light of the content standards for Grades 1-3, create a lesson plan for a Grade 1 class using the curriculum guide reproduced on pages 32-33. Pay particular attention to ensure that the lesson is taught integratively (that is, the different parts are integrated rather than separated). Share your plans with the class and discuss their strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. 24 r Teaching Visual Arts in the Elementary Grade. rades ne ei