Issues in Philippine Art Education

Art educators in the country face an uphill battle as they navigate the educational system and its
need to prioritize its resources often not in favor of the arts. However, there are other issues
facing art education in the Philippines some of which are much closer to the classroom. Several
are discussed here.
Problems in Artistic Values
The issues discussed here under deal with the attitudes and mindsets of the various participants
in art education regarding the teaching of art in schools. They are problems of perspective, which
in turn affect policy, which then affect practice. Four broad categories are identified here:
Teacher Issues, Art as a Subject, Student Discipline, and Art as a Luxury:
1. Teacher Issues
It should come as no surprise that teaching as a whole is not the career of choice for a majority of
Filipinos, with many of its practitioners a victim of the "mag-teacher ka na lang!" mentality in
the culture. Alongside this, art educators in the country face a number of self-esteem issues.
expressed through statements like "I'm not talented enough to be a real artist" or "There's no
money in the arts, so I teach in order to make a living."
Perhaps the biggest, most immediate issue when it comes to art educators is the lack of good
training. Teachers by training are specialists, but upon being deployed in the field often due to
economic reasons- they are often called upon to teach subjects outside their specialization,
leading to half-baked ("hilaw") teaching. Anecdotal evidence abounds teachers who had to teach
art despite of having zero training and even zero exposure to art activities since childhood.
2. Art as a Subject
Perhaps because of its initial, utilitarian roots as "drawing," art in the curriculum is still often
viewed as a "subject" rather than an avenue for self-expression. This results in a teaching of art
that is overly academic, focusing on facts about art rather than on the practice and creation of art.
When coupled with a lack of adequate teacher training, this encourages a sterile, static view of
art that is only considered "legitimate" if it is comparable to the work of the "masters," i.e.,
museum-standard- something that simply cannot be achieved by children in the early grades.
3. Student Discipline
Stemming from a utilitarian view of art, many students struggle with motivation issues due to an
unnecessarily vicious cycle of criticism from family, peers, and ill-equipped teachers, thereby
limiting their willingness to invest the hours needed to master the skills needed to create art.
Another issue noted by many teachers is the lack of student respect toward art materials.
Wastefulness, neglecting to store materials properly, and the lack of a general sense of order and
cleanliness both while and after working are all sources of great frustration for art educators
nationwide.
4. Art as a Luxury
The popular public view on art in the country is that it is a luxury-Pangmayaman lang 'yan"-nice
to have, but nonessential to the average working Filipino. Art is considered the privilege of the
elite-those who do not have to actually work for a living and can therefore devote the time,
energy, and money needed to participate in artistic endeavors.
Consequently, art is among the lowest subjects in terms of priority when it comes to issues like
budget, time, resource allocation, etc.

Materials, Resources, and Workspaces

The following are problems related to the physical requirements for teaching art and their
availability. While a teacher in Mathematics might need little more than chalk to teach his or her
subject, an art teacher requires quite a number of materials, many of which can be expensive and
outside of school budget.
1. Limited Materials
Due to lack of adequate support, art materials are scarce in the average classroom, with art
educators relying on the students themselves to provide the necessary art supplies the class
requires.
Stemming from the elitist view of art, there is also a lack of recognition of the alternative art
materials that are available in the immediate environment. This serves to only propagate the
perception that unless it is created with the so-called "mainstream" art materials (e.g.. acrylic/oil
paints, charcoals, pastels, etc.), then it is not really art.
2. Workspaces
Related to the previous problem, many schools have no dedicated space for art classes, let alone
extracurricular artistic pursuits. Students must make do with regular classrooms ill-suited for the
purpose. As a result, some forms of artistic expression simply cannot be explored, particularly
those that require more than one class meeting (e.g.. painting on canvas, sculpture carving, etc.),
as they raise issues concerning cleanup, storage, maintaining the integrity of unfinished student
work, and so on.
3. Management Issues
Related to the lack of student respect for art materials and spaces, there is also a severe lack of
awareness as to how to manage and organize an art class in order to maximize learning and
ensure students' safety. This is especially important during art activities that involve sharp
objects, like carving and sculpture.
Usually, these skills are chalked up to common sense and, thus, taken for granted. However,
there is a need for such management skills to be intentionally taught, as many students will be
experiencing handling and storing potentially dangerous tools for the very first time in their
lives.

There are obviously many other issues in the teaching of art in the Philippines. Those mentioned
above are simply the most likely ones that art educators like yourselves will face in the field.
Knowing and preparing for them now are crucial to managing and mitigating their negative
effects if and when you encounter them in your classroom.
EXPERIENCE
If possible, interview an older art teacher about the challenges he or she faced in teaching art.
Ask him or her why he or she thought teaching art as a viable career choice. What made him or
her want to teach? What things does he or she wish he or she could have done better?
ASSESS
Discuss the following questions in groups and present a summary of your discussion in class:
1. Reflect on your Art subject back in your elementary years. What was good about it? What
could have been better? Which issues among those discussed above did you witness?
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2. Did your being exposed to Art in your elementary and maybe high school education
influence your desire to pursue a career in Art Education today? If yes, what was it about
your early experiences with art that influenced you? If no, what experiences outside of
the art classroom inspired you to pursue Art Education now?
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CHALLENGE
Imagine you have the freedom to teach Art in whatever way you wish to a fourth grade class, but
you have only three months to teach, and the only art materials you have access to are those
commonly found in an educational supply store. What would you teach and in what sequence?
What strategies and activities would you use to teach?
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HARNESS
Imagine having a student with great artistic talent but does not have the support of his or her
family since they believe that his or her artistic pursuits are a waste of time and money. How
would you convince then otherwise?
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B. The Artist Mindset in the Early Grades

Learning Outcomes
1. Familiarize yourself with the mindset, attitude, and values that must be developed in young
learners to help foster a healthy attitude toward the practice of art.
2. Reflect on the presence or absence of these artistic values in your own life as an art educator,
and consider how to develop them to the point that you can encourage their development in
others.
"Nemo dat quod non habet" (You cannot give what you do not have) - Latin Maxim
Any practicing artist can tell you that art first begins in the mind, with artistic skills serving only
to create what is already seen in the imagination. The skill of an artist can, thus, be seen in how
faithfully it can translate what he or she imagines into a work of art. If there was nothing held in
the imagination-no finished picture, painting, drawing, or sculpture-even just fleetingly, can the
end product be truly considered "art"?
It is, thus, necessary to identify the habits of the mind-the mindset-that art educators should both
possess and seek to develop in their students in the early grades through the teaching of art: the
values, philosophical positions, and the focus needed for art to thrive in Philippine education.
THINK
A. Inspired by Daily Experiences and Encounters
Part of the "artistic sense" is a sensitivity to beauty-not just in big and grand spectacles and
experiences, but particularly in the everyday things we see and experience as we go about our
lives. This is difficult to explain and likewise teach for a number of reasons:
1. Exposure
The ability to see beauty every day does not appear out of thin air; rather, it often takes someone
else explaining to us how something simple and common place can be beautiful, and in terms
that are appropriate for our developmental stage.
Students will need to be exposed to artwork that celebrates the common place over the course of
several occasions before the lesson sticks.
2. Context
It is almost a cliché to say that beauty is subjective; that is, what is beautiful depends on the
individual. It can also be said that beauty depends on the context-we know it when we see or
hear it, but when something is framed within the right context, it suddenly appears beautiful.
Conversely, when something is placed in the wrong context, we do not perceive it as beautiful.
The trick, then, is finding the right context for what we wish the learners to appreciate.
This is where careful and deliberate manipulation of the learning environment becomes
important; a quiet studio lends itself to appreciating still life arrangements, for example, as
learners concentrate on reproducing simple outlines with whatever the medium of the day might
be, or studying the way different angles and intensities of light cast shadows.
3. Age
Children are naturally drawn to the novel, the unusual, and the exciting. Bigger, bolder, faster,
brighter, louder are a guaranteed formula to gain the interest of children. Action and movement
excite them, whereas the comparatively slow, methodical pace of everyday life does not.
Educators will need to tailor the experiences they have planned for young learners so that they
both communicate the lesson while holding the learners' interest.
Man has been inspired by nature since the dawn of the time of man, and the ability to appreciate
beauty in nature appears to be innate. Mountains, lakes, animals, trees, flowers, insects, and the
like are all fair game for artists of all ages. It should not be difficult to get young learners to
desire to commit scenes from nature-real or imaginary to paper, as it is an almost natural thing to
do, and relatively easy as well.
Events have also been a great source of inspiration for artists. If we consider ancient art-the kind
found in the prehistoric cave systems of Europe, the pyramids of Egypt, bas-relief sculptures
from Mesopotamia, and so on, we find that most if not all of them depict events-a successful
hunt, the victory of the king over his enemies, the death of an important political or religious
leader, or even the ancient incarnation of the Olympic Games are all examples of events that
have been committed in one way or another to works of art.
An easily overlooked opportunity to teach beauty in the everyday context is in the simple act of
coloring a picture. The picture can be chosen to be exciting, dynamic, full of movement and
action, or simple and quiet, with nothing particularly exciting going on- whatever the teacher
deems appropriate for the class at that particular time. The actual lesson is in the process of
coloring the quiet concentration, the stirring up of the desire to color well when exposed to
examples the children consider "better," and so on. Within the context of Coloring pictures,
lessons on form, light, shading, color harmony, and the like can be taught organically (i.e., as the
need arises) and with relative ease.
B. Constantly Curious
While curiosity is often cited as a characteristic of scientists, it is also an essential part of being
an artist, albeit that while a scientist might be curious as to what is in the design of a bird's wing
that enables it to fly, an artist might be curious as to how to make the wing "look alive" even
when rendered in a static, unmoving work of art. Where a scientist is curious regarding the how
and why of natural phenomena, an artist should be curious regarding how to make beautiful
things given a set of limitations and parameters.
Because there will always be limitations and boundaries (e.g., lack of materials, lack of time,
lack of conducive environments, etc.), artists should also be constantly looking for ways to
integrate art into areas and disciplines where art has not traditionally been part of. These areas
and disciplines will have their own boundaries and limitations, which for the artists can provide
the impetus for artistic innovations not possible anywhere else. A good example of this can be
found in Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) stations, where artwork has been integrated into
the walls of the commuter walkways, adding pops of color and interest into what would
otherwise be a functional but drab commute.

C. Open-Minded
Related to curiosity is "open-mindedness," which is the willingness to be exposed to new ideas
and to consider them on their own merits. It is the quality of not being "locked down" by a
particular set of rules or principles for the sake of tradition, but rather a willingness to wrestle
with ideas and ways of doing things that might be very different from our own-all with the
attitude of learning new things to add to one's "toolbox" of techniques and perspectives.
Some areas where an open mind is an artistic asset are:
1. Lack of resources
2. The idea of perfection
3. Criticism
The practice of art can be an expensive endeavor-the best-quality materials are never affordable
even when available, and so where certain techniques and processes are not feasible due to lack
of the proper materials, an open mind is needed to perceive and embrace that which is possible
given what is available.
Open-mindedness is also an asset when it comes to the idea of "perfection" in art-a concept
which artists reject. After all, what does perfection in art mean? Fidelity to reality? Then what do
we make of cartoons, comics, and animation? The truth is that there is no such thing as "perfect"
in art without an objective standard, and what most people hold as the standard for evaluating art
is their subjective ideas of what is and is not beautiful. Accepting that perfection in art is a fool's
errand and coming to terms with one's strengths and weaknesses as an artist are part and parcel
of becoming a mature artist.
Lastly, an open mind is necessary for an artist to benefit from criticism. All criticisms, valid or
otherwise, involve a measure of pain for the one being criticized-we are proud of our work, after
all, however middling it might be- and it takes an open mind to accept that there is always
something to learn, always something that can be improved upon, even when presented to us by
unpleasant people in unpleasant ways. Criticism is an inevitable part of being an artist, and being
able to take criticism well is vital to an artist's mental, emotional, and professional well-being.
D. Art as Authentic Self-Expression
Art can be defined as any expression of the inner desire to create beauty. Thus, the desire to
create something that is beautiful is the defining feature of
an artist produces is but an expression of that desire. Since beauty is varied and multifaceted-a
thunderstorm can be beautiful, just like a more pastoral landscape-art can, thus, be varied and
multifaceted.
The point is that art is art because the artist wishes to express something however fleeting or
nebulous that something might be. This is what is meant by art as authentic self-expression.
E. Art as Self-Expression
Expanding this concept, we see that teaching art is not limited to a simple technique the how of
art-but must also include teaching it as a means for students to communicate feelings,
experiences, interests, and desires-the why of art. We can see this idea at play in the tension
between "being true to oneself" vis-a-vis "giving the people what they want."
This translates to the classroom by teaching students to use their art to express something that
they feel, rather than simply feeding off the works of others-the "authentic" part of "authentic
self-expression."
F. Valuing Authenticity
Wrapped up in the mind and heart of an artist is a desire for affirmation- some outside validation
that the work we produce is, in fact, beautiful in the way the artist intended it. That is, artists
want to know that what they wanted to express via their art has indeed been expressed.
This nuance can be easily lost to young learners, for whom validation of their artwork can feel
like personal validation. As a result, there might be a strong desire to simply imitate the work of
others for the sake of the validation it brings. This is not "authentic self-expression," rather it is a
kind of "feeding off of the works of others.
Do note however that it is in the nature of learners to learn via imitation, which should be
encouraged up to a point that is, once the learners have a firm grasp of how to execute a
technique (via imitation), they should be encouraged to move beyond imitating the work of
others toward creating original work of their own.
Because there will be a tendency for young learners to value others' work over their own, moving
them toward originality involves opening their eyes to the value of their own original work. This
can be done by gently encouraging them to first modify whatever it is they are imitating to suit
their own tastes or satisfy their curiosity: switching up the color palette, for example, or moving
an object in a composition somewhere else. Students need to learn that this is already a valid
creative exercise in and of itself, and only when they are comfortable with modifying existing
work should they then be encouraged to come up with completely original work of their own.
G. Enjoyment in the Process
It would be very strange for an artist to not enjoy the process of creating art-after all, this is one
of the reasons why he or she is an artist. An artist must enjoy the process, plain and simple-or
else pursue something other than art.
Let us be very clear with this: Everyone feels the desire to create beauty, but only an artist
perseveres when the process of creating beauty becomes tedious, frustrating, and repetitive for
the sake of producing something beautiful. This is why artists will endure long, lonely hours of
drawing a pattern by hand, for example, or create sketch after sketch after sketch in repeated
attempts to understand the visual physiology of something before committing it to a more
permanent medium.
As an art teacher, you will find learners with a varying degree of patience and grit for the process
of creating art in your classroom: a few will be willing to take the time to carefully and neatly fill
in areas with color, many will start well and then give up as the minutes pass, and a few will
hardly care for any art exercise you give them. You might not be able to turn them into artists,
but the overall goal is to expose them to a wide variety of artistic processes so that they might
find one that they enjoy, as they will be more likely to pursue it to completion.
Make no mistake: sooner or later, the artistic process will become difficult. When it comes to
young learners, the goal should not be attaining mastery of any artistic technique-that will come
with time. Instead, the goal is to teach them to love the creation of beauty, however small it
might appear to us. After all, love makes the labor light.
EXPERIENCE
Answer the following questions. Share your answers with your classmates.
1. Can comic books be considered "art"? Why or why not?
2. Can designing a slide presentation be considered an "artistic" process? W or why not?
3. Can editing a video to upload onto the Internet be considered an "artisti process? Why or why
not?
4. Can editing a photo on your phone be considered "art"? Why or why not?
5. These and other questions help reveal our own artistic "blind spots" ar biases, which young
learners often do not yet have but can acquire because of a teacher's influence.
ASSESS
Discuss the following with your peers:
1. How have you come to appreciate beauty in nature and everyday occurrences Can you recall if
there was a definitive moment, or did you always seem to possess the ability? Given that young
learners are inundated with input from television and the Internet and are easily excited by hype,
how do you think you as a future art educator encourage them to find beauty in their own
ordinary day-to-day lives?
2. In what ways are you/are you not "artistically curious"? In what ways can an be more
integrated with your own daily experiences and contexts?
3. Do you remember when you came to understand art as being a form of self- expression? How
did you come to realize this?
4. When and how did you come to appreciate the value of your own original work? Discuss some
strategies you might have for teaching young students to do the same.
5. How do you cope with the frustrations inherent in the art process? Share ideas with one
another on how you intend to develop patience and endurance in your future students.
6. How well do you cope with criticism of your art? Do you find that your response depends on
who is giving the critique, and how it is given, rather than what the critique actually is? Why or
why not?
CHALLENGE
1. Critique one another's art portfolios. Try to keep your comments strictly about the art and not
about the artist. Pay particular attention to the following:
Listen to criticisms of your own portfolio. How many of them contain something you can
actually use to improve your work?
Consider your own habits when giving criticism: how much of what you say is actionable on the
part of the recipient?
2. Consider an art form that you yourself do not particularly like or enjoy. Why do you dislike it?
List down your reasons. If you cannot identify at least 10 concrete reasons for you to continue
disliking it, consider trying to create a work using that art form and then revisiting your list of
reasons to dislike it to see if they are still true.
HARNESS
Consider a student who likes to draw but dislikes watercolor painting. Discuss in class the
strategies you might employ to get the student to at least give watercolor painting a chance.