ARTISTIC

LITERACY
Group 5
 What is Artistic Literacy?
Artistic literacy is defined in the National Coalition for Core Arts
Standards: A Conceptual Framework for Learning (2014) as the knowledge
and understanding required to participate authentically in the arts.

Artistic literacy requires that they engage in artistic

creation processes directly through the use of materials and
in specific spaces.
The flexibility of the forms comprising the arts positions
students to embody a range of literate practices to:

• use their minds in verbal and nonverbal ways;

• communicate complex ideas in a variety of forms;
• understand words, sounds, or images;
• imagine new possibilities; and
• persevere to reach goals and make them happen.
Elliot Eisner posited valuable lessons or benefits that education can learn from
arts and he summarized these into eight as follows:

1. Form and content cannot be separated. How something is said of done

shapes the content of experience. In education, how something is taught, how
curricula are organized, and how schools are designed impact upon what
students will learn. These “side effects” may be the real main effects of
practice.

2. Form and content are interconnected, as they are both

interconnected and can be altered by changing the content of a
form.
3. Nuance is crucial in teaching as it reflects the aesthetic aspects of the creation
process, as the modulation of nuances in words, gestures, lines, and melodies
affects the overall character.ce.

4. Educators should foster surprise as a valuable tool for intrinsic satisfaction,

not as an intruder in inquiry, but as a reward for artistic progress.
5. Slowing down perception is a promising way to see what is actually there, and
while certain words designate high intelligence, promoting slowing down
perception in schools is essential for recognizing and appreciating the beauty of
the world around us.

6. Literacy, often associated with reading and writing, can be re-

conceptualized as creating a form of representation that allows for the creation
of meaning beyond conventional language. It is associated with high-level
cognition, as Polanyi (1969) argues.
7. Somatic experience is crucial for understanding the world through various
forms of literacy, as it allows us to perceive processes or events through our
body’s entailments.
8. Open-ended tasks enable imagination, a crucial human aptitude. Imagination,
not necessity, drives invention and new possibilities. It should be taught in arts,
mathematics, sciences, history, and all human creation, requiring a culture that
encourages imagination.
Characterizing Artistically Literate Individuals :
1. Use a variety of artistic media, symbols, and
metaphors to communicate their own ideas and respond
to the artistic communication of others.

2. Develop creative personal realization in the least one

art form in which they continue active involvement as an
adult

3. Cultivate culture, history and other connections through

diverse form and genres of artwork.
Characterizing Artistically Literate Individuals :

4. Find joy, inspiration and peace, intellectual

simulation, and meaning when they participate in the
arts;
5. Seek artistic experiences and support the art in their
communities
 Issues in teaching creativity:

1. Educate the well- 2. Give equal weight 3. Facilitate

being of learners and to the art, the learning and work
shift from the the
humanities and stimulating
conventional learnings
toward academic physical education. curiosity among
ability alone learners.

4. Awaken and 5. View intelligence as a

develop powers and diverse, dynamic, and
creativity among distinct contrary to
learners ; and belief that it should be
academic ability-geared.
 Four essential components to developing curriculum that
cultivates students’ artistic and creative literacy:

1. Imagination and pretense, fantasy and metaphor

A creative curriculum will not simply allow, but will actively
support, play and playfulness. The teacher will plan for learning and
teaching opportunities for children to be, at once, who they are and
who they are not, transforming reality, building narratives, and
mastering and manipulating signs and symbol systems.
 2. Active menu to meaning making
In a classroom where children can choose to draw, write,
paint, or play in the way that suits their purpose and/or
mood, literacy learning and arts learning will inform and
support each other.

3. Intentional, holistic teaching

A creative curriculum requires a creative teacher, who understands the
creative processes, and purposefully supports learners in their
experiences.
 4. Co-player, co-artsist
It is vital for teachers to know and appreciate children and what
they know by being mindful of the present and making time for
conversation, interacting with the children as they draw.
THANK YOU