8740 Blog 4

Eisner’s Chapter 5 captivated me. Although this was a really long chapter it had Photos! Yay! I love to learn about children’s developmental process. I have looked at the developmental process of children in the realm of creating art in my undergrad program. But during that study I never really looked at why a child creates a drawing at that developmental age they way that is socially accepted. Eisner addresses a lot of interesting viewpoints on this process but I think he said it beautifully when he stated, “ Perhaps the simplest though inadequate way to classify these theories is to divide them into those who argue that children develop primarily from the inside out, as contrasted with those who emphasize that they develop primarily from the outside in”.  I thought this was an interesting  new viewpoint. He went on to address the childs creative process. I highlighted the following: In the context of creation an idea needs to be formed; something must be created that gives point to the work to be done. Put another way, the person needs to have something to express, something to achieve, something to say. In my thoughts, a child needs to find a reason for what they are creating in order to create.

 

Eisner started talking about the stages of age that a child starts to draw new things within a image. He started by saying that “Children cannot know what they cannot see, and they cannot see without knowing, for seeing itself is a way of knowing. Wowza… I like!

I took multiple notes as he addresses the images and pointed out different things within the age groups. He wrapped up the chapter with the following,’ Techniques represent ways of doing something, but techniques also reflect ways of thinking about the things to be done… it is a mode of thought.” I found this to be interesting and enlightening. I always am lax on grading technique and the way a student present a new skill on a project. I grade them according to the effort and the way they try to master the technique. So if they do not master the technique, does it show a lack of thought in that project?

 

Freedman addressed interpreting visual knowledge. I was not as invested in this chapter as I was in the Eisner chapter. From the notes that I took the main idea that I received from this chapter is following. Students relationship with visual culture will help them view, make, and respond to the world around them. The response is a personal act that helps form ideas, opinions, and beliefs. Through interpretation visual culture in a visual art curriculum, students will be enriched, think critically and reflect/interpret .

Response is a culture and a personal act.

Seeing is a selective activity shaped by the framework that serve as screens in our consciousness.

The arts help us become aware of ourselves. Indeed, at their best we use arts to remake ourselves.

Artists, through their work, can change our way of seeing.