Teaching Visual Culture
Kerry Freedman Chapter Two-
This chapter relates to the aesthetics in art, both in contemporary theory and visual culture. Looking at art from a perspective of “meaning making” is very important in the postmodern aesthetic, and the importance of art is present in all subject areas, not just art education. Chapter Three- This chapter focuses on the use of visual culture in art education, in correlation with the past, present, and future. As art educators, we must set an atmosphere in the classroom that is open and accepting of art history but also active in using this with past and current visual culture in the postmodern society. Chapter Four- This chapter specifically addresses the concerns of art and its’ relationship to cognition, as well as how (as an educator) to engage students in cognitive thinking in the art classroom. The use of psychology support in these sections gives a sense of heavy research into how, through art, students process knowledge. Chapter Five-This chapters discusses how teachers, and how our students, interpret visual cultures in all the forms it presents itself in. Another main point in this chapter is a given guide on how to teach visual culture. This step by step process of producing contexts, exploring contexts, function and meaning, and structural support, create the guide. Chapter Six- This chapter’s main idea revolves around how in today’s world, society relates curriculum as a process. Freedman discusses how teaching visual culture is beneficial for change in the art classroom, now in the present focusing on the meaning and concepts, rather than the past art education teaching theories of skills and simply making art. Chapter Seven- This chapter’s main purpose is to discuss the relationship between technology and visual culture. With the new growth of technology around students each and every day, the impact that it has on society is crucial and is a topic to be discussed in the art classroom. This chapter also discusses the main problems with the access to visual culture images, videos, etc. Chapter Eight- Chapter 8 of Teaching Visual Culture discusses the art making and assessment process for students. Freedman (2003) examines different types of assessment in the art classroom, as well as the process of art making, and how these two concepts help students grow new knowledge in visual arts. |