Stevie Poole

Art 133- 07/08

Unit Paper 4
3/16/17
Unit Paper 4

In unit four, we began to analyze the big idea of play, and the importance of play in our

artwork. After becoming bored with her own teaching style, Virginia Freyermuth opted for a

more student directed approach to teaching/learning where students would answer questions to

big ideas and key concepts through their artwork, she calls this the holistic approach

(Freyermuth, 2010). With students eager to challenge their own learning, Fryermuth found each

students individual needs to be overwhelming at times. Naturally though, student collaboration

blossomed out of this perceived dilemma, which in turn, created stronger learning for the

students (Freyermuth, 2010). This approach to teaching is pedagogical, as well as philosophical,

which Freyermuth (2010) explains in this quoteAs I have come to understand it, questioning

strategies based on truly open ended, reflective questions are the key to this kind of teaching.

Douglas and Jaquith (2009) take the holistic approach one step further by introducing us to the

concept of choice based classrooms which have three essential goals: student independence,

acquisition of artistic behaviors, and the generations of ideas. From Klein (2008), we learn about

the use of humor by contemporary artists to confront personal, social, political and art world

issues. This connects to the concepts of the holistic approach and a choice based classroom

because these contemporary artists that Klein (2008) speaks of are answering questions for

themselves through their art.

The holistic approach and choice based classrooms are both something I would like to

adapt for my future students. With hopes of teaching children with special needs, I think it is
important to find a happy medium that provides students with a structured classroom, while also

allowing students to have personal freedom to create their own art, and answer questions for

themselves. I would accomplish this by making clear statements of what I want my students to

know, and allowing them to figure out what they will do.

References

Douglas, K.M., & Jaquith, D.B. (2009). Engaging learners through artmaking: Choice-based art

education in the classroom. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Freyermuth, V.K. (2012). One art teachers search for a holistic approach. In L.H. Campbell & S.

Simmons III (Eds.), The heart of education: Holistic approaches (pp. 266-296). Reston,

VA: National Art Education Association.

Klein, S. (2008). Comic Liberation: The feminist face of humor in contemporary art. Art

Education, 61 (2), 47-52.