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Artist, Researcher, Teacher
A Study of Professional Identity in Art and Education
By Alan Thornton Intellect Ltd
Copyright © 2013 Intellect Ltd
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-84150-780-4
CHAPTER 1
Historical Impressions
The chapter presents some impressions of the artist teacher as a historical phenomenon through the cross-referencing of historians' interpretations with a focus on the artist teacher identity. The desire to forge links with the past compels us to try to identify patterns and clues that we can imaginatively convert into narratives that give plausible explanations for past manifestations. Each historian to a greater or lesser extent gives a personal view of the past. The subjective nature of historical data is evoked in the following passage:
Suppose it is held – as it was, for instance, by Croce – that historical knowledge essentially involves the 're-creation' of the past by each historian within his own mind; it then becomes difficult to see how any historical account can fail to be to some extent coloured and shaped by the individual interests and personality of its author.
(International Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences, 1968: 432)
I proceed with this brief historical account aware of the fact that I am searching for, and deliberately interpreting other accounts in order to highlight, conceptualisations of the artist teacher. It is up to the reader to decide how convincing the evidence and the arguments are.
A general view of historical developments in art education indicates a paradigm shift around the sixteenth century, which is seen as a 'pivotal point' or a 'benchmark' for the identity of the artist teacher as a historical phenomenon. The terms pre- and post-sixteenth century are used to convey this shift. The contemporary developments in art education in the United Kingdom that follow are seen in the context of this broader historical sweep.
Pre-sixteenth century
Some of the earliest human traces that exist are carvings, drawings and paintings from the Palaeolithic era, which according to Pericot-Garcia (1969) could have been made as long ago as 30,000 years. We can recognise animals and humans in these works and we believe our ancestors made them. Edward Luci-Smith, in his book Art and Civilisation (1992), reports on a discovery, from this same period, of stencil prints made from human hands. Sculpting or carving, painting and printmaking are techniques we often associate with the work of some visual artists today. We do not necessarily have to give the word 'art' any more meaning, in this context, than that conveyed through the processes and effects of visually representing phenomena using a plastic medium of some kind. Therefore it does not seem unreasonable to call the beings who made prehistoric artefacts artists, mindful of the concerns that compelled the creation of these artefacts. Pericot-Garcia throughout his study speaks of motifs and styles apparent in these artworks, which seem to have transferred through time and space. The assumption is that some of the content of the art and the techniques of early artists were passed on to others through migration and from generation to generation. It is conceivable that prehistoric artists passed on their knowledge and skills in ways related to learning and teaching processes that we are familiar with today. Could it be that there existed at least as long ago as 30,000 years beings who, to all intents and purposes, might be described as artist teachers? Pericot-Garcia deliberates on the idea that some form of art teaching took place:
We have to explain how so marvellous an art could have arisen and survived for so many thousands of years at a stage of obvious cultural primitivism, when social organisation was at its infancy and it is hardly conceivable that there might have existed artists with free time and organised schools of art.
(Pericot-Garcia, 1969: 29)
There is strong evidence that our early ancestors made the artwork that can still be seen today. There is some evidence that suggests the techniques and images of art were passed on in some ways to others. It seems likely that art was important to our early ancestors, possibly as a mode of communication or belief. It is also likely that some form of teaching and learning in art took place. To turn to language development, the term 'visual language' is sometimes used today in relationship to art but there is much evidence that some forms of inscribed language derived from visual representations. Indeed relationships between the two are evident and complex. Ancient Egyptian civilisation provides us with much information regarding the development of inscribed language.
Master–apprentice learning traditions are likely to have existed before the ancient Egyptians. It is just that they were able to communicate this teaching process through their inscriptions and art. Both consistent, systematic artwork and inscribed language were, according to Gombrich, passed on from generation to generation from approximately 5,000 years ago.
[T]here is a direct tradition, handed down from master to pupil, and from pupil to admirer or copyist which links the art of our own days, any house or any poster, with the art of the Nile Valley of some 5,000 years ago.
(Gombrich, 1950: 33)
Inscribed language is believed to have developed first in Mesopotamia before reaching Egypt through migration. The tombs of the pharaohs like the caves of prehistoric humans are examples of environments in which artworks have been preserved that give us valuable insights into past societies. Also, linguistic records of historical phenomena give us detailed knowledge of the roles of artists and teachers and artist teachers through the passage of time. Many early Egyptian artists could be understood as crafts people or trades people, producing artefacts to prescribed designs. The societal expectations for the production of uniform artworks required systems and structures by which discrete skills and knowledge could be passed on to others in order to maintain consistency. Workshops, master–apprentice relationships, family businesses and other institutions we associate with production existed in order to enable Egyptian societies to produce and consume. The arts trades seemed to function in a similar way to other trades, with art or craft works being made by artists who also taught their skills and knowledge to others. Workshops were organised in hierarchies, with major artworks often undertaken by a collaboration of workers with different skills. Aldred describes a typical workshop based on the studies of the ruins of artists' studios and carvings and paintings of artists at work from the time of the Old Kingdom (4000 years ago). He also describes a type of artist teacher:
In the workshops pictured in the Old Kingdom reliefs, or the New Kingdom wall paintings, craftsmen of different trades, from sculptors and metalsmiths to joiners and jewellers, are shown working side by side. It is clear that they are under the direction of an educated supervisor, familiar with the techniques of several crafts, able to recognise an inferior standard of work and correct errors.
(Aldred, 1980: 19)
These patterns of production, organisation and teaching appear to have continued to develop. In mediaeval Europe between the eighth and sixteenth centuries artist-craftsmen, other than monks, were often expected to be members of a guild. All kinds of artisans and craftsmen including stone carvers and picture makers became members of these groups, which sometimes evolved into powerful institutions that not only protected the professional interests of their members but allowed various forms of dissemination to flourish. The organisation of education and learning in schools, separate from the workplace, appears to have evolved in relationship to developments in thinking and societal needs throughout the later part of the sixteenth century.
Post-sixteenth century
Although Goldstein (1996) acknowledges that it is difficult to identify the first academy of art, a number of schools involving artists, based on Plato's concept of an academy, appeared in Florence in the 1550s. The sculptor Bandinelli presided over one particular academy of the mid-sixteenth century, which, according to custom, 'could only be used for a group dedicated to the study of humanistic subjects such as literature and philosophy' (Goldstein, 1996: 15).
Leonardo Da Vinci, an important Italian artist of this period, played a part in the development of the first art academies. Through Da Vinci's campaign to have visual art recognised as a liberal art, and with the involvement of other educated artists in intellectual academies, came the eventual birth of the academies of art in which practical art skills, in addition to theoretical studies associated with a liberal education, were taught. An example of this type of academy was the Florentine Accademia del Disegno founded in 1563. Two of the articles of this academy refer to educational procedures. Goldstein explains these as follows:
Each year three masters – one painter, one sculptor, and one architect – were to be elected as 'visitatori' (supervisors) to teach a select number of boys either in the academy or in their own workshops; they were to visit the shops in which the boys ordinarily worked to call their attention to errors they were falling into.
(Goldstein, 1996: 20)
The art academies evolved as specialised art schools and became popular across Europe. Here we see the beginnings of the separate professions of artist and teacher of art and changing expectations and identities regarding the artist teacher. The United Kingdom was also subject to these changes and I will now look at particular developments in England regarding art education that have, arguably, impacted on notions of the artist teacher.
Art education in England
The 1944 Education Act in England consolidated education by formalising the rights of the majority of citizens to access it. The visual arts were commonly included in the curriculum of most primary and secondary schools. The increasing demand for art teachers at all levels and the expectation that they provide high standards of craft and teaching skills and artistic knowledge resulted in the concept of the artist teacher becoming ever more relevant in general education. The restructuring of art education after the first Coldstream Report in the early 1960s included the development of post-school diagnostic foundation courses for one or two years as a route into the new (largely degree equivalent) Diploma in Art and Design (Dip.AD) courses. Within 20 years of the introduction of this diploma, full degree status through the Bachelor of Arts (BA) award became the norm in art schools and university art departments. Also in the 1960s the first Bachelor of Education (BEd) art degrees were developed. Macdonald speaks with enthusiasm of their potential:
This offered a unique opportunity for students to take art together with education and other academic subjects. While the art students at the colleges are encouraged to regard themselves as creative artists, the annual teaching practices, during which they take other subjects, confirm their roles as teachers.
(Macdonald, 1970: 359)
The four-year degrees allowed committed student teachers the possibility of also developing as artists.
Teacher education and practical art education, between the 1960s and 1980s, both achieved the prestigious status of subjects that could be taken at degree level. In terms of professional practice art courses reflected particular vocations: graphic art, architecture, industrial design, digital art, etc. Fine art was usually linked to the vocations of artist and art teacher. With the development of modular systems in higher education and the increase of theory and its accompanying modes of assessment in art education, we see a tendency towards the blurring of the boundaries between different subjects or fields and the categories of theory and practice. Increasing numbers of courses were offered in which subjects could be combined. Fine art, for example, could be combined with other disciplines both within and beyond conventional art subject areas. Bretton Hall, for example, offered a BA degree in Fine Art and Arts Education (Art and Design Courses, 2000). Also we see the development of practice-based research doctorates in art, and research processes increasingly adopted in the fields of education and art.
The development of the Artist Teacher Scheme (ATS) in recent years by the National Society for Education in Art and Design (NSEAD) is an affirmation of the importance the society attaches to personal artistic development regarding 'life long learning' and the professional practice of art teachers. The ATS came into being with its emphasis on the artistic education of the art teacher in the context of contemporary developments in art. Good organisation by NSEAD and financial support from the Arts Council of England (ACE) and later the Arts Council of Scotland, as well as the commitment of artist teachers themselves, has resulted in the ATS expanding across the country from two centres in 1999 to 12 in 2010 (see Adams 2003).
The aim of widening access to art education, the teaching of art to children and the growing interest in children's art, and the acknowledgement of its aesthetic and educational value and vocational possibilities has resulted in a general increase in demand for art teachers over the centuries, particularly in schools. Of course this embedding of art education in general education has taken place erratically in the United Kingdom with the status of the arts in education fluctuating in relationship to trends in society and varying political objectives. Artist teachers as dual practitioners have always been associated with schools of art at the tertiary level, but in the United Kingdom there are also primary and secondary art teachers, often trained to degree level in art and/or education, who see the dual roles of artist and teacher as important aspects of their professional and personal development. Also art is now generally understood not only as specialised knowledge taught as a vocational option but also as a mode of learning important in the general education of all.
We have seen the 'master–apprentice' teaching and art production system operating in the work environment from prehistoric to the present time, but with some significant changes and additions over the centuries. In sixteenth-century Italy, the first art schools were formed in which practical art skills and related knowledge were taught in special institutions separate from the workplace. With the growth of general education in the United Kingdom the art teacher emerged as a discrete professional, who was not necessarily dependent on art production as a means to earn a living. Also there came about a change in practice for the artist teacher, who still produced art but no longer taught apprentices in the studio or workshop as a necessity, but taught art in art schools, or schools of general education. The post-sixteenth-century artist teacher generally shares characteristics with the pre-sixteenth- century artist teacher. The main differences between the two is that post-sixteenth century the teaching did not generally take place in the workplace, but in schools, and artist teachers were not dependent upon selling their art as they now received income through teaching. It could be inferred that, generally speaking, before the sixteenth century many artists were necessarily teachers as well as artists in the workplace as their income and the future of their profession depended upon producing and selling art and teaching the skills and knowledge associated with this practice to apprentices. Post-sixteenth century it was possible for an art-trained teacher to earn a living solely by teaching in a school.
To sum up, the term 'artist teacher' could refer to a type of professional artist in the past who taught an art trade to an apprentice. It could refer to professional artists who teach students in art schools, or an art teacher in general education who also makes art. Thus the term 'artist teacher' could be used to communicate a concept in which personal art making and art teaching are understood to be complementary at every level of art education.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Artist, Researcher, Teacher by Alan Thornton. Copyright © 2013 Intellect Ltd. Excerpted by permission of Intellect Ltd.
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