'School Art Education in America\r'

' two years ago, students from my nub develop”s em tycoon program had the opportunity to visit Wexner Center for the liberal cheats exhibition on contemporary computer computer architecture concentrating on human habitats. Students, after viewing the various exhibits and breeding well-nigh the architects in docent-led discussions, crack upicipated in an activity in which they assumed roles as architects and general contractors in nightspot to create their ingest habitats. Reluctant at first, they finished their tasks and then answered a list of questions prep bed by m hireum soulfulnessnel.\r\nAfter reading through the student responses, I discovered that although the students had learned a little to the highest degree architecture that day, they were deficient in their knowledge of architecture as universe more than buildings we live in and use. Students could name several classical architectural styles nonwithstanding were limited in their responses to other sweeps of the contract. In his record book computer architecture is Elementary, Nathan B. Winters states â€Å"Years of research indicate that the put down public has not grown much beyond the fourth grade level in ocular literacy,” (Winters, 1997).\r\nIt is my intent to search for the best instructional practices to check architecture to middle school students using an accomplishment plan involving my middle school stratagem students, the rivenership of Plain City, selected professional architects, contractors and city planners in ramble to increase students” knowledge of architecture. I hope to enlarge student”s knowledge of architectural styles, servicing develop an appreciation for architecture, study problems of historic construction preservation, and planning. The booklet, Imagine!\r\nIntroducing Your Child to the Arts, provides p arents with method actings to introduce children to the arts plot encouraging children to imagine. In chapter seven authorise â€Å"Architecture and Children”, it is stated â€Å"Architecture unites culture with perception and technology. ” The chapter defines the study of the â€Å"built environment” as architecture, landscape architecture, historic preservation and planning. Describing children as natural builders, the redeem implores parents to enjoy, admire, and alter children to build forts and other items of play (Donohue, 1997).\r\nThe booklet provides parents with bringing close togethers to use with children starting with their own home, such as, showing them how the plumbing system and heating systems work. This booklet is geared for use by parents of children up to third grade. In a terminal statement the importance of teaching architecture is stressed. The author says â€Å"Many children, in fact, have strengths in the word form of visual, spatial and tactile thinking that are invoked in architectural design and analysis, that they may not be called upon to use in other school compositors cases.\r\nDonohue stresses that being able to think three-dimensionally can be utilize to other subjects and life gravels (Donohue, 1997). While this booklet did not specifically pertain to middle school sr. students, it supports the need for study in the architectural field. The gain groundup entitled â€Å"Bulgaria and Romania: Lessons” discusses ideas that are intended to increase the heathenish awareness of middle school students concerning life in Bulgaria and Romania. Part eight of the paper is a lesson entitled â€Å"Comparison of Architecture.\r\nThe objective is to â€Å"Enable students to see that the pot in Romania and Bulgaria live in a vicissitude of different architectural styles of homes. ” (Binger, 1996) The author uses the examination method by having American students analyze photographs of homes and towns in Bulgaria and Romania and write a description of the life of a person living in one of the houses . The students were shown pictures of famous buildings in the area and had to be able to name and attain them. This paper includes architecture as one of the areas of study, and in my opinion, the method used was appropriate for middle school students.\r\nArchitectural Treasures, cover story for â€Å"Arts and Activities,” describes an art lesson for eighth grade students involving slides of famous buildings from the beginning of cartridge holder to the present concentrating on four cities; Toronto, Philadelphia, Santa Fe, and the author”s hometown, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. After viewing and discussing thirty thousand years of homes, the students created their own architectural structures from clay. Discipline-based instruction was used because the students were not regular art students. This lesson could be, in my opinion, used as part of an exercise-plan for middle school students.\r\nIn exploring action research methods, the article by Mary Hafeli describes le ssons in which decisions make by the student and teacher admit power struggles and questioning of values by the teacher. Ms. Hafeli asked the question, â€Å"How are judgments about student artworks formed? ” (Hafeli, 2000, p 130). She shared out her article into the following segments: research framework, setting and participants, and information collection and analysis. All of these areas were supported with relevant citings by well-known authors.\r\nMichael Parsons” freshen up of Ms. Hafeli”s article suggests that issues of power in the classroom make a â€Å"suitable direction for research” (Parsons, 2000). The article discusses action research, which is an area I needed to explore while working(a) on my topic. In her article, Design for Inquiry, Delacruz discusses the importance of students figure out problems and states, â€Å"The best teaching methods and strategies are those contributing to a climate that fosters self-confidence and encourage s self-inquiry and self-reliance. ”\r\nShe further states, â€Å"When students form their own questions and learn complex thinking processes, that instruction is inquiry-centered. She believes that the inquiry method should be useful for art educators at all levels particularly school-based art teachers. (Delacruz, 1999) A raw model of critical inquiry is disclosed by George Geahigan. He states that inquiry means to â€Å"Investigate, to search for knowledge and information. Critical inquiry starts with a personal experience that students have with a work of art. It can be promoted by students exchanging opinions and observations about a work of art, by students comparing and contrasting works of art, and by confronting students with seditious and controversial works of art. (Geahigan, 1999)\r\nThis method could be utilize very well to the teaching of architecture in an action plan using examples of architecture in the community. The authors of Architectural Images Throug h the Dual Lens of reckon Books and Creative Dramatics, state that, â€Å"The idea of architecture as a meaningful and vitally important part of the student environment was not present in art curricula prior to 1993 and that introducing architectural concepts to children is a relatively new area of the curriculum” (Cleaver, Scheurer, and Shorey, 1993).\r\nThe authors recognize the integrating of architecture education through a across-the-board listing and review of books published about architecture for children. Ways to integrate the ideas were presented in many subject areas. They state that other countries are also interested in incorporating architecture into learning, citing the British project â€Å" training to See. ” The authors discuss a variety of books that introduce types of houses in various regions of the United States. A suggestion is made that this book could be used to produce a photographic record of children”s homes in their communities t o make a classroom book.\r\nAs this was to be part of my action plan, I was interested to know that this idea had already been implemented. The authors support educating children about architecture stating â€Å"By being sensitized to style and form and mould of structure, children may more easily see who we are as a culture as reverberate in our surroundings” (Cleaver, Scheurer, and Shorey, 1993). After the literature review it is my belief that it would be an opportune time to go ahead with my action plan for several reasons, the nigh important being the enhancement of art education of children in our school district.\r\nPlain City is the prompt growing community in the area and is fixed next to Dublin and Hilliard in Franklin County. The Big Darby catchment basin runs through the area and a state of the art suspension bridge is being built literally in my back yard. Housing developments are forming day-to-day and our students” parents are involved in making de cisions about this growth. To teach middle school aged children to be aware of the value of architecture as functional, and hopefully beautiful, will involve a process that I hope to achieve in my action plan.\r\nThe ideas presented in my research can be incorporated, expanded upon, and evaluated in the proposed plan. It is submitted that the plan will require more definition, research, and fine-tuning in order to implement it. We are all watch a community growing from rural farming(a) based, Amish influenced society to becoming participants in the building of a modern extended community. Economics plays a clear role here, but much can be done through art education of middle school students to achieve a social balance.\r\n'