.-... I . At .... DOCUMENT RESUME ED 032 939 24 PS 002 205 By-Grayson. Mary; And Others . Development of a Visual Arts Curriculum for YoungChildren. CAREL Arts and Humanities Curriculum Development Program for Young Children. Central Atlantic Regional Educational Lab., Washington,D.C. Spons Agency-Office of Education (DHEW). Washington. D.C.Bureau of Research. Bureau No-BR -6 -2938 Pub Date Jun 69 . Contract -OEC -2 -7 -062938 -3058 Note-166p. EDRS Price MF-S0.75 HC-$8.40 Descriptors-Artists.*Curriculum Development. Kindergarten. Painting. PerceptualDevelopment. Primary Grades. *Program Descriptions. Space. Teacher Education, TeachingTechniques, *Visual Arts. Visual Perception The objective of the Central Atlantic Regional EducationalLaboratory (CAREL) visual arts program was to develop a curriculum thatwould increase children's visual knowledge of artists and art work. develop theirvisual sensitivity and perceptual ability. and encourage creative production and perceptionof art work. Workshops were conducted to combinecurriculum theory with teaching practice and to Present a conceptual art framework to teachers. The curriculum waspresented to 190 children. grades kindergarten through 3. from all socioeconomiclevels. Focal points were definition of the artist. artistic expressiveness. spatial awarenessand spatial relationships. visual rhythm (recoznized pattern of parts to partsand parts to whole), and visits to an art museum.I eacher preparation and curriculumcontent were evaluated through classroom observation by the CARELstaff. teachers' responses to workshops and questionnaires. and anecodotal records.Results indicated a need for betterteacher preparation and curriculumdesignplanning.Childrenshowed development of visual rhythm. and improvement in their perceptionof aesthetic qualities. Curriculum units and sample evaluations are are included.(DR) F. C\1 i t DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. EDUCAT1Crtf a WELFARE 14-N OFFICE OF EDUCATION IRIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLYAS RECEIVED FROM THE Ca PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATINGa. POINTSOF VIEW OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIALOFFICE OF EDUCATION 11106111411 OR POUCH. 4 I Development of a Visual Arts Curriculum for Young Children by Mary Grayson Sharon Jones Irving Kaufman ,try 0 0 CAREL Arts and Humanities Program CI) s. Central Atlantic Regional Educational Laboratory 1200 Seventeenth Street, N.W. Washington, D. C. 20036 June 1969 This paper was published pursuant to contract OEC 2-7-062938-3058 between the Central Atlantic Regional Educational Laboratory and the United States Office of Education, Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Table of Contents Page Chapter I Rationale and Conceptual Framework 1 Chapter II Classroom Teacher Preparation 12 Resources: "The Art Workshop" 15 Chapter III Curriculum Development and Content 4 V OOOOO60 Chapter IV Evaluation Procedures and Findings 113 Chapter V Recommendations 159 FOREWORD This is one of a series of six volumes which report on PhaseOne of the CAREL Arts and Humanities Curriculum Development Programfor Young Children. Volumes two through six -- respectively for visual arts,dance, literature, music, and theatre -- document Phase One details of the rationale and approach, teacher preparation program, curriculumdevelopment and contents, evaluation findings, and recommendations for the future. The first volume is an overview of the entire program and outlines recommendations for Phase Two. The U.S. Office of Education funded CAREL to complete PhaseOne which lasted two years, ending on May 31, 1969. For each component, this included exploratory studies; the preliminary development of curricula materials, objectives, and strategies; preparation programs for classroom teachers; classroom tryouts and evaluation of the preliminary curricula; and preparation for controlled pilot testing in the schools.For these purposes, CAREL prepared 48 classroom teachers to teach one artcomponent each, and explored each of the arts singly, with 2,809 pupils in 27CAREL field schools for approximately a year. These programs in the arts andhumanities were truly innovative in both content and scope. Two of thefive components -- dance and theatre -- did not even exist in most Americanschools. The other three existed, but in generally limited programs whichdid not nearly meet the expressed needs of pupils. Each component discovered that most students were constrained, restricted, and lacked interest in their usual school roles asrecipient learners and repositories of information, The CAREL program developed new roles for students. They could become explorers of the full rangeof each art form, creative and expressive artists, poets, writers, composers, and performers; they were respected as audiences, critics, andevaluators with valid feelings, imaginations, and ideas. They were trusted and encouraged to play orchestral and exotic instruments, to userecording equipment and cameras, to work with professional quality artmaterials, and to express their own poetry and stories in their own language. Teachers became guides with available knowledge, skills, and resources tohelp students solve their own problems with their own creativity. The results were almost instantaneous in terms of studentexcitement and eager involvement. They could be "turned on" within minutes by personal interest and pride in their new roles. And as exploring, creative, and expressive self-educators, they also learned more of the classicalinform- ation and skills than they ever did in their former roles asrecipients and repositories. Now, for example, a pupil asked his music teacherhow great composers had solved certain problemsin beginning a composition. The pupil then listened to classical recordings forthe answers and considered them for his own composition. This was very much different fromlistening to the beginning of classical recordings tomemorize answers for a test. Much remains to be done to develop and refine theCAREL curricula and especially the preparation programs for classroomteachers. But the CAREL "way of learning" can provide the essentialpupil energy needed for further curriculum development, energy in the kind of pupilinterest and excitement that accompany his musical composition, his work of art,his poem or story or improvised dramatic role. Due to the lack of funds, CAREL can not continue intoPhase Two. However, it is hoped that the information and findings ofthese CAREL studies will enable and enhance the continuation by othersinto the next phase of an arts and humanities curriculum development programfor young children. Martin Dishart, Ph.D. Program Director CHAPTER I VISUAL ARTS Rationale and Conceptual Framework by Irving Xaufman The role of the visual arts in general education has hadat least a century of serious though inconsistent and diffuse theoreticalexpo- sition. Art education also has received affirmation ina variety of guises as a responsible andnecessary aspect of a total curriculum. These have ranged from a vocational, instrumentalemphasis to more current beliefs in individual creative expression andpersonality de- velopment. This has been especially true in the relationship ofart to elementary education and most particularly earlychildhood educa- tion. However, despite the generally accepted role of the visualarts in the instruction of children, thereare no broadly uncontested door- eticz1 guidelines for teachers,nor are the goals free of vagueness and contradictory considerations. There are contending and alternativeap- proaches to the teaching of art. In themselves, these reflect a heal- thy and vital interest in thearea and are consonant with the varying and viable conditions of art. Despite the recognition of the legitimacy and inherentsuitability of art in early childhood education, thegreater majority of school sys- tems do not support art programs taughtor supervised by specialists. Whatever the reason for the absence of specialart programs or teachers, it ls'evidently the classroom teacher who provideschildren with art experiences for the most part. The sudden influx of trained art tea- chers, even in modest additional numbers, intoelementary school sys- tems is not a likelihood in the immediate future. The necessity and desirability of art ims an integral element of earlyeducation remains, nevertheless. There is an obvious need to provide the classroomteachers with theoretical conceptualizations as wellas curricular guidelines and materials negotiable in the classroomso that children may be educated and sensitised within relevant and criticalart experiences.The stzuc- tura and substance of these educational enterprises shouldbe developed in a manner which does not violate the intrinsicallyfunctioning nature of art; should be respectful of the child'sdevelopmental needs and pat- terns, both idiosyncratic and generalized; and also be conduciveto in- dependent teaching expressiveness. It is believed that these factorsas related to curriculum planning for the visualarts are compatible. Par- ticular care needs to be taken in determining whatthe relationships are and how they function in varying classroomcontexts. The artistic and aesthetic dimensions inart education grow out of the recognition that art motivates and stimulatesa personally eloquent existence for child and adult alike. For the child it is the school which provides a focus of artistic activity and aestheticresponse in a focused and critical way not too available outside of school.If the child is to be vitally alive and attuned to inherent human needs,among