Visual Art in the Public School System:
a secondary school teacher's view of the impact of technology, de-streaming
and limited class time
by Peter Hickey, Belleville, Ont.
Peter Hickey has been a visual art teacher in Belleville,
Ont., since 1979. After graduating from the Ontario College of Art he worked
for T.D.F. Artists in Toronto, Ont. (1966-1978). Mr. Hickey continues to
do freelance commercial design and to paint landscapes and portraits in
his free time.
This article reprinted with permission from Art Business, a newsletter...
, Vol. 1, No. 5 (Oct., 1995).
All Grade 9 public school students must take visual art for
one half a semester (41 school days). This totals eight Grade nine classes
of about 30 students each in a school year. Visual art is not mandatory
after the first year of high school. It is hoped that students will continue
to take visual arts throughout their high school years.
During those 41 days of Grade 9 art, the student is expected to learn perspective,
art terms, art theory and art history appreciation. The student must complete
art projects involving the above to develop, or enhance in some cases, his
or her talent. The course has been trimmed to accommodate the 41 days. As
it is, it's a constant rush to complete their work in the allotted time.
Last year, some public secondary schools reduced their art program to 21
days. This year these schools found that their Grade 10 art enrolment had
dropped significantly. How can a student possibly get a good foundation
in art in 21 days? How can the student develop a sense of enjoyment in that
amount of time? Even with 41 days, it is difficult to accomplish.
This is especially true for the student who said recently to the writer:
"I can't draw, never could, so I'm not interested. I don't know why
I have to be here."
This attitude springs in part from our use of computers. Students come to
high school with a knowledge of computers -- press the right keys and receive
instant success. This expected jolt of gratification has made many students
somewhat impatient to be toiling with their hands on an art project.
I realize we must learn to use computers. Computers often replace artists
materials in studios. Students at community colleges are taught how to render
with a computer. However, these students come to college with an expertise
in drawing skills, an art vocabulary and a knowledge of art history.
"De-streaming"** has exacerbated the art student's problems with
impatience and limited class time. Some de-streamed students are unable
to cope with the demands of a more advanced curriculum. They withdraw or
act out. It is a situation over which the students have little control.
This lack of control breeds frustration, discipline problems and inevitable
failure. Their sense of failure influences some of their peers who join
them in their attitude and behaviour. Others, who want to learn, disassociate
themselves from the latter group. Two tribes develop in the classroom. Each
tribe keeping the other out. The teacher spends too much time disciplining
and his/her energy erodes over time, and the whole program suffers. Those
who want help don't get it. Those who are proficient find it boring because
there is rarely any contact with the teacher.
The students' experiences in Grade 9 have resulted in significantly decreased
numbers in the Grade 10 art classes. Increasingly, there are not enough
students to justify a class. Bye, bye creativity! Bye, bye personal expression,
self-satisfaction, confidence! Impatience, lack of time, frustration bred
in the de-streamed class.... It is this writer's opinion that we are heading
for mediocrity inside and outside of the classroom.
Our school, Quinte S.S. in Belleville, decided to stay with the 41 day half
semester program. As well, our students are allowed to choose one of the
arts (visual art, music, theatre arts) rather than have no choice at all,
when entering Grade 9. Choice has helped to strengthen the arts programs
and has alleviated some of the discipline problems. There is little that
can be done about de-streaming. However, choice of discipline may encourage
students to pursue the arts in later high school years.
_______________
**Prior to 1993, students entering Grade 9 in Ontario public schools were
"streamed" into Basic, General or Advanced levels depending on
their needs and abilities (ie.Basic Grade 9 English, General Grade 9 English,
Advanced Grade 9 English). Each student's Grade 9 stream (the student could
hold different streams in different subjects) was determined by the Grade
8 teacher. The NDP Ministry of Education found that those streamed into
Basic and General levels usually developed feelings of inadequacy, rarely
climbed levels and tended to drop out early. Thus, Grade 9 was de-streamed
in 1993 and children of all abilities and needs were placed together in
a single class. While de-streaming may have alleviated some problems, it
has created several more. Class sizes have been allowed to swell since there
are no longer criteria on which to justify the creation of multiple classes
(ask a teacher what has happened to PTR, pupil teacher ratio). To address
the often dramatically varying needs of students, teachers have aimed curriculum
at a middle ground. This intermediate curriculum is unchallenging for some
and still overwhelming for others. Often, teachers create special curricula
for individual students. The frustrated learners usually resort to attention
seeking behaviour.
Ed.
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