Adult Arts Learning

2230 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay on using art in therapy

Adult Arts Learning

The motivations and objectives of both providers and participants in adult arts learning are diverse. Adult educators seeking to foster transformative learning invoke the role of imagination in developing new perspectives; they view the arts as a way of engaging adults in imaginative exploration of themselves and their relationship to the world (Dirkx 2000; Kazemek and Rigg 1997). In adult literacy education, analysis of paintings and poems can be a means of developing visual and linguistic acuity, critical thinking, and aesthetic judgment (Dreybus 2000; Kazemek and Rigg 1997). Greene (in Elias, Jones, and Normie 1995) speaks of aesthetic education as a form of critical literacy to empower people to read and name their world.

For prison inmates, the arts can be a route to reconnecting with learning, developing interpersonal and reasoning skills, and exploring different value systems. For example, drama workshops in a prison literacy program draw on learners' experiences, involving them in role playing to reinforce literacy practices and helping them reinterpret their experiences metaphorically (Kett 2001). Another approach to the arts as experiential learning is the Duke University business school's Leadership and the Arts course (Alburty 1999). The program equates leaders and artists in that both know how to coach, encourage, take risks, innovate, inspire, and express a vision; both use the capacities of emotional observation and critical judgment.

Intergenerational arts projects foster the development of communication and reflection skills and formation of new perspectives about oneself and others. Apol and Kambour (1999) used dance and writing with elders and adolescents to engage both verbal and ...

... middle of paper ...

... Adult Basic Education 7, no. 3 (Fall 1997): 131-144.

Kett, M. "Literacy Work in Wheatfield Prison, Dublin, Ireland." Journal of Correctional Education 52, no. 2 (June 2001): 63-67.

Lomas, C. M. "Art and the Community: Breaking the Aesthetic of Disempowerment." In Dance, Power, and Difference: Critical and Feminist Perspectives on Dance Education, edited by S. B. Shapiro, pp. 149-169. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 1998.

McDaniel, N., and Thorn, G. Learning Audiences: Adult Arts Participation and the Learning Consciousness. Washington, DC: John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; Association of Performing Arts Presenters, 1997.

Williams, D. The Social Impact of Arts Programs. How the Arts Measure Up: Australian Research into Social Impact. Working Paper 8. Comedia (UK), 2000. <http://www.artshunter.com.au/communityarts/papers/Commedia.htm>

Show More
Related

  • Pros And Cons Of Correctional Programs

    901 Words  | 2 Pages

    Correctional program writing nowadays is at a level of efficiency that surpasses earlier outlooks. In territories all over the United States, there are several curriculums that use research-based curriculums to teach, instruct, and inspire inmates. Disappeared are the days of hit-or-miss execution of curriculums that seemed good, but over and over again just occupied time for the inmates. The previous evolution happened for several reasons (Corrections Today, 2010). The largest wake-up demands was the claim composed around thirty years ago. The statement made was not anything works in corrections systems, mainly rehabilitation. Even though this commonly revealed report was taken from its context, it did in detail carry some notice to the mystery that several penitentiaries were not operational as change

    Read More

  • The Big Issue With School Funding

    1682 Words  | 4 Pages

    Holcomb, Sabrina. "Arts Education." Rss. National Education Association, 17 Jan. 2007. Web. 10 May 2016.

    Read More

  • Problems with the American Prison System

    1089 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dodd, Vikram. "Why Prison Education?." . Prison Studies Project, Teaching Research Outreach, 16 Jan. 2010. Web. 12 Apr. 2014. .

    Read More

  • Fine Arts Education Issues

    1539 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to the National Art Education Association’s goals for schools, “all elementary schools shall require students to complete a sequential program of art instruction that integrates the study of art production, aesthetics, art criticism, and art history,” (Clark, 1987). Elementary schools are having difficulty because they are cutting back on the fine arts programming and many non-specialist classroom teachers are expected to integrate the fine arts into their daily curriculum. Most of these teachers feel inadequate and uncomfortable when teaching these subjects. The children are receiving inadequate lessons in art education. All elementary schools should expand their curriculum to include the fine arts as subjects, and licensed specialists should teach these subjects.

    Read More

  • Budget Cuts In Art Education Essay

    1170 Words  | 3 Pages

    Emotional stimulation is a key part of the arts. Before and during adolescence students go through many emotional changes and experiences. It is important that they find a healthy and natural way to release their concerns and feelings. Art is a considerable alternative to bottling up their emotions or other things a young person may do to release their emotions. For example, when a student creates a piece of art, his or her thoughts, dreams, goals and experiences are put into it “often reflecting an event of significance in their recent past or some element on the canvas that reminds them of a favored person or object or color” (Gardener 16). Likewise, when a student looks at a piece of art, they try to determine the emotion that the artist is trying to convey. This, in affect increases his or her emotional awareness. By putting themselves in another persons position, students develop a greater understanding of the emotions of their peers. The arts also helps students to think critically and view things in a different perspective:

    Read More

  • Distortions and Exaggerations in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights

    1017 Words  | 3 Pages

    Heathcliff cried vehemently, "I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!" Emily Brontë distorts many common elements in Wuthering Heights   to enhance the quality of her book. One of the distortions is Heathcliff's undying love for Catherine Earnshaw. Also, Brontë perverts the vindictive hatred that fills and runs Heathcliff's life after he loses Catherine. Finally, she prolongs death, making it even more distressing and insufferable.

    Read More

  • The Pursuit of Wealth, Power, and Pleasure in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    684 Words  | 2 Pages

    The reader sees how much Gatsby wishes for Daisy and their past relationship, but Tom has become an issue through his wealth, power, and social status. Gatsby knows that he has to eclipse Tom’s appeal to Daisy in some way and that he would need money for this. This gets him into the illegal actions of bootlegging. In the end of the novel, the reader realizes the sign...

    Read More

  • Character Analysis Of Wuthering Heights

    995 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel Wuthering Heights, author Emily Brontë portrays the morally ambiguous character of Heathcliff through his neglected upbringing, cruel motives, and vengeful actions.

    Read More

  • Demise of a Soulmate in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights

    706 Words  | 2 Pages

    Emily Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights, set in the countryside of England’s 1700’s, features a character named Heathcliff, who is brought into the Earnshaw family as a young boy and quickly falls into a passionate, blinding romance with the Earnshaw’s daughter, Catherine. However, Heathcliff is soon crushed by this affection when his beloved chooses the company of another man rather than his own. For the remainder of the novel he exudes a harsh, aversive attitude that remains perduring until his demise that is induced by the loss of his soulmate, and in turn the bereavement of the person to whom the entirety of his being and his very own self were bound.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Arts Education

    1494 Words  | 3 Pages

    This is the opening statement of “The Value and Quality of Arts Education: A Statement of Principles,” a document from the nation’s ten most important educational organizations. The basic message is that music and art programs in the schools help our kids and communities in real and substantial ways. There is an abundant amount of facts and information that supports this statement. The benefits of arts education can be narrowed down into 4 basic categories: success in developing intelligence, success in school, success in society, and success in life.... ... middle of paper ...

    Read More

  • Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights

    735 Words  | 2 Pages

    “It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him; and that, not because he’s handsome, Nelly, but because he’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same, and [Edgar’s] is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire.” These words are spoken by Catherine Earnshaw in Emily Bronte’s novel, Wuthering Heights. The complicated love triangle that exists between Catherine Earnshaw, Edgar Linton, and Heathcliff is central to the plot of Wuthering Heights. This, and other subplots about love between other characters make love the main theme of this novel.

    Read More

  • Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights

    891 Words  | 2 Pages

    In "Wuthering Heights," we see tragedies follow one by one, most of which are focused around Heathcliff, the antihero of the novel. After the troubled childhood Heathcliff goes through, he becomes embittered towards the world and loses interest in everything but Catherine Earnshaw –his childhood sweetheart whom he had instantly fallen in love with.—and revenge upon anyone who had tried to keep them apart.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Arts Education

    1130 Words  | 3 Pages

    As quoted by the College Board of 2005, “Students who took four years of arts coursework outperformed their peers who had one half-year or less of arts coursework by fifty-eight points on the verbal portion and thirty-eight points on the math portion of the SAT.” Many articles on the internet claim that education of the arts is important, not paramount, but statistics are showing otherwise. The creativity students are gaining by participating in the arts does not go unnoticed, but unfortunately not all can open their minds to these striking facts. Need Ghomeshi, editor of Florida International University’s student media site (fiusm.com) believes that “more time needs to be allocated to textbook education. Unfortuantely, the continuously disappointing public education system in the United States promotes the arts while losing focus on textbook education” (Ghomeshi 2). It is in times like these that the arts need attention that they sadly, are not getting. These studies are of the utmost importance in education curriculums, and statistics are showing that participation in theatre, dance, visual arts and music are extremely beneficial for students getting ready to begin standardized testing. An arts education assists children and teens of all ages with a stronger focus and mindset in and out of the school setting. The significance

    Read More

  • The Benefits Of Prison Education

    1979 Words  | 4 Pages

    The decision to allow an inmate to participate in a postsecondary programs is entirely in the hands of the individual prison administrators (Palmer, 2012). Postsecondary education is educational programs beyond the secondary level, especially education at the college or university level. Prison managers cannot plan or budget appropriately for literacy services unless they have accurate and reliable information about the extent of the need for services for prisoners who cannot read and write (Rankin 2005). Moreover, teachers of incarcerated youth are often isolated and do not have access to either typical district/local education agency in-service opportunities or training targeted to the unique situation in which they teach (Gagnon, 2014).

    Read More

  • The Cultural Importance Of The Arts By Susan Langer

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    Art and its education are crucial in the development of young children. Therefore, it is of the upmost importance to ensure that our young children are being taught about art and its education in order for them to be successful contributing members of society. June Vail, a professor of dance at Bowdoin College explains, “The arts bring energy and creativity, a kind of learning that can only enhance every other kind of learning. (Vail).” She continues by saying that, “The enterprise of a liberal arts education is integrative, to educate students to be creative and flexible, to harness their energy in a different way (Vail).” Art begins to lay the foundation of success early for young children by developing their motor skills through paining with a paintbrush and drawing with crayons. Furthermore, it also helps promote language development by learning new shapes, colors, and allows them to describe their artistic creation. Lastly, it also helps children improve academically. A report that was done by the Americans for the Arts demonstrates that young people who participated regularly in the arts are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement, participate in a math or science fair, or win an award for writing an essay as opposed to students who do not participate in the arts (PBS). As a result of this, it is imperative to ensure that adolescent children of today begin

    Read More

More about Adult Arts Learning

Open Document