UNIT 3 POPULAR FIGURES VIEW ON THE CREATIVITY OF VISUAL ART

LEARNING OUTCOMES: At the end of the unit you will be able to: 1. 2. 3. List the popular figures in the subject of creativity of visual arts. Distinguishe the different ideas and theories on creativity of visual arts. Explain the importance of these ideas and theories in the development of childrens creativity in visual arts.

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INTRODUCTION:

What is visual art? Visual arts are creations that we can see, appreciate and touch. Some of the examples of visual art creations are drawings, paintings, sculptures, photographs and decorative arts such as ceramic, jewelry making, furniture design and wood carving. Visual arts allow us to examine creativity in children. In this unit we will look at the various researchers and writers who are involved in the study of creativity and visual arts. These researchers are Carl Rogers, E. Paul Torrance, June King McFee and Victor Lowenfeld.

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Carl Rogers

Carl Rogers was an American psychologist and one of the founders of the humanistic approach to psychology. According to Rogers one of the scopes of a fully functioning person is creativity. Creativity will allow a person to feel free and responsible to act accordingly and participate in society positively. Roger emphasized that for creativity to develop several conditions should be in place (Raines & Isbell,2003). These conditions are: 1. Psychologically safe environment. This is an atmosphere where ideas are accepted and people are respected.

Internal locus of evaluation. This refers to the personal characteristics of self-confidence and independence. The individual makes a decision and is willing to accept responsibility for the outcome.

2.

3.

A willingness to play with ideas and possibilities. This characteristics allows the individual to demonstrate playfulness.

4.

Openness to experience. This is seen as an attraction to new experiences and receptiveness to new ideas.

This theory emphasizes the importance of providing a conducive environment to encourage the development of creativity in our children. In order to express their creativity our children need to feel safe, appreciated, respected and loved. These conditions allow the development of self confidence and positive self esteem in our children, enabling them to participate in new experiences which will translate into creative work of art and outcomes.

Self Test Carl Rogers is a humanistic psychologist. State the conditions that are needed for creativity to develop in our children.

Exercise/Discussion A psychologically safe environment requires that every child in your classroom feel accepted, important and valued. Examine the images of children found in your room. Think of the mixture of genders and races portrayed. Will it support psychological safety for all your students?

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E. Paul Torrance

E. Paul Torrance was an American psychologist who is well known for his work on methods to assess and nurture creativity in human being. He developed the most widely used tests of creativity, namely the Future Problem Solving Program and the Incubation Model of Teaching. In Raines and Isbell (2003), Torrances artistic definition of creativity is as follows: Creativity is digging deeper. Creativity is looking twice. Creativity is crossing out mistakes. Creativity is talking/listening to a cat. Creativity is getting in deep water. Creativity is getting out from behind locked doors. Creativity is plugging in the sun. Creativity is wanting to know. Creativity is having a ball. Creativity is building sand castles. Creativity is singing in your own way. Creativity is shaking hands with the future. Torrance further identified four components of the creative process . The components are: 1. 2. 3. 4. Originality Fluency Flexibility Elaboration An idea that is truly unique. It is not like any other product, it is one of a kind. The generation of many ideas. The emphasis here is on the number of ideas produced. The ability to change direction or think in another way. Taking an idea and expanding it to make it more intriguing and complex.

Based on these components he developed the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking inventory (TTCT). These tests invite examinees to draw and give a title to their drawings (pictures) or to write questions, reasons, consequences and different uses for objects (words).

He stressed how lessons in virtual arts can be a good way to promote creativity in children. The simple construction of a structure by a child from pieces of cardboard cut outs shows originality. From that one structure other ideas can be generated, or children can elaborate on the ideas of others. All these processes show creativity.

Self Test Identify Torrences four components of the creative process.

Discussion List five things that a teacher can do to help children develop a willingness to express creativity, and give a rationale for each.

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June King McFee

June King McFee was a professor and Head of the Department of Art Education at the University of Oregon. She believed that art creations are expressions of an individuals culture and belief system. Creativity in the arts is related to the individuals learning process. McFee believed that art is multifaceted and encompasses the aspects cultural communication, art criticism and historical values. She defines art education as follows: Art education is defined as an educational process that helps diverse children and young people to: (1) Develop understanding of the language of art as it functions in society. (2) Understand the range of art in the man-made environment (3) Develop the behaviors that produce creativity and respond to art, and (4) Critically evaluate art through aesthetic judgment. The teacher's role in art education includes understanding this process, with emphasis on individual differences in readiness for art through the psychological and social study of human behavior in art, and curriculum development that will help diverse children achieve these abilities and understandings. (Loomis,1984) Based on the definition above, McFee stressed on the importance of individuality and at the same time, the presence of diversity in each of her students. Teachers have the task of trying to understand their students cultural background without letting stereotyped expectations get in the way of the students progress (Steele.N,2008). Only then the students will be able to communicate their values, beliefs, feelings, emotions and attitudes through creative visual arts.

McFee (1970), is well known for her Perceptual Delineation Theory. In this theory she proposes that children draw as they do, not because of any one factor but because of several. The factors are: 1. 2. and 3. the childs readiness including physical development, intelligence, perceptual development, and cultural dispositions. psychological environment in which the child works, including the degree of threat or support, as well as the number and intensity of rewards punishments present. how children handle informationthe ability to handle details and to organize and categorize information coming from the environment. 4. how childrens drawings are influenced by their ability to manipulate the art materials, as well as their creative and inventive ability.

Self Test 1. 2. According to June McFee art education is . Discuss the factors that teachers need to consider to nurture creativity in art education. 3. Identify the important elements in McFees Perceptual Delineation Theory

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Victor Lowenfeld

Another renowned art educator is Victor Lowenfeld. His creativity-based theory of symbolic developmental stages in art stressed the need for childrens creativity and sensory development to unfold naturally, not obstructed by external influences. Teachers should nurture childrens artistic development and the production of visual forms by encouraging self-expression, not by teaching them how to make art. Lowenfeld felt that the process is more important than the product and teachers need to take on a passive, hands-off role. In his book Creative & Mental Growth, childrens ability to draw can be summarized as follows: Stage Scribbling Stage Age 2-4 years old Description
First stage of self expression. This stage is made up of 4 sub stage namely: Disordered - uncontrolled markings that could be bold or light depending upon the personality of the child. At this age the child has little or no control over motor activity. Longitudinal - controlled repetitions of motions. Demonstrates visually an awareness and enjoyment of kinesthetic movements. Circular - further exploring of controlled motions demonstrating the ability to do more complex forms. Naming - the child tells stories about the scribble. There is a change from a kinesthetic thinking in terms of motion to imaginative thinking in terms of pictures. This is one of the great occasions in the life of a human. It is the development of the ability to visualize in pictures.

Preschematic stage

4 7 years old

The preschematic stage is announced by the appearance of circular images with lines which seem to suggest a human or animal figure. During this stage the schema (the visual idea) is developed. The drawings show what the child perceives as most important about the subject. There is little understanding of space objects are placed in a haphazard way throughout the picture. The use of color is more emotional than logical. This stage is easily recognized by the demonstrated awareness of the concept of space. Objects in the drawing have a relationship to what is up and what is down. A definite base and sky line is apparent. Items in the drawing are all spatially related. Colors are reflected as they appear in nature. Shapes and objects are easily definable. Exaggeration between figures (humans taller than a house, flowers bigger than humans, family members large and small) is often used to express strong feelings about a subject. Another technique sometimes used is called "folding over" this is demonstrated when objects are drawn perpendicular to the base line. Sometimes the objects appear to be drawn upside down. Another Phenomenon is called "X-ray". In an x-ray picture the subject is depicted as being seen form the inside as well as the outside.

Schematic Stage

7 9 years old

Gang Stage

9 11 years old

This is a period of self awareness to the point of being extremely self critical. The attempts at realism need to be looked at from the child's point of view. Realism is not meant to be real in the photographic sense rather than an experience with a particular object. In this regard this stage is the first time that the child becomes aware of a lack of ability to show objects the way they appear in the surrounding environment. The human is shown as girl, boy, woman, man clearly defined with a feeling for details often resulting in a "stiffness" of representation. Perspective is another characteristic of this stage. There is an awareness of the space between the base line and sky line. Overlapping of objects, types of point perspective and use of small to large objects are evident in this stage. Objects no longer stand on a base line. Three dimensional effects are achieved along with shading and use of subtle color combinations. Because of an awareness of lack of ability drawings often appear less spontaneous than in previous stages.

Stage of Reasoning

11 13 years old

In the previous stages the process in making the visual art was of great importance. In this stage the product becomes most important to the child. This stage is marked by two psychological differences. In the first, called Visual, the individual's art work has the appearance of looking at a stage presentation. The work is inspired by visual stimuli. The second is based on subjective experiences. This type of Nonvisual individual's art work is based on subjective interpretations emphasizing emotional relationships to the external world as it relates to them. Visual types feel as spectators looking at their work form the outside. Nonvisually minded individuals feel involved in their work as it relates to them in a personal way. The visually minded child has a visual concept of how color changes under different external conditions. The nonvisually minded child sees color as a

tool to be used to reflect emotional reaction to the subject at hand.

By understanding these developmental stages, teachers will be able to prepare an effective art program to nurture creativeness in children. With this knowledge teachers could encourage the creative skills of pretending, imaginative thinking, fantasizing and inventiveness to help children deal with the world effectively and positively.

Self Test List and explain Lowenfelds children artistic developmental stages.

Discussion Discuss the ways you can plan activities to match your students developmental stages.

Summary

References Brewer, J. A. (2001). Introduction to Early Childhood Education. Massachusettes: A Pearson Education Company. Mayesky, M. (2012). Creative Activities for Young Children. California: Wadsworth. Raines, R. T. (2003). Creativity and The Arts with Young Children. Canada: Thomson .
http://www.d.umn.edu/~jbrutger/Lowenf.html
Textbooks for Art Education: Functions and ... - Iowa Research Online ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1076&context=mzwp