With the wave of education turning toward Common Core in the next few years teaching literacy in schools has become more important than ever. At the heart of Common Core is the goal that all students graduating from high school will be ready to enter a four-year college or will be ready for a stable career. In all disciplines it has become increasingly necessary that literacy be taught so that students learn how to make inter-disciplinary connections. Specifically, art education in secondary classrooms is shifting its focus so that students are beginning to understand through reading, writing, speaking and listening our contemporary situation in light of art history. The hope is that students in all classrooms across all disciplines will be empowered by their ability to communicate and interact in a way that addresses the child as a whole. In other words, in gaining literacy skills students are not only learning academia as a means to an end but are becoming well-rounded individuals that will be productive members of society once they leave high school.
In the art classroom this means that students will create projects based on their understanding of key figures in the art world. These key figures should be explores through a variety of reading, writing and speaking methods. As students begin to develop the language of the discipline and the various deeper implications in the art world they will be able to formulate and express their own opinions through speaking and writing. Gaining literacy in the art classroom will enable students to see and clearly understand the pervasiveness of visuals in the contemporary world and the influences it has on society.
In the art classroom this means that students will create projects based on their understanding of key figures in the art world. These key figures should be explores through a variety of reading, writing and speaking methods. As students begin to develop the language of the discipline and the various deeper implications in the art world they will be able to formulate and express their own opinions through speaking and writing. Gaining literacy in the art classroom will enable students to see and clearly understand the pervasiveness of visuals in the contemporary world and the influences it has on society.