Form and art in education : a reflection upon theory and practice in the teaching of art

Atkinson, Dennis (1988) Form and art in education : a reflection upon theory and practice in the teaching of art. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Abstract

This thesis is the consequence of a teacher exploring his practice and then struggling to formulate a practitioner-based discourse which attempts to unfold the complexity of teaching. Its culmination is to offer a theoretical perspective which expounds the local place-time-dependent nature of flows of action which in my case relate to young people and teacher engaged in art activities. The time-dependent nature of the struggle towards articulating the complexity of practice is reflected in the triadic structure of the thesis. Hence the triad is an attempt to offer a temporary form for working with whilst the important outcome is more effective teacher-action, any theory being subservient to this end. My aim is not to present a flawless argument but a working document which is also a launching pad for continuing explorations. A major concern is to break away from general theory in Art Education which attempts to provide a universal understanding of art action. I believe this kind of theoretical approach is not commensurable with the functioning reality of the teacher. A teacher has to respond to differences, to idiosyncracy, hence his theoretical approach is affected by the variety endemic in his practice. His theoretical approach is concerned with acting effectively in the high variety context of a classroom. Such theory has therefore to be locally compatible with local flows of action. The first part of the work is concerned with my initial disaffection with some current theory in Art Education, which I found wanting when I related it to what I knew from my experience of teaching art. The `mechanism' and universalism of such theory did not respond to my task of working with and reflecting upon idiosyncracy in young people's art action. My disaffection was articulated on being introduced to new, systemic metaphors and ideas in the writings of Waddington, Barthes, Hawkins, Collingwood, Brookes, Wittgenstein and others. I found such metaphors resonating with my experiences of teaching and they provided me with a form with which I began to formulate a discourse hinting at the complexity of my teaching. Concurrently I was able to notice the limitations of a mechanistic paradigm, adopted by much Art Education theory, for describing and explaining action. The second part is concerned with using these systemic metaphors at a deeper level of enquiry, exploring some flows of teaching in the high variety aggregate of a classroom. I became more immersed in a non-mechanistic paradigm, and the writings of Prigogine, Bateson and others, provide a source with which I am able to resonate and develop to unfold place-time complexities of practice. In the third part the triad of C. S. Peirce forms the philosophical basis for my own triadic structure, manifested in the form of the thesis. Taking on board my previous disaffection with some general Art Education theory, I offer an action theory. The notions of metaphor and metonymy are established as a paradigm in which to explore local flows of art action. I identify and unfold the intricate place-time affective states of functioning, noticing and reflecting, which affect, inform, confirm or change action. Throughout the production but perhaps not made obvious in the presentation, I have been affected by and made frequent returns to the words of Brookes, Wittgenstein and Collingwood. In such moments my thoughts are directed to the difficulties involved in using the medium of language to explore and attempt to communicate the experiential complexities of teaching.

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