Author: Koroscik, Judith Smith

Publication Year:

Media Type: Periodical (article)

Summary:

Abstract:

What do we actually know about the American public's aspirations for improving the intellectual life of the nation? Are the arts regarded by the public as avenues for fulfilling such aspirations? Do recent attempts to highlight the intellectual nature of the arts help the public better understand the potential benefits of educational experiences in the arts, or do cognitive arguments for arts education only distance the general public from the art world? We can turn to cognitive psychology and arts education research for scientific and scholarly definitions of cognition, intelligence, thinking, knowing, and intellectual development; however, we should not stop there. It is also important to consider how intellectualism is defined and valued by the American public, now and in the past. Greater reflection on these and related questions should prove useful in guiding the development, implementation, and evaluation of arts education policy and practice.

To begin, we might look at how arts educators and policymakers refer to arts cognition and intellectual experience, especially in national policy statements. We can then look for relationships to public views of intellectual life in America. By tracing the intellectual climate in the nation, we may detect opportunities and obstacles that affect the general public's understanding of the arts.

Since the eighteenth century an intellectual schism has gradually developed between the American public and specialized professional, academic, and artistic communities. This history reflects the practical necessity of coping with the continual production of new knowledge. The division of intellectual labor makes good sense because it is impossible and inefficient for any one person to know all that is now known in today's complex world. Extending the boundaries of existing knowledge demands increasingly more time and intellectual sophistication. Intellectual exclusivity is here to stay, and it seems safe to conclude that intellectual communities will become further divided as the scopes of all disciplines become more expansive. The drawback, of course, is that the division of intellectual labor places much of the American public at great distance from understanding the arts and the outcomes of other specialized intellectual endeavors.

Although it is indeed true that not everyone will achieve the status of art expert or become a great thinker in the arts, cognitive research shows it is possible for even young learners to engage actively in knowledge construction to better understand what advanced thinking in a discipline is about. Widening intellectual access to the arts is primarily the responsibility of arts educators. That work could be accomplished with greater expediency if all K-12 arts teachers were afforded opportunities for intellectual development through collegial learning communities. Teachers might then be better prepared to design and implement learning experiences for their students in keeping with the growing emphasis on cognitive development in arts education policy.

In addition, policymakers might turn their attention toward the intellectual needs of the public at large. The U.S. public is becoming increasingly dismissive of intellectual pursuits that offer no apparent economic or societal gains. However, if more of the public were given intellectual access to the arts and other areas of academic and professional inquiry, they might be much more inclined to invest in the nation's intellectual capital. They would also be in a better position to understand how the arts contribute to that national resource.

CONTENTS
The language of cognition in arts education.
Revising the affective/cognitive learning paradigm.
Mounting research on the arts as intellectual pursuits.
Cognitive claims in national arts education policy.
Challenges to arts cognition voiced within the field.
Testing cognitive claims and questioning public assumptions.
The intellectual climate in America.
The pursuit of civic and personal growth.
The division of intellectual labor.
The need for explanations and thoughtful public discourse in the arts.
Public persistence in seeking out the arts.
Intellectual development and art teachers.
Building intellectual communities.
Learning opportunities for teachers of the arts.
Summary.
Notes.

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Arts Education