Defending Aesthetic Education

Abstract

In this paper, I offer a defence of aesthetic education in terms of aesthetic experience, claiming that aesthetic experience and art appreciation is a vital component of a flourishing life. Given schools have an important role to play in helping prepare young people for their adult lives, it is crucial they should consider how best to equip students with the means to achieve a flourishing life. It is on these grounds I defend arts education as compulsory across the curriculum. In order to adopt this position, I firstly critically engage with two competing defences of including the arts on the curriculum on the basis of firstly, the role art has to play in supporting self-expression, and secondly, a defence of the arts in relation to their role in supporting moral improvement. After explaining why these arguments fail to do the work required to defend aesthetic education as thoroughly as is needed, I turn to the defence based on aesthetic experience because it allows for a defence of the arts to be made on the basis of art's distinctive value.

Aesthetica andeudaimonia: Education for flourishing must include the arts

“…I do not hold that such ‘aesthetic emotions’ are uniquely tied to art, but instead follow Dewey (1934) in claiming that feelings and emotions of wonder, the sublime, awe, joy, etc., may be felt in relation to artworks, nature and are an extension of human experience 1 . On my account, aesthetic experiences contain both emotional and cognitive components (D'Olimpio, 2021, p. 2). Yet I do argue that such aesthetic experiences are more likely to be made present to people in subtle and dynamic ways if they are taught it is an option, particularly afforded by artworks, and if they are educated in an open, receptive attitude that affords them the understanding that art may be experienced in such a manner.…”

“…99Elsewhere White (2011, p. 24) defends the arts as offering a universal source of enjoyment and personal fulfilment, and Reiss and White (2013, p. 18) justify the inclusion of good literature on the curriculum for its educational qualities as well as affording everyone an intrinsically valuable activity. I engage in more detail with Reiss and White's arguments in D'Olimpio (2021). …”

Employing Mobile Learning in Music Education

“…Along with literature, mathematics, history, and physical training, aesthetic education has become integral to many official curricula all over the world (D’olimpio, 2022 ). The sudden outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has shown that the educational sector is in high need of the development of innovative technologies and methodological approaches.…”

“…Today there is a need to expand what is meant by aesthetics and deepen the discussion about the role of aesthetic education in university curricula (Costa et al, 2021 ). Aesthetic experience and the ability to appreciate art are vital personality traits as they allow a person to express themselves and improve morally (D’olimpio, 2022 ). It is believed that aesthetic development generates a sense of autonomy and can also contribute to the creation of an alternative existential meaning, the development of critical thinking, and a focus on feelings (Lutfi, 2020 ).…”

Resi̇m –İş Eği̇ti̇mi̇ Öğrenci̇leri̇ni̇n Görsel Sanatlar Öğreti̇mi̇ne Yöneli̇k Tutumlarinin Değerlendi̇ri̇lmesi̇

“…Bir zihinsel etkinlik süreci olarak görülen sanat eğitimi çağcıl, özgün, dinamik düşünceler üreten ve yayan sanat eğitimcileri yetiştirmektedir (Kahraman, 2007). Sanat eğitiminin bireyde estetik ve algısal duyarlılıkları geliştirmesinin yanında öğrenme yetisinin gelişimi, eleştirel bakış açısının gelişimi hem bireysel hem de toplumsal iletişiminin gelişimi ve görsel sanatları anlama gibi yararları da bulunmaktadır (D'Olimpio, 2022).…”