How John Dewey's Theories Underpin Art and Art Education

Abstract

John Dewey believed every person is capable of being an artist, living an artful life of social interaction that benefits and thereby beautifies the world. In Art as Experience, Dewey reminds his readers that the second Council of Nicea censored the church's use of statutes and incense that distracted from prayer. Dewey, in an interesting turnabout, removes dogma from the church, but lauds the sensory details that enable higher understanding of human experience. Dewey evokes a paradox: the appreciation and need for the "experiential" artifact, but art as catalyst to realms beyond the physical. For Dewey, art functions as experience. Processes of inquiry, looking and finding meaning are transformative, extending connections with what is good and right. Expanded perceptions open venues for understanding and action. Attention to detail excites potential for meaning, yielding important societal insights, previously taken for granted. Transformative experiences occur when people intuit new concepts, that occasion seeing in valued ways. Art communicates moral purpose and education. Dewey believes moral purpose is justifiable, art conveying messages that stimulate reflection on purposeful lives. Dewey is a pragmatist whose attraction to art postulates it as a means to an end because he envisions the end as just and fair: democracy. Art as the Exemplar John Dewey believed every person is capable of being an artist, living an artful life of social interaction that benefits and thereby beautifies the world. In Art as Experience (1934), Dewey reminds his readers that the second Council of Nicea, 787, censored the church's use of statues and incense that distracted from prayer. Dewey, in an interesting turnabout, removes dogma from the church, but lauds the sensory details that enable higher understanding of human experience. Dewey evokes a paradox: the appreciation and need for the "experiential" artifact, but art as catalyst to realms beyond the physical.

From Dewey to No Child Left Behind: The Evolution and Devolution of Public Arts Education

“…At the turn of the century, John Dewey was beginning his research at the University of Chicago, experimenting with a new approach to education that would become known as progressive education (Goldblatt 2006). Dewey (1938) theorized that children need education that is authentic and allows them to grow mentally, physically, and socially by providing opportunities to be creative, critical thinkers.…”

“…Dewey (1938) theorized that children need education that is authentic and allows them to grow mentally, physically, and socially by providing opportunities to be creative, critical thinkers. Dewey believed that arts are indeed experience, and that access to arts education opens processes of inquiry that expand a child's perception of the world and create venues for understanding and action (Goldblatt 2006). It was during the progressive era that student-centered, studio-based learning was first integrated into U.S. high schools.…”

Arts‐Based Educational Research: The Challenges of Social Media and Video‐Based Research Methods in Communication Design Education

“…American philosopher and educator John Dewey (1859–1952) advocated real‐life active and interactive experiences in education encourage experimentation, social community, and independent thinking. Dewey argued that through interactions with the environment, individuals receptively accumulate experiences; they are constantly reflecting, reorganising and reinterpreting the confusion of sense information in their day‐to‐day events (Goldblatt , 18,19). Learners must utilise decision‐making and problem‐solving skills during a continuous process of cyclic reflective experience as they explore personal interpretation, playful practice and stages of decision making in Communication Design (Shumack ).…”

Integrating arts in the basic science curriculum: in the context of local marine resources in the Visayan sea

“…Thus, arts converses with standards between good and evil and learning with transformative experiences. Dewey's view of the arts could improve the learning experiences (22) . Showing learners about creative outputs for learning science will stimulate curiosity and provide answers to their queries (23) .…”