Types of Child Art and Alternative Developmental Accounts: Interpreting the Interpreters

Abstract

Two conflicting accounts of child art are grounded in opposing modern and postmodern aesthetic theories: one account describes a naturally unfolding process in which children invent graphic equivalents for the objects they observe and the emotions they feel. The other describes socially constructed art that children model after cultural art-forms. Different aesthetic theories directed to the nature of ‘high’ art and popular art lead researchers to view the same children’s artworks and draw different conclusions about the child and the developmental functions of child art. Analyses of two sets of Japanese children’s artworks, one in the popular style of the graphic narrative and another – school art in the ‘high’ tradition – leads to the conclusion that art derived from popular models provides children with important ways to investigate meaningful dimensions of the world and to experiment with life’s major themes – dimensions of meaning frequently absent from children’s school art.

The Arts in Children’s Lives

“…One of the predominant cultural graphic influences on the style of young people's drawings is that of the popular media; there may be no country where the influence is more pronounced than in Japan (Wilson, 1997). As I will show, when Japanese children enter kindergarten, some of their drawings already reflect one or more of several distinct styles of manga (the comic books read by the Japanese from infancy into adulthood).…”

“…Through the support of national art professional organizations and the J. Paul Getty Trust (1985), discipline-based art education (DBAE) moves art instruction closer to, if not into, the core curriculum of the school (Wilson, 1997). If traditional studio-based curriculum resulted in a specific school-art style, it might be anticipated that a discipline-based curriculum would be even more removed from local contexts and more aligned with traditional school learning characteristics, although transfer to professional contexts would probably be enhanced.…”

“…Specifically, studies need to be done on adult knowledge and attitudes toward art in terms of their K-1 2 art experiences. Continued disappointing results from the National Assessment for Educational Progress in the Arts (Chapman, 1982;Stankiewicz;, Wilson, 1997) cannot be attributed only to weak art requirements inasmuch as test items reflect or relate to typical art lessons. It is highly possible that low test results are also due in part to the perception that school learning has negligible value.…”

“…(They also draw differently because of the highly structured school program, but their manga drawings bear little resemblance to the contour-like drawings they make during art classes. Japanese children, in effect, speak two graphic languages, one belonging to the school and one belonging to the popular arts [Wilson, 1997].) Because of manga Japanese children take fuller advantage of the graphic/symbolic system-use it more effectively as a tool for human understanding-than any group of young people I have observed anywhere on the globe.…”

Looking for the development of artistic style in children's artworlds

“…Although the empirical validity of a curvilinear developmental path of Goodmanian aesthetics has been accepted, some have challenged the proposition that Goodman's aesthetics are neutral (Duncum, 1986;Wilson, 1997). They point to the cultural bias of his categories.…”