Art and Education (Set of 3 Books)

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

Art and Education (Set of 3 Books)
Arts Education (Resource Book for Teachers)	Art Education: Teachers’ Handbook For Classes VII-VIII	Art: The Basis of Education

The publication of a resource book for teachers in the area of arts education for class IX is a timely and valuable step taken by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). It is part of the fresh initiatives taken by the NCERT as a follow-up of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), 2005 to improve arts education and to make it more purposeful at the high-school level.

It is for the first time that such a well-considered guideline for arts teachers has been complied which defines the area of arts education for Class IX. The resource book includes the following four creative forms, viz, Visual arts, music, theatre art and dance, which have been divided into units. Very specifically, from the high-school stage onwards, the arts have been treated not only as integral inputs for the all-round personally development of the growing teenagers but also as career disciplines and future vocations, in the capacity of creative artists, musicians, dancers, actors, designers, architects or media communicators. Our country has reached a stage of economic growth and cultural maturity and diversity, especially through urbanization, wherein a wide range of new career opportunities area available in the field of arts. Therefore, there is a more compelling reason now to give due space to arts education at the high-school level as distinct from the primary-school level.

It is a unique feature of these arts that each of them has evolved and developed simultaneously in our country since many centuries before the Christian era, about which we have become, aware through the discoveries made in the twentieth century. This century produced an amazing galaxy of highly creative painters, sculptors, musicians, vocalists, instrumentalists in Hindustani and Carnatic style, dancers and dance gurus of Bharatanatyam, Kathak, kuchipudi, Kathakali, Manipuri, and theatre actors and directors. There has been a simultaneous growth of professionals in technology-generated new fields such as film and television, and fashion and industrial design. Alongside the high standards of practice and performance is the remarkable phenomenon of growing expertise in theory, history and well-informed criticism of these arts. The objectives of spreading arts awareness among the Indian massed across the length and breadth of the country through the school education system have therefore many important aspects and cannot be limited to just activities of play, entertainment and aesthetic sensibility. The aims go beyond acquainting the young generation with our colourful, classical heritage as well as folk arts and crafts, to enabling them to handle societal functions and ever-widening professional roles.

An aspect that deserves serious attention is the training of the arts teachers. In light of my experience during the last half century, I would categorically state that the training for the teachers of Visual arts (Which was introduced during the British rule) is inadequate and will have to be upgraded so that the teachers are molded into more mature and intellectually suitable instructors. This will enable us to achieve the higher expectations that we have from the recently-devised programme in arts education.

In the resource book, basic information has been given about each other of the four arts regarding its features and relevant levels of practical activities. The resource book is an essential reading materiel for the arts teacher and I would advice that teachers of all the four arts thoroughly read all the units. They should be aware of the range, level and standards of activities of all the arts. This is information will be stimulating and will also help them to function more effectively.

Since the last many decades there has been an emphasis on teaching pupils the different art forms as a part of the school curriculum. Different educational policies and curriculum frameworks have also defined the purpose that the arts serve in the lives of students and when they grow up as adults. It is important that the pupil learn to appreciate different art forms and to apply his/her aesthetic experiences in his/her daily life along with using the arts for self-expression. The learning of the arts forms fulfils numerous objectives—students enjoy arts-related activities which helps ease the curriculum load; it helps release emotional stress through self-expression; students learn different art forms. The National curriculum Framework, 2005 recommends arts education as a major curricular area of school education. ‘Arts education: Resource Book for Teachers’ for Class IX highlights the teachings—learning processes in different art forms to develop an aesthetic appreciation among the students at this stage.

The five units of the book cover five different areas of arts education. Unit I on visual arts includes seven chapters which throw light on the various techniques and methods of visual arts, Including two-dimensional and three—Dimensional art forms and the handicrafts of different parts of the country, which are appropriate for learning at this stage. Each chapter suggests a few activities related to a particular technique as illustrative examples. The teachers may give more examples and activities, depending upon the available resources and time.

Unit II on Indian music includes both vocal and instrumental music, with their introduction, terminology, processes, etc. This information and also how it can be incorporated into the teaching—learning practices of teachers may give. Bandish or lyrics are given as examples. The teacher may introduce any other lyrics of his/her choice. The chapters on musical instruments describe some of the Indian as well as Western instruments.

A Knowledge of the historical development and technical aspects of theatre are equally important for students to acquire a better understanding of drama. Unit III on theatre art gives a brief history of the theatre in India and in some other countries. This includes folk and traditional theatre forms. The technical aspects of drama have been given in a nutshell focusing on the writing of a play, the writing of a song, stages of directing a play, acting, costumes, make-up, lighting, sets, music, mask-making, and poster-designing.

Unit IV relates to the origin of dance in India and the theory and techniques common to Indian dance forms. The classical dance forms of South India, such as Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Kathakali and Mohini Attam have been included in the resource book for teachers for Class IX and dance forms such as Manipuri, Satriya and Kathak as well as some folk dances will be included in the book for Class X.

It has been observed that there is a paucity of information regarding the different career options available to the students and that by this stage of their education there should be sufficient awareness about the careers that they can pursue in the arts-related fields. Keeping this in view, Unit V has been developed which gives relevant information.

This resources book gives some guidelines and expects the teachers to expand on these ideas with their professional skills and teaching experience, utilizing available resources.

The importance of learning the arts can neither be denied nor ignored and it is for this reason that eminent educationalists, scholars, thinkers and philosophers have time and again emphasised the importance of including Art Education in school curriculum. From time to time NCERT has taken initiatives to review the silt tat ion of this important area of the school curriculum and has also prepared teaching and learning materials based on research inputs, in an effort to provide a broad guideline to art teachers on how art education can become a process of joyful and experiential learning.

Arts in India of its cultural diversity. An understanding of the arts of the country will give children the ability to appreciate the richness and variety of artistic traditions as well as make them liberal, creative thinkers and good citizens of the nation.

Arts will enrich the lives of our citizens through their lifetime, and not merely during their school years. Art in schools is often equated with sketches of’ Disney cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck. and theatre becomes a reenactment of television soaps. Even school authorities encourage arts of this nature and lake pride in putting up such events. In a climate of ignorance and lack of awareness regarding the richness and diversity of the arts in India, we can no longer at lord to ignore the importance of the arts and must concentrate all possible energies and resources towards creating cultural and artistic awareness amongst the students of the country before we come to the sorry realisation that we arc a culturally illiterate society.

The upper primary stage is the period at schooling, which requires a collective effort by students, teachers parents. school authorities and the society at large to make the foundation laid during the primary stage stronger. Updating teachers with innovative methods of teaching through different types of materials is the major concern of the Council. NCERT has already developed a Teachers’ Handbook of Art Education for Class VI in 2004 and this is the next in the series, which is for Classes VII-VIII.

The Handbook has two parts, the first part consisting of’ chapters on Visual art techniques and methods and the second part has chapters on music and theatre components. All these art forms are important for the learning experience of the children.

I sincerely hope, that the Handbook will be useful not only for teachers and students of classes VII-VIII but also for those with a keen interest in different art forms.

This Teachers’ Handbook is meant for the art education teachers teaching at the upper primary stage in schools located in different parts of the country. This Handbook provides a guideline to the teachers on what to teach and how to teach different art forms. Each of the topics suggest activities which can be conducted by the students. Here are a few suggestions for to the art teachers on how to teach art education. The teacher has all the freedom to evolve other activities which are region specific, school specific or easy to be conducted. The teachers should try to encourage students to work in groups as far as it is possible rather than compelling them to do the activities individually. It would also be advisable for the teachers to encourage each of the students to take part in the activities to ensure maximum participation by them. In every group or the class, some of the students will always be above average in various skills and at the same time a few of them may be below average. It would be the responsibility of each art teacher to make some extra efforts with the weaker students in developing their skills or to encourage the average students to move towards excellence. The art teacher should try to interact with all the students in the class. Many of the concepts and the techniques along with their activities are either in continuation of the previous class or they are repetitive. However it is for the teacher to adopt or to adopt the activities and the teacher can also decide, which are the activities to be carried out in class VII and class VIII respectively.

The handbook is divided into two Sections, Section 1 deals with the visual art forms and in the Section II performing art forms have been dealt. The first chapter deals with the elements and principles of art. The elements of art have already been discussed in the previous class (VI) but for VII-VIII classes too a reorientation of the same is required with more details and examples. In this chapter some of the principles have also been added which are essential for the children to learn at. this stage. in the second chapter, two-dimensional visual art forms and activities related to these forms have been mentioned. Similarly iii chapter three, three—dimensional art forms, such as sculptures. mobiles etc. and their activities have been described. India is a country of cultural diversity and in every part of this country, some or the other forms of handicrafts are identified with that region. Some of the handicrafts have been given in the chapter four and the methods of making them by the students have been described. The fifth chapter suggests some of the activities which may be conducted outside the classroom.

Section II of the Handbook has chapters on the performing art forms which includes music and theatre. In chapter six. classification of different types of music — Hindustani music, Carnatic music, Rabindra Sangeet. regional and folk music. community singing etc. have been discussed. Chapter seven provides details about gharana systems and some of the prominent gharanas of vocal as well as instrumental music prevalent in India. In the chapter eight, different terminologies used in vocal music have been explained with examples which the teachers of music can teach the students. Chapter nine is a description of different styles of singing. The classification of musical instruments and their descript ion are elaborated in the chapters ten and eleven respectively. Some of the songs of community singing are given alongwilh the notations in chapter twelve. An introduction of raga and some of the ragas which may be thought to the students of classes VIl-VIll are contained in chapter thirteen. In chapter fourteen, a few of the tool arc described.

The second part of the Section II on performing arts deals with the all of theatre. Chapter fifteen entitled Theatre as a Classroom Resource suggests the methods of teaching theatre to the Students of Classes VII and VIII. In chapter sixteen, role of drama in schools has been explained. Chapter seventeen has a detailed plan of activities to be conduct ed in school and it also explains the importance of drama as a tool to be practiced in teaching learning.

Since the Teachers Handbook for Class VI consists of a bibliography and extensive terminologies, the teachers can refer them also from time to time.

**Contents and Sample Pages**

About the Book:

Based on the author's experience with children and teachers as a teacher of art at the Nayee Talim Educational Institute, Gandhiji's ashram, Sevagram, the book is a pioneering study enunciating the essentiality of art as the basis of education. Emphasizing the need for the development of an all round personality and the function of art expression therein, the book takes a detailed look into the importance of art, stages of its expression in a child, its importance in shaping the individual's thinking and cognitive faculty, the role of teachers and parents and most importantly its role in an angst-ridden society.

About the Author:

Educationist and artist, Devi Prasad graduated from Rabindranath Tagore's school at Santiniketan. A non-violent activist, he joined the War Resisters' International, London as its Secretary General and later, Chairman. He has taught at various universities including Viswa Bharati. Widely travelled, Devi Prasad has many publications including Gramdan: the Land Revolution of India, They Love It. But Leave It-American Deserters, Peace Education or Education for Peace in English and Rabindranath Tagore-Shiksha Aur Chithrakala, published by NBT, and Bacchon Ki Kala Aur Shiksha in Hindi. Besides he was the editor of the journal Nayee Talim for several years. He and his wife Dr. Bindu Prasad live in New Delhi.

Blessings:

In Devi's book on art education, he has covered all the aspects of teaching art to children. He has elaborated the technique of art teaching in a natural and beautiful manner. The book also gives an understanding about those children who may develop into artists later in life. Moreover, the author has dealt with the subject of art appreciation by common men and women. Although every man and woman cannot become an artist, it is necessary that there should be arrangements for art education for everyone in society, whichever walk of life he or she may belong to. It is only through such a holistic approach to education that people can understand and sympathize with the joys and sorrows of the artist and artisan and their needs.

Lack of knowledge about art make people lose their mental balance. The atmosphere of tension and conflict in the world is also due to ignorance about the essence and the essentiality of art in life.

Art education is not a product only of reading books or hearing about art. It develops through seeing great examples of art. Still better, if everyone does creative work with his or her own hands, thus understanding it directly.

A comprehensive discourse on all these subjects has been given in Devi Prasad's book. It will benefit artists as well as common men and women.

-Nandalal Bose
Santiniketan

Foreword:

My friend and colleague, Devi Prasad, wrote a book on children's art education and suggested that I write the foreword for it. Whenever I see a book with its foreword written by someone other than its authors, I feel somewhat irritated. A good book stands on its own, so much so that after it has been written, it does not require the support of even its own author. So why should it seek anyone else's support?

I tried this argument with Devi Prasad, though I was saying to myself that it would be good to attach my name to the book, which has come out of his deep experience. Actually, he had not to do much arguing to persuade me. I accepted his request and agreed to write the foreword to the book, although I admit that at that time I had not yet read the manuscript. That is because I believe that you can estimate the quality of the work if the author is personally known to you.

I have known Devi Prasad for nearly sixteen years. We were colleagues in Hindustani Talimi Sangh". I have had the opportunity of seeing his work as well as seeing him work. I have also seen the work of his pupils. Devi Prasad's personality is identical to the image I have of a good teacher. I cannot fully describe the kind of respect I have for a true teacher. It was on account of this feeling that I wished my name to be associated with his book. Good company always benefits. I have seen the dying glory of a personality being revived. Nothing is quite like the company of a good teacher.

I accepted his request for the sake of such company, and thinking that I should write down some of my thoughts on children's art education, thus securing a little corner for myself in this book. Then I read the book, word by word. It changed my thoughts, when I found that the book contained much more that I had known about this subject. By adding the feeling of love to his experiences, the author has not only made ideas more bright and attractive, he has also put much warmth in them. This book clearly reflects the writer's years of experience, much imagination and genuine love for children. It is a book that should be read by all teachers, not only by art teachers.

The kind of art this book deals with is not that which is taught two or three days a week in classes of an hour or so. It is that art which is a lifelong discipline-a "sadhana". The author has experience of Tagore's world as well as Gandhi's and has the courage of putting life into art and transforming life into an art. Being a true teacher, Devi Prasad believes in the path of love. Such a perspective has opened for him the windows into the child's life. He has put forward a healthy perspective regarding the child-teacher relationship. Teachers who want to understand this book. It will also remove the confusion about the hierarchical status of different arts especially fine arts and applied arts, and will begin to build links between life and art. It will remind teachers that the artist and the teachers are both yogis. It will make them ask themselves why they are going astray from this yoga-sadhana. This book will make them understand the child and also the crises of adolescence. It will also indicate the means to understand social problems. Society today has itself become stagnant, in an adolescent crisis from which it is unable to emerge.

In our country, only those people write on education who do not like to be teachers. Thank goodness that the trend is changing, and as an old tired teacher, I feel proud that an Indian teacher has written such an enlightening book that gives a feeling of warmth to our colleagues in the teaching world. I hope the teacher who studies this book will gain more understanding and courage to continue his work with the conviction that life is a work of art. I wholeheartedly thank Devi Prasad for giving me the opportunity of reading this book before anyone else.

-ZAKIR HUSSAIN

I had my primary education in a school which was a typical example of one of the most anti-education educational systems created by colonial rule in nineteenth century India. The most vivid memory I have of that period is that for some reason or another, or perhaps for no reason at all, our teachers never hesitated to give us corporal punishment, which made us hate the school. There was nothing in the school that could create in us an interest in any subject or activity. I do not remember enjoying even a moment of my time in it. Later I was moved to the primary section of an intermediate college founded on the Aryasamaj ideals. Luckily this school had a carpentry class as an extracurricular activity.

The family moved to a new house situated in open and better surroundings. The new place was partly renovated before we moved in and partly afterwards. I was almost nine at the time and was fascinated by the work the craftsmen were doing. Both the head mason and the carpenter, were very good craftsmen and tolerant people. They did not mind my sitting and watching them work and meddling with their tools. This experience was enough for me to take an interest in carpentry at school. So much so, that I gradually collected enough tools of my own, bought with my pocket money, to be able to make things for the house. I also became interested in keeping the wood work of the house- especially the doors and windows-clean and well painted. Later I even became interested in drawing and painting, a subject which I took for my college education after finishing school.

In spite of a boring, nay hateful, primary education I think I had a. more or less happy childhood although I was not conscious of it at the time. It only became clear to me, during my student days in the art college at Santiniketan, when I saw the happy faces of the ashram school-children and later when I did my teaching/ research work as a part of the educational scheme initiated and guided by Gandhiji in Sevagram. I realized that if during my childhood I had not had the opportunity to "meddle" with the tools and the raw materials of the craftsmen who renovated our house, I would not have developed the taste for "making things"! Without this experience would I have understood children's nature, as I think I did in later life, I often wonder!

The principles of education worked out by Tagore had totally rejected the notion and practice of teaching based on textbooks. For Tagore, education was a process of learning rather than a mechanical method of thrusting information into, what are supposed to be, the empty minds of children and adults. According to Tagore, the best textbook is life itself, and nature, of which we are an integral part; so also our cultural heritage and its significance in the ongoing processes of our lives. To put it in a nutshell, there are three centres of education: mother-tongue, nature and creative activities. The system of education the colonial rulers had developed in India not only ignored these elements, it totally ruled out their place in the processes of education at all levels.

Looking at the lives and expressions of the children of the Sishu-Vibhag (pre-school) and Patha-Bhawan (primary school) of Santiniketan, and spending some time with them, I understood that the school can and must be a place of joy and creativity. My art education in Kalabhawan (art college) under Acharya Nandalal Bose and Acharya Binod Behari Mukherjee enhanced my understanding of this truth. That was the inspiration and strength behind my experiments with child-art in the Sevagram educational institute.

I was fairly well aware of Gandhi's ideas on art, He was closer to Tolstoy than to Tagore-a bit too puritanical for someone like me, who had experienced life as a young artist in an atmosphere created and nurtured by Tagore. Tagore believed that for a healthy development of personality and human relationships, bread and art are inseparable aspects of life. Tagore and Gandhi were aware of their so-called differences. Yet they were very close to each other on all matters of consequence, the truth of which I continuously realized in my life.

Within a few months of my graduation from Santiniketan I joined the team working for the development of Nayee Talim ("new education" as it was named by Mahatma Gandhi himself in its second and the final stage). Initially I took up the job for six months. It was for the duration of the teachers' training camp organized by Hindustani Talimi Sangh (the organization founded in 1937 for carrying out the Nayee Talim scheme) to start work along the lines of the thinking Gandhiji had come to during his last imprisonment. He was released in early May, 1944. A basic school was already functioning in Sevagram since 1937, when the Gandhian education scheme for children between seven and fourteen years of age was first launched.

This was the beginning of the second phase of Nayee Talim. Explaining his scheme to the Hindustani Talimi Sangh Conference held in Sevagram in January, 1945 Gandhiji said:

"Although we have been working for Nayee Talim all these years, we have so far been, as it were, sailing in an inland sea which is comparatively safer. We are now leaving the shores and heading for the open sea. So far, our course was mapped out. We have now before us uncharted waters, with the Pole Star as our only guide and protection. That Pole Star is village handicrafts."

"Our sphere of work now is not confined to Nayee Talim of children from seven to fourteen years: it is to cover the whole of life from the moment of conception to the moment of death. He was very clear that this new line of action was going to take all our energy and dedication. Even as a fresher in the field I had realized almost from the very beginning that it was probably going to be very tough, but it was the greatest and most rev9lutionary experiment in educational planning for our country.

It was my good luck that I had my college education in Tagore's Santiniketan. Our two seniormost colleagues E.W. Aryanayakam and Asha Devi Aryanayakam also had been close associates of Tagore. Asha Devi took a keen interest in my experiments and supported me throughout. She also encouraged me to write occasional articles for publication in the institute's official journal Nayee Talim, which, by the way, helped me in working out the plan of this book.

I became convinced that the experiments I was going to conduct should fully incorporate, in a balanced and integrated manner, the educational principles propagated by both Gandhi and Tagore. It may be worth mentioning here that the first syllabus-for teaching art in Basic Education-as Nayee Talim was called -in 1937, was prepared with the help of Acharya Nandalal Bose. It was a take-off point for me, but only a take- off point.

Although they were inspired by the Gandhian spirit and the spirit of experimenting with the principles of Nayee Talim, most of our colleagues had no clear notions about the place of art in the processes of education. Art to them was some kind of skill or a collection of skills to decorate various aspects of life or painting pictures, making sculptures, etc. for so-called public education or propaganda, or producing different kinds of functional artefacts. As a "specialist" in the field and one who was trying to discover a much wider role that art could play in the development of the full personality of the child, I had to face various problems, practical as well as theoretical. I was in need of clarity 'and support at the same time.