Prominent People in Art History:
Transforming Our Understanding of Children's Art
Megan Fallin
University of Florida
February 2020
Abstract
This article depicts the highlights and milestones of several leaders in the field of art education, particularly those who have affected the education of young minds. Focusing specifically on five main figures: Freidrich Fröebel, Ruth Shaw, Maria Montessori, Loris Malaguzzi, and Christine Thompson, this passage compares their methods and philosophies to one another as they considered the importance of art education for young students over time. It concludes with how they have affected the teaching philosophies in classrooms today.
Introduction
As an aspiring art teacher, the art educators and philosophers throughout our history who have believed in the power of art and the power of children intrigue me. I work closely with young children everyday and it is truly astounding to me how intelligent and expressive they are before society gets into their heads, molding the way they act around one another. Looking deeper into the upbringing of different teaching methods through time and from various areas of the world, this article contains a researched collection of inspiring individuals from history and their teaching philosophies that have collectively made impacts on our understanding of children and teaching children art.
Starting with Fröebel and his natural laws, he has been crucial for the development of children today through his founding of a different type of learning environment for young minds. Shaw has been an important figure in the evolution of art education, too, as her philosophies surrounding play and experimentation and her evolution of a particular medium and methods for using it in the classroom stand out as a milestone in art education. Her dedication to creating a natural medium for children to investigate, explore, and express themselves still appears as a reliable method for learner-based discovering in classrooms today. Montessori's observations of children in different learning environments have contributed to learner-based learning approaches that are also used in early childhood care today. Revolving specifically around art and observation, Malaguzzi's development and founding of alternative natural student-centered learning approaches continue to inspire teachers of young learners of the future. While Thompson's methods of teaching in the twenty first century are similar to those of the past by focusing on building strong teacher-student relationships, she continues to urge teachers to consider alternate teaching approaches that line up with the new technologies and media access of today.
Friedrich Fröebel
Fröebel acts as an iconic figure in the art education world, from the 18th century. Having spent the majority of his life in Central Germany, he found it natural to obtain an appreciation for nature. He spent time outdoors as a forester and mineralogist, studying and sampling plants. This ingrained way of life helps clarify why he was so persistent about sharing this love for nature with children. He believed a child's relationship with nature defined their moral, spiritual, and intellectual development (Strauch-Nelson, 2012).
Fröebel had stated his ultimate goal when studying human development and developing his educational philosophies was "to stir up, to awaken, and to strengthen, the pleasure and power of the human being to labour uninterruptedly at his own education"(Rubin, 1989, pg. 25). His intention was for his students to be unaware they were learning by exploring and discovering through playthings, or gifts, educational stimulants to develop natural inclinations about the world around them. Whether it be through cause and effect or simply by providing an environment for these students to naturally explore and discover on their own, Fröebel began to observe how children were learning. This lead to the development of what we know now as kindergarten (Rubin, 1989).
His research continues to inspire others to bring nature to children without much immediate access to it, like those who live in busy cities. He believed acts of observing and drawing operated as the heart of educational training, supporting perception, recollection, and cognitive and comparative thought - ultimately nourishing one's soul. Fröebel believed expression, through various means, was essential for understanding (Strauch-Nelson, 2012). When it came to Fröebel's garden of children, or kindergarten, his philosophy revolved around four major natural laws: the Law of Unity, the Law of Opposites, the Law of Development, and the Law of Connections. Fröebel-trained students learned extensively about art in math, such as crystallography, windmills, and sequential transformations (Rubin, 1989).
Ruth Shaw
Ruth Shaw stands out in history as an art educator of the early twentieth century, as well as the initiator of finger paint as a medium, having further developed finger painting techniques and methods for teaching it in art classes. Later in her career, she developed ways to use it therapeutically. She opened a school in Rome, Italy in 1923 for elementary aged children. As a teacher, her educational philosophies revolved around the acts of play, creating, and experimenting. Inspired by a child who was caught smearing iodine on a bathroom wall, she developed a material children could explore and create with, calling it finger paint.
By the early 1930's, she began making and manufacturing finger paint in New York. These paints were made of pigments found naturally from the earth. She did all of this with children in mind, believing in their unique and creative potential. She believed in the power of play of all ages and was intrigued by how everyone she worked with created art a little bit differently, learning to work with their own body’s textures and movements. As an educator, many of her visions could be considered similar to those of Montessori, prioritizing a connection between teacher and student and allowing vast opportunities for their children to create while they learn and discover (Mayer, 2005).
Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori stands out as an icon of art education from the early twentieth century for research of pedagogy across many cultures and for being proactive in trying to change the ways of art education for the sake of children's futures. She studied medicine and natural sciences, despite being one of the first women to attempt to find a career in these fields. She was known as a spokeswoman for the education and care of those with disabilities movement. By 1901, she was teaching in Rome. From here, she studied young elementary students and how different teaching approaches worked with them (Babini, Morgan, Pick, 2000).
The Montessori method focused on creating a different learning environment than typical educational environment. Positive reinforcement, self-independence, and exploring the natural world were encouraged the most (Marguiles, 1913). Montessori has inspired others to consider looking at a group of children and teaching them as individuals in a group, not as a group of students. Her methods of teaching a calm classroom revolved around having many opportunities for students to learn about the world, and having the freedom to investigate what interests them. This allows children to learn about many ideas and topics on their own. She developed unique ways for students to learn; one in particular being sandpaper cut outs of the letters of the alphabet placed in a way for her students to trace the letter with their fingers and learning the orientation and method for writing it correctly on paper. (Gruenberg, 1912)
Loris Malaguzzi
Loris Malaguzzi is recognized in education as the founder of the Reggio Emilia approach. Originally founded in Italy, this particular and unique teaching approach encourages teachers to find ways to combine art with all subjects (Schiller, 1995). This approach includes collaboration, long-term learning, using multiple forms of representation, and inquiry-centered lessons. The Reggio Emilia approach stresses the importance of a relationship between children and the environment, encouraging the student to interact and understand the world and aspects within it (Eckhoff, 2009). Malaguzzi considered our environment to be a third teacher for our students, working alongside the student as they learn on their own, and with the teacher as they guide. "By seeing the environment as an educator, as the Reggio Emilia approach does, we can begin to notice how our surroundings can take on a life of their own that contributes to children's learning" (Strong-Wilson, 2007, pg. 40). This approach falls in line Fröebel's natural environment philosophies.
Schools following the Reggio method contain Ateliers, which act as dedicated art studios, containing vast access to natural, recycled, or found objects for exploration. These objects act as invitations to creative expression for the students who are encouraged to interact with them, requiring them to reconsider and further examine these objects in new ways and finding ways to incorporate them into art pieces or to communicate ideas, under the supervision of their teachers, as "the role of the teacher is not lost in this complex process of language building. Rather, the teacher plays and integral role supporting the children's interactions with the materials and objects through focused dialogue during each child's creative exploration"(Eckhoff, 2009, pg. 11). This inspires students to reconsider the perspective of value society places on objects. "The Reggio Emilia teachers foster integrated curriculum that is both child-centered and emergent, meaning that the teachers may have some broad curriculum goals but may also follow the lead and interests of the children" (Schiller, 1995, pg. 46). The students under these teaching methods are leading the progression of their lessons, acting as teachers in their own learning.
Christine Thompson
Christine Thompson is an art educator of the twenty first century working in Pennsylvania. She researches early childhood art, passionate about their culture and how they learn about art. She observes how her students process information and develop as young individuals, challenging new teachers of today to observe them closely too, considering their student's incomparable experiences with one another (Thompson, 2005). Because of children are more heavily influenced by the media of today, Christine has recently called out for a crucial reassessment in the way early art education is being developed, as contemporary children confront unfiltered information much more than children of older generations, and that they are further complicating their day-to-day lives (Thompson, 2003).
Thompson has studied how children learn to create and has come to the conclusion that through drawing, young children showcase their inspirations and influencers, the representations that appear in their worlds. They are processing the world around them (Dunkerly-Bean, 2017). She immerses ideas from educators of the past into her teaching and perspective. She believes children should have access to different forms of thinking and learning, such as formal and informal approaches. Their curricula should set a balance between these, to help children form a relationship with their own art, as well as with art of the past and of today (Thompson, 2019).
Reflections and Connections from Past to Present
In conclusion, despite many of these prominent leaders in the furthering of art education in the world of children being from various areas around the world, their commonalities and methods resonate with one another in many ways. Their teaching methods act as strong roots for many forms of teaching art to children today. Ultimately, art leaders of the past have seemed to influence many teachers of today to be aware of the value of the environment as a learning aid.
Ruth Shaw is inspirational to me as she spent so much of her life dedicated to the development of a finger paint that would be safe for children to paint and explore with, made from natural and child-friendly materials. Finger painting is a favorite activity at the preschool I work at, and since reading about Shaw a few weeks ago, I think of this activity much differently, and wonder about new ways children can safely express themselves through art.
I found myself resonating with Friedrich Fröebel's methods and natural laws when I thought about my own personal appreciation for nature wherever I go, and I do my best to share this with my toddler aged students when we see animals interacting within our urban city lives. I encourage my students to quietly observe birds when they land on our fence during recess, not to run at them and shout; or they will fly away. It's very encouraging to see a group of two year olds sitting as quiet as they can while they observe a bird pruning his feathers a yard away. They'll hush each other and quietly say hello to the feathered creature in front of them, establishing a shared sense of respect. I feel as though the birds appreciate this, too.
Maria Montessori stands out to me for her desire to create better learning environments for the children of the future. It's so selfless to dedicate time out of one's life to pursue a better future for others. I appreciate her encouragement about using positive reinforcement when working with young children, as it can be easy to become frustrated with them when they haven't learned their behavioral skills yet, but children respond well to positivity. I've learned from personal observation that the problem children at work are only problems if their teachers enforce the idea that they are a problem in the first place. Working at a school that follows the methods of Montessori, we see instances where working with those students on their own level and treating them like an individual helps nourish a more dependable relationship between the teacher and their student.
I personally find myself teaching similarly to Loris Malaguzzi alongside my coworkers as we try to connect our toddlers and preschoolers with the natural environment whenever possible. We spend time with them collecting found objects to paint with, to collage, to put into sensory jars for close examination and development of conversation, and to spend time investigating closely.
Like Christine Thompson, I believe we need to be cautious with how we develop curriculum in this new era, paying attention to the media that surrounds us now. Children have access to so much information, and this can be an incredible tool - but I worry it could dampen their creativity. It's changing the way we learn to think, too. We have tablets that are passcode protected at the preschool I work at, and we have students who don't know their numbers yet, but recognize the patterns we put into our tablets to turn them on - and some of them know how to get into our tablets. It's a little bit worrying. When we pull up songs for them to dance to, they are sometimes more curious about the video on the screen that we are hiding away from their view than enjoying themselves and dancing to the music with their peers. Our lessons need to be planned with this in mind, to try to keep the technology to a limit with our students since we are becoming quite sure our children have more access to technology in their homes, possibly further keeping them from exploring naturally and learning the same way as children of the past.
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