The importance of visual arts education in the school
curriculum
- Visual arts education has an important role in the
child’s holistic development
- The creative process that children go through in making
art and the importance of the arts as a way of knowing complement the other
areas of learning
- The process of making
art is emphasised
- The pupils encounter a broad developmental programme in
drawing, paint and colour, in a three dimensional medium such as clay, in
print-making and construction.
- Work in computer graphics may be substituted for work
in fabric and fibre
- Opportunities are given to reflect on art forms from
our own and other cultures
- Topics chosen will be based on a synthesis of
approaches – the techniques approach, the thematic approach and the
environmental approach
- All pupils will have equal access to a visual arts
education
- The programme provides opportunities for children with
special educational needs to show capabilities and achievements
- Visual arts activities will provide for linkage with
other curricular areas, but will be planned in parallel with them, and not
subsumed by the other areas
- Sufficient time will be allocated for visual arts
education, and it is recommended that the visual arts lessons are not
planned for Friday afternoons
- Assessment criteria will identify what is significant
and of value in the child’s visual expression and in his response to art
works.
- A brief check-list of what to look out for when
observing children’s work is compiled
- Use will be made of ICT to broaden the children’s
understanding and experience of
art.
Organisational Planning: Roles and Responsibilities
Developing a shared sense of purpose for visual arts
education
Board of Management
- Provides support for the development and implementation
of the school for the visual arts within its available resources
Principal
- Oversees the development and implementation of school
plan
- Identifies teacher (s) with particular interests and
expertise in visual arts to lead staff discussion and to draw up draft
policy document on the place, purpose and content of visual arts education
Special Duties Teacher
- Development and co-ordination of school plan in Visual
Arts throughout the school
- Responsibility for displays throughout the school –
corridors and notice boards
- Organises resources for particular themes and advises
on purchases of general requisites and tools
Other Teachers
- Provide information on sources of support for
implementing the visual arts programme
- Provide for their pupils a broad and balanced programme
in the visual arts
- Work collaboratively with colleagues
Classroom Assistant
- Assists with preparation of materials for pupils in
junior classes
- Assists pupils during visual arts lessons in junior
classes
The Visual Arts Curriculum
- In the transitional
phase of the introduction of the Primary School Curriculum (1999), it is not
intended to use all of the media. For the immediate future, work will not be
attempted in fibre and fabric.
Media
- Drawing
- Paint and colour
- Print
- Clay
- Construction
- Computer graphics
Aims
The aims of the visual arts curriculum are
- To help the child develop sensitivity to the visual,
spatial and tactile world, and to provide for aesthetic experience
- To help the child express ideas, feelings and
experiences in visual and tactile form
- To enable the child to have enjoyable and purposeful
experiences in the different art media
- To promote the child’s understanding of and personal
response to the creative process involved in making 2D and 3D art
- To foster sensitivity and appreciation of the visual
arts
- To enable the child to experience the achievement of
potential through art activities
Objectives
The visual arts curriculum should enable the child to
- Look at, enjoy and make a personal response to a range
of familiar and unfamiliar objects in the environment, focusing on their
visual attributes
- Explore and begin to develop sensitivity to qualities
of line, shape, colour, tone,
texture, pattern, rhythm, spatial organisation and the 3D quality of form
- Express ideas, feelings and experiences in visual form
- Experiment with a range of art materials such as
pencils, paints, crayons, chalks, markers, ink, clay, papier maché and
construction materials
- Explore the possibilities of the materials with a range
of 2D and 3D media such as drawing, paint and colour, print, clay and
construction
- Apply skills and techniques
- Explore atmosphere, content and impact in the work of
artists
- Identify a variety of visual arts media
- Develop an ability to identify and discuss what he
considers to be the most important design elements of individual pieces
- Begin to appreciate the context in which great art and
artefacts are created
- Respond to visual arts experiences in a variety of ways
- Use appropriate language in responding to visual arts
experiences
Overview of Concepts and Skills Development- All
Classes
Concepts
- An awareness of line
- An awareness of shape
- An awareness of colour and tone
- An awareness of texture
- An awareness of pattern and rhythm
- An awareness of space
Strands
| Drawing: |
- Making drawings
- Looking and responding
|
| Paint and colour: |
- Painting
- Looking and responding
|
| Print: |
- Making prints
- Looking and responding
|
| Clay: |
- Developing form in clay
- Looking and responding
|
| Construction: |
- Making constructions
- Looking and responding
|
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