ED467239 2002-00-00 Adult Learning in

and through the Arts. ERIC Digest.

ERIC Development Team

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Adult Learning in and through the Arts. ERIC Digest........................ 1

ADULT ARTS LEARNING: SOME EXAMPLES........................... 2

ISSUES IN ADULT ARTS EDUCATION.................................... 3

COMMUNITY ARTS AND ADULT LEARNING............................ 4

REFERENCES.................................................................. 5

ERIC Identifier: ED467239

Publication Date: 2002-00-00

Author: Kerka, Sandra

Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult Career and Vocational Education Columbus OH.

Adult Learning in and through the Arts. ERIC

Digest.

THIS DIGEST WAS CREATED BY ERIC, THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

INFORMATION CENTER. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ERIC, CONTACT

ACCESS ERIC 1-800-LET-ERIC

It has become increasingly clear that millions of contemporary adults...have grown up

with little or no grounding in the arts, and do not even consider participating in an artistic

discipline or attending an arts event when choosing among their leisure and

entertainment options (McDaniel and Thorn 1997, p. 6). The focus of much

contemporary research and policy in arts education is on the K-12 level. However, arts

learning experiences also benefit adults. Lifelong learning in the arts is a broad subject

ED467239 2002-00-00 Adult Learning in and through the Arts. ERIC Digest. Page 1 of 7
that may be viewed from many perspectives. This Digest discusses adult learning in the

arts and addresses current issues in adult arts education.

ADULT ARTS LEARNING: SOME EXAMPLES

The motivations and objectives of both providers and participants in adult arts learning

are diverse. Adult educators seeking to foster transformative learning invoke the role of

imagination in developing new perspectives; they view the arts as a way of engaging

adults in imaginative exploration of themselves and their relationship to the world (Dirkx

2000; Kazemek and Rigg 1997). In adult literacy education, analysis of paintings and

poems can be a means of developing visual and linguistic acuity, critical thinking, and

aesthetic judgment (Dreybus 2000; Kazemek and Rigg 1997). Greene (in Elias, Jones,

and Normie 1995) speaks of aesthetic education as a form of critical literacy to

empower people to read and name their world.

For prison inmates, the arts can be a route to reconnecting with learning, developing

interpersonal and reasoning skills, and exploring different value systems. For example,

drama workshops in a prison literacy program draw on learners' experiences, involving

them in role playing to reinforce literacy practices and helping them reinterpret their

experiences metaphorically (Kett 2001). Another approach to the arts as experiential

learning is the Duke University business school's Leadership and the Arts course

(Alburty 1999). The program equates leaders and artists in that both know how to

coach, encourage, take risks, innovate, inspire, and express a vision; both use the

capacities of emotional observation and critical judgment.

Intergenerational arts projects foster the development of communication and reflection

skills and formation of new perspectives about oneself and others. Apol and Kambour

(1999) used dance and writing with elders and adolescents to engage both verbal and

nonverbal ways of knowing and help them express "the complex physical, social, and

psychological issues in their lives" (p. 107). Such therapeutic benefits of creative activity

are often an important motivation for arts participation. In Bardsley and Soskice's (1998)

survey, one-third of adult arts learners sought job-related skills, but the majority were

motivated by increased confidence, maintenance of physical and mental abilities, and

recovery from loss or illness. Similarly, in a music appreciation course, two-thirds of

adult participants cited therapeutic motivations such as coping with stress (Buell in

Jones, McConnell, and Normie 1996).

These examples involve different providers: adult educators (Dirkx, Dreybus, Kazemek

and Rigg), artists/arts educators working with adults (Apol and Kambour, Buell), and

educators using the arts in other subject areas (Alburty). In addition, a great deal of

adult arts learning takes place formally and informally in museums, parks, galleries,

theatres, and similar venues, organizations that may not view their role as primarily

educative (Chadwick and Stannett 2000). With many different providers, there are

multiple, sometimes competing, purposes for adult arts education. Is it to develop the

individual, to maintain the dominant culture, or to change the culture (Elias et al. 1995)?

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Is it to develop appreciative audiences or creative practitioners (McDaniel and Thorn

1997)? To liberate creativity or to develop technical skills (Milton in Elias et al. 1995)? Is

art the means or a goal in itself; that is, are the arts used for instrumental purposes such

as critical thinking, literacy, therapy, or other outcomes often used to justify arts

education, or does arts learning have intrinsic value (Maguire in Jones et al. 1996)? All

of these purposes may have value, if the programs based on them match the goals and

motivations of learners.

ISSUES IN ADULT ARTS EDUCATION

These multiple purposes raise certain issues for providers. First, what counts as art and

who decides? The concept of "High Art" has perpetuated an image of the arts as limited

to the art forms and aesthetic values of an elite. Folk art, popular culture, and the like do

not meet the standards of the dominant value system (Jones 2000). For many, creative

activity ceases after childhood, as "social values, cultural attitudes, and educational

practices contribute to a loss of art making experience over a life time" (Jongeward in

Jones et al. 1996, p. 116). Mullen's interviews with "ordinary Canadians" (in Elias et al.

1995) acknowledged participants as active members of their culture, creating and

transmitting cultural knowledge, yet they often expressed "a sense of inferiority or

inadequacy in relation to definitions of 'art' and 'artist'" (p. 254). Maguire (in Jones et al.

1995) argues that too often the art work of people with disabilities is viewed merely as

therapy instead of having inherent value.

On the other hand, the Adult Arts Education Project began with the assumptions that

every person is endowed with creative impulses and that the arts can play an integral

role in everyone's life (McDaniel and Thorn 1997). Defined more broadly, the arts are a

means of organizing and making meaning of experience (Lomas 1998); they are

"languages for the communication of new ideas" (Milton in Elias et al. 1995, p. 75). To

Nolan (in Jones et al. 1996), the function of art is "to destabilize fixed ideas and existing

identities; to help us find a new way of seeing, of hearing, of thinking, of feeling.... And

to find from those experiences new ways of experiencing our communities, our

neighbors, our society" (p. 48).

Based on these definitions, a second issue is what are the goals of adult arts

education? Adult educators have challenged the limitation of education in the arts to

induction into a canon of great art works (Jones 1999). Arts education can help foster

identification of and appreciation for cultural heritage (ibid.). However, cultural

institutions such as museums can sometimes serve as purveyors of "official" knowledge

and culture (Chadwick and Stannett 2000). Rather than a one-way transfer of this

knowledge, arts education can play a more dynamic role in developing adults' abilities to

analyze, interpret, and produce cultural knowledge (ibid.). For example, adult learners

can question dominant cultural representations in museums, asking what is

suppressed/forgotten, in whose interest has the selection been made, and whose

voices and cultural preferences are portrayed (ibid.).

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These activities reflect the social change purposes of adult education. However,

learners may have more instrumental goals--such as the acquisition of technical skills

and experience to become professional practitioners or teachers (Milton in Elias et al.

1995)--that may clash with providers' goals. Brown and Brownhill (1998), for example,

questioned the purpose of art history in a part-time adult degree program: for art

appreciation, development of aesthetic judgment, or acquisition of skills? They shaped a

course in which art is first contextualized (its time, place, reason for creation, creators,

medium), then adults bring their experience to bear on it. The intent was not to produce

expert art historians but to develop visual and interpretive skills, which are transferable

to a critical viewing of the world.

A third issue is how should learning in the arts be assessed? According to Jones

(2000), assessment in adult visual art classes typically involves an exhibition or portfolio

and uses subjective and aesthetic criteria, ignoring the learning that has taken place.

Jones also notes that values and standards in the arts change over time. He proposes a

model of creative activity in which learners' work is compared to expected learning

outcomes such as the development of visual perception, the ability to exploit potential of

the medium, involvement in the creative process, and acquisition of relevant knowledge.

The focus shifts from outcomes based on content to developmental processes. Using

Milton's (in Elias et al. 1995) definition of the arts as languages, the emphasis of

assessment "is placed upon the understanding of social and communicative processes

... on the social functions of the artistic language used, rather than on its grammar and

vocabulary" (p. 77).

COMMUNITY ARTS AND ADULT LEARNING

Community arts is an approach that illustrates the issues of what art is, what the

purposes of arts education are, and how arts learning should be assessed. Community

arts are focused on the production of art as the expression of community culture, not as

a commodity (Williams 2000). Collaborative artistic production is a powerful vehicle for

experiential learning and appreciation of other value systems. Community arts have

been used by adult, feminist, and popular educators (Clover 2000) and community

development and social work practitioners (Williams 2000). They have both instrumental

and intrinsic purposes. For example, a Toronto project engaged women in photographic

explorations of violence and poverty and the creation of both individual and collective

artistic products (Clover 2001). Because art had been viewed "as something that is

done only by naturally born talents or those highly trained," the women were

empowered by seeing the artistic process as accessible and possible (ibid., p. 5).

Community arts projects can also be therapeutic [e.g., a project in which feminist

artist-educators used women's crafts as artistic expressions to overcome feelings of

isolation and create a sense of community (Clover 2001)] and transformative [e.g., in an

environmental adult education project, community members created paintings on

Toronto garbage trucks to raise awareness of garbage and the process of waste

removal (Clover 2000)].

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Community arts address the issue of what counts as art. Lomas (1998) charges that

community art is devalued because established traditions, theories, and control of taste,

aesthetics, and interpretive skills are in the province of "High Art." She notes that

funders more often support arts teaching via technique (content, form, adaptive

behavior) rather than authentic experience. Williams (2000) discusses the need to

acknowledge community art as an important catalyst for cultural development and

outlines suggested outcomes for evaluating the impact of community arts programs,

with indicators for each: building social capital, effecting social change, contributing to

economic development, recognizing diversity, and defining identity.

Humans are impelled to interpret and make meaning of experiences. Moreover, "adults

will eagerly engage in learning and growing and will participate when meaningful

opportunities and conditions are presented" (McDaniel and Thorn 1997, pp. 67-68).

Adults may find a rich source of meaningful learning opportunities in and through the

arts. Education in the arts includes activities whose primary purpose is to encourage

people to engage with the arts as creators, participants, or appreciators (Jones 1999).

Education through the arts involves activities that use the arts to achieve ends that are

tangential to the arts (ibid.), developing new ways of seeing, knowing, and experiencing.

"The different spaces in which these activities take place embody different value

systems. Maybe it is time to reconsider what we mean by the arts and by creativity" (p.

7).

REFERENCES

Alburty, S. "A Cast of Leaders." FAST COMPANY no. 28 (October 1999): 240-260.

http://www.fastcompany.com/online/28/broadway.html

Apol, L., and Kambour, T. "Telling Stories through Writing and Dance: An

Intergenerational Project." LANGUAGE ARTS 77, no. 2 (November 1999): 106-117.

Bardsley, M., and Soskice, A. "The Art of Learning." ADULTS LEARNING 9, no. 9 (May

1998): 23-24.

Brown, K., and Brownhill, R. "Developing Aesthetic Judgement: Art History in the

Context of Adult Education." INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LIFELONG EDUCATION

17, no. 1 (January-February 1998): 41-50.

Chadwick, A., and Stannett, A., eds. MUSEUMS AND ADULTS LEARNING. Leicester,

England: National Institute of Adult Continuing Education, 2000. (ED 447 321)

Clover, D. E. "Community Arts as Environmental Education and Activism: A Labour and

Environment Case Study." CONVERGENCE 33, no. 4 (2000): 19-31.

Clover, D. E. "Feminist Artist-Educators and Community Revitalisation." In 20TH

ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE OF THE CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE

ERIC Resource Center www.eric.ed.gov

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STUDY OF ADULT EDUCATION, edited by Tom Nesbit, pp. 43-48. Quebec: Laval

University, 2001. http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/CASAE/cnf2001/clover.pdf

Dirkx, J. M. TRANSFORMATIVE LEARNING AND THE JOURNEY OF

INDIVIDUATION. ERIC DIGEST NO. 223. Columbus: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult,

Career, and Vocational Education, 2000. (ED 448 305) http://ericacve.org/digests.asp

Dreybus, M. E. ART FOR ART'S SAKE AND MORE. Arlington: Virginia Adult Education

Research Network, 2000. (ED 445 238)

Elias, W.; Jones, D.; and Normie, G., eds. TRUTH WITHOUT FACTS. SELECTED

PAPERS FROM THE FIRST THREE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES ON ADULT

EDUCATION AND THE ARTS. Brussels, Belgium: VUB University Press, 1995.

Jones, D. J. "Different Theatres, Different Audiences: The Arts and the Education of

Adults." In THE FINAL FRONTIER. SCUTREA 29TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE, edited

by B. Merrill. Standing Conference on University Teaching and Research in the

Education of Adults, 1999. (ED 438 447)

http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/000001002.htm

Jones, D. J. "Towards a Generic Approach to Assessment in Adult and Continuing

Education." In PROCEEDINGS OF THE 41ST ANNUAL ADULT EDUCATION

RESEARCH CONFERENCE, edited by T. J. Sork et al. Vancouver: University of British

Columbia, 2000. (ED 452 417) http://www.edst. educ.ubc.ca/aerc/2000/jonesd-web.htm

Jones, D. J. "Learning Culture." In PROCEEDINGS OF THE 42ND ANNUAL ADULT

EDUCATION RESEARCH CONFERENCE, edited by R. O. Smith et al., pp. 203-208.

East Lansing: Michigan State University, 2001.

http://www.edst.educ.ubc.ca/aerc/2001/2001jones.htm

Jones, D.; McConnell, B.; and Normie, G., eds. ONE WORLD, MANY CULTURES.

PAPERS FROM THE 4TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADULT EDUCATION

AND THE ARTS. Cardenden, Scotland: Fife Regional Council, 1996. (ED 414 470)

Kazemek, F. E., and Rigg, P. "'...the sense of soul...goes hand in hand with an aesthetic

response': Art in Adult Literacy Education." ADULT BASIC EDUCATION 7, no. 3 (Fall

1997): 131-144.

Kett, M. "Literacy Work in Wheatfield Prison, Dublin, Ireland." JOURNAL OF

CORRECTIONAL EDUCATION 52, no. 2 (June 2001): 63-67.

Lomas, C. M. "Art and the Community: Breaking the Aesthetic of Disempowerment." In

DANCE, POWER, AND DIFFERENCE: CRITICAL AND FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES

ON DANCE EDUCATION, edited by S. B. Shapiro, pp. 149-169. Champaign, IL: Human

Kinetics, 1998.

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McDaniel, N., and Thorn, G. LEARNING AUDIENCES: ADULT ARTS PARTICIPATION

AND THE LEARNING CONSCIOUSNESS. Washington, DC: John F. Kennedy Center

for the Performing Arts; Association of Performing Arts Presenters, 1997.

Williams, D. THE SOCIAL IMPACT OF ARTS PROGRAMS. HOW THE ARTS

MEASURE UP: AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH INTO SOCIAL IMPACT. WORKING

PAPER 8. Comedia (UK), 2000.

http://www.artshunter.com.au/communityarts/papers/Commedia.htm

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available at http://ericacve.org/digests.asp.

Title: Adult Learning in and through the Arts. ERIC Digest.

Note: Digest Number 236.

Document Type: Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs)

(071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073);

Available From: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education,

Center on Education and Training for Employment, College of Education, The Ohio

State University, 1900 Kenny Road, Columbus, OH 43210-1090. For full text:

http://www.ericacve.org/pubs.asp.

Descriptors: Adult Education, Adult Learning, Aesthetic Education, Art, Art Activities,

Art Education, Art Expression, Creative Activities, Critical Thinking, Cultural Enrichment,

Dance, Educational Objectives, Empowerment, Music, Student Evaluation,

Transformative Learning

Identifiers: ERIC Digests

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