Rather, we need to mix aesthetics throughout the curriculum by reconstructing ideas and experiences of aesthetics and adding those needed ingredients to our recipe for art education. There are two major reasons why the study of philosophical aesthetics is important in art education. First, ideas from that discipline, and appropriate methods of dealing with those ideas, can connect disparate parts of an art curriculum. Because of the general nature of aesthetics, it can function as a binding agent for all this complexity. Another reason is that philosophical aesthetics, like all philosophy, is based on wonder.
Philosophers wonder about things others take for granted.
Young children do the same until their sense of wonder is deadened by socialization, education, or some combination of the two. They reach a plateau in their sense of wonder and their willingness to express wonder as they reach a plateau in drawing development, usually around fifth or sixth grade. It may be true that this is the appropriate time to teach formal logic, but it is late to begin dialogues with children about issues from aesthetics. We need to focus early on the openness, willingness to voice wonder, and desire to find meaning in problematic situations that may have no definitive solution, all of which characterize the young child. Recognizing the need for educational materials about aesthetics, I have investigated existing methods and materials that might serve as models for art education.