Eisner Response

The excerpt we read from Eisner covers a wide range of theory relating to arts education, and how it not only can benefit other forms of education, but can also imbue our own personal understanding of ourselves as individuals, as well as developing a stronger understanding of our enviernment. Eisner doesn't only reference the importance of arts education in the arts, but brings in sociological, psychological, and anthropological perspectives to help enhance our understanding of art education's importance.

Within the first chapter we read, Eisner summarizes the sociological and psychological impacts art has on the individual in relationship to certain components that are inherent in the creative process. Art does not just allow us to imagine and recall, but allows us to preconceive and imagine. He stresses that the tools of creative expression like representation, editing, inscription, communication, and the element of suprise all directly relate to how we learn and formulate our intelligence about both what is relevant to art and that which might seem unrelated. He begins to weave in the ideas of cultural impacts and its relation to the personal expierence, and how surprise and discovery lead us to somatic knowledge.

The next two chapters don't address the theoretical aspects of the creative process but instead begin to examine specific examples of how arts education can be appropriated into other disciplines, as well as examples of art education curricula and the theoretical benefits that revolve around them. With the second chapter we read serving as an introduction, Eisner looks toward history to illustrate whgat he begins to discuss in the following chapter in much more present terms. Such historical milestones include a discussion of the Bauhaus in Europe, as well as the development of integrated arts curricula. Eisner reflects on some of the psychological theory he discussed earlier with these different arts education formulas with concepts such as intrinsic motivation, cognative and perceptive reactions, as well as a comparison of what personal and creative expression can achieve that literal processes can not.

The readings were not so much a challange, but were dense with information and ideas that were all very intricatally woven together. To really comprehend Eisner, a great deal of analysis was required i felt: its something you could read over and over again and a new dimension of complexity would emerge from it. Overall, i found it fascinating.