Teaching Visual Culture, Curriculum, Aesthetics, and the Social Life of

Art

Facilitation Packet

Sarah Greer

Northern Illinois University

ARTE 344 Spring 2017

FACILITATION SHEET
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Title: Chapter 2 - Finding Meaning in Aesthetics, The Interdependence

of Form, Feeling, and Knowing, Teaching Visual Culture

Author(s): Kerry Freedman

Source/Date:
Freedman, K. (2003). Finding meaning in aesthetics, the
interdependence of form,
feeling, and knowing. In, Teaching visual culture curriculum,
aesthetics and the social life of art (pp. 23-42). New York:
Teachers College Press.

Main Idea/Purpose (2-3 sentences):

The main idea of this chapter is that art education, specifically
teaching visual culture, is essential to teach to students in a world
where visual culture has become more sophisticated. Students need to
connect meaning in visual culture, and Freedman explains the history
of aesthetics. She pushes for a more post-modern approach, rather
than a formalist approach in art education for there is a need to discuss
meaning.

Short Overview (Including at least 2-3 important quotes):

Freedman (2003) believes that we should consider several
aesthetic theories when teaching visual culture (p. 25). She states that
this chapter focuses on post-modern critiques of the analytic aesthetic
tradition that has stood as the primary basis for theorizing art in
education (p. 25). Freedman further explains that this chapter
critiques historical foundations of analytic aesthetics, discusses
problems of formalism in curriculum, and discusses the relationship of
aesthetics to meaning in contemporary visual culture (p. 25).
Social issues cannot exist in a formalist approach, and Freedman
believes the standard formalist aesthetic approach seen in art
education is a challenge to overcome. She presses for an approach in
art education to stray away from the formalist aesthetic and that
meaning should be important.
Borders must also be crossed, and Freedman explains that
people with different backgrounds and interests do not have the same
foundations for interpretation and will experience the same visual
culture in different ways (pp. 36-8). With each experience differing,
this is a point to argue against a formalist approach. Since we each do
not experience visual culture the same, aesthetics will differ from
person to person, and from culture to culture.
Freedman also mentions Dewey and that he viewed art that
connected the mind and body and that he criticized the idea of an
aesthetic that sought to separate the [mind and body] (p. 38). There
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is a need to adapt to changing experiences, and as Freedman states,

Dewey was right-we come to know art through the dynamics of
experience (p. 42). Visual culture changes over time and differs in
each culture and experience. Teaching the varying dimensions of visual
culture is essential, and Freedman argues that the traditional formalist
aesthetic does not allow for varying viewpoints to be explored.

Critical Response:
Reading and studying under Dr. Freedman has been an immense
breath of fresh air for me. She beautifully articulates many thoughts
and concerns I have grown to have while I study and look back upon
my own experiences as an art student in an American K-12 curriculum.
My primary high school art teacher was highly against studying visual
culture and believed art must be approached at a formalist angle.
Rarely did we discuss international artists or other ways to approach
assignments. Everything needed to be realistic. He did not allow us to
discuss meaning behind our work either. This was interesting since we
had another art teacher, who approached art similar to Freedman. As
an adolescent, I highly preferred to create art that held meaning to me;
talking about my art allowed me to generate a sense of purpose and
pride in my creations.
I was particularly struck by one of Freedmans closing thoughts:
As minimalist artists have taught us, form is never pure; it can always
stimulate associations. Postmodern conceptions of aesthetics, then,
involve a social relationship between people mediated by visual
culture (p. 42). Art connects us, and studying the visual culture that
exists in our society, as well as others, serves as an aid in that
connection.
Even discussing with my peers about art, or even art history,
there is a snooty, elitist misconception about what I study. When I ask
where this distaste stems from, many of my friends explain to me that
art is only for the elite and those who come from privilege. I
believe, taking what I have gained from Dr. Freedmans book and her
wisdom, teaching visual culture is the bridge to connect everyone to
art. Art should not be for a select mighty few; art should be for all.
Art does exist for all in visual culture, and as she has explained to me
that she believes that since not all our students will be artists, we must
teach them to understand and think critically of the visual culture that
surrounds us.
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FACILITATION SHEET

Title: Chapter 3 The Social Life of Art: The Importance of Connecting

the Past with the Present, Teaching Visual Culture

Author(s): Kerry Freedman

Source/Date:
Freedman, K. (2003). The Social Life of Art: The Importance of
Connecting the Past with
the Present. In Teaching visual culture curriculum, aesthetics,
and the social life of art (pp. 43-62). New York: Teachers College
Press.

Main Idea/Purpose (2-3 sentences):

The cultural connections of the past and present in art history
coexist in the present. This is challenging to art educators because we
must teach students the complexities of understanding visual culture.
There is a need to connect the past and a need to understand how the
past is ever present in our lives and culture.

Short Overview (Including at least 2-3 important quotes):

Freedman (2003) emphasizes the need for making cultural
connections and that these connections to the past are critically
important if students are to develop an understanding of the
complexity of their visual world (p. 43). The past is connected to the
present, and many of what is visible in visual culture, represents living
histories. Freedman declares that art educators must be conscious of
the importance of our connections to history; the past is more than the
past because we are still connected to cultural traditions (p. 43).
Art history serves to aid us in understanding varying cultures
throughout history. However, history is not the past; it is the
reconstruction of the past (p. 44). Freedman explains that while we
study the past, we must be critical to understand that these are our
interpretations. While we may know specifics facts, we must be aware
that those who experienced and lived in the past are no longer present
to give us direct access to historical complexities and truth.
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Freedman also explains the importance to note how art historians

have selected what is important. Mainstream art history does not tell
the full story, and often, women and minorities are excluded in art
history. Freedman explains further that the new art history differs
from the old art history by focusing more on the social influences
and dynamics of culture development (p. 47).
There is also the concept of time and space and how survey
timelines in art history [limit] our ability to conceptualize relationships
between and across cultures (p.48). This focus on small sections in art
history prohibits us from viewing a larger understanding of culture.

Critical Response:
This chapter should be a requirement for art history students to
read. When I began studying art history, I knew why I was uneasy with
the discipline, yet I did not know how to articulate my frustrations.
From my experience, many art historians are hesitant to follow models
that challenge what they have been taught as true art history. The
discipline itself is quite elitist, just as much of the art many art history
text books flaunt.
Dr. Freedmans critical analysis of art history and its ties to visual
culture were astounding; she articulated my frustrations succinctly. She
described how popular visual culture is shunned in art history:
In fact, popular visual arts and mass media images are
considered unrelated to art history to such an extent that they
tend to be studied in different departments at universities, such
as cultural studies, anthropology, communications, or media
studies. (p. 45)
This is an absolute true statement. Many of my art history professors
held high distaste for popular culture being introduced into the
classroom. I vividly recall one professor challenging this notion. Dr.
Barbara Jaffee constantly referred to a chart on high, middle, and low
brow art and asked us to always think critically of what we read and
the biases behind each author. She asked us to use her chart and to be
conscientious of our own biases in our writing. She was by far the most
influential art history professor I ever had.
Connecting Dr. Freedmans chapter on art history to Dr. Jaffees
philosophy of art history, I believe I have a stronger sense of how I
want to approach art history in my classroom. I want to stand true to
including various cultures and to always present a 50/50 of women and
male artists. The elitism and bias within art history should not flood my
classroom. The studying of visual culture should be a celebration
rather than a contest, and I want my students to be critical explorers of
culture. My goal and hope is for my students, while many will not
become artists, is for them to be able to critically and thoughtfully
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process the visual world that surrounds them. We must adapt to

changing times, and I fear art history is lagging behind in the change
department.

FACILITATION SHEET

Title: Chapter 4 Art and Cognition: Knowing Visual Culture

Author(s): Kerry Freedman

Source/Date:
Freedman, K. (2003). Art and Cognition: Knowing Visual Culture. In
Teaching visual
culture curriculum, aesthetics, and the social life of art (pp. 63-
85). New York: Teachers College Press.

Main Idea/Purpose (2-3 sentences):

Understanding visual culture is done through cognitive processes, and
some of the processes involved are psychobiological. Education
influences our thinking, and we view visual culture critically.

Short Overview (Including at least 2-3 important quotes):

Freedman (2003) discusses the relationships between the
emotions we feel while viewing visual culture and how these
relationships are important. Violence, for example, is interesting to us.
Freedman provides an example of an uneasy situation for three
undergraduate students who entered a contemporary art museum with
what is believed to be their first time visiting a museum of its kind (pp.
65-66). Freedman describes them not looking well and when asked
about their well-being, the students said they felt physically ill (p.
66). They had symptoms of fear, yet they were pleased with the
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experience afterward. Strong emotions such as this are a part of ones

educational history.
Robert Solso is mentioned and that he believes that we are only
able to understand the visual arts because of the information we have
previously stored about visual features and meanings (p. 67).
Education of visual culture allows students to be more aware and
knowledgeable about the arts.
A formal education is not the only way to teach art; social forms
of learning can teach individuals as well. Learning communities hold
multiple sources, and Freedman goes into history to help explain these
social ways of knowing art. There is certainly also informal settings
for students to learn or not learn from. Students of all ages have
misconceptions about the arts because students learn so much
about the arts in informal settings (p. 84). Dismantling those
misconceptions can occur through art education.

Critical Response:
Through reading this chapter and taking Dr. Freedmans Comics
in Education course (ARTE683) I was drawn to the question of why do
we enjoy violent movies and comics? If the image is somewhat
familiar yet terrifying, we are more ok with those images versus
images we cannot associate any previous knowledge to. Her example
of the three undergraduate students in a contemporary art museum
being uneasy is incredibly relatable to me. For my first years studying
fine art, my teachers largely focused on the master painters and rarely,
if at all, discussed contemporary art. My first visit to the Art Institute of
Art and walking through to view contemporary work and post-modern
work was a terrifying experience. I recall being incredibly frightened
and refused to return for some time. A few years later, I returned and I
quite enjoy those exhibitions now. I simply needed to bank the images I
viewed; I was not familiar before which caused anxiety.
Looking back at this, I feel my job as a teacher is far more
expansive than I initially realized my job would be. Who is to say what
education my students will receive after they spend time in my
classroom, so I should be sure to allot class time to studying visual
culture, past and present so my students can hold a larger visual
vocabulary as they step into the next part of their educational journey.
I want my students to be equipped to think critically of the visual
culture that surrounds them in television, comics, film, commercial
advertising, and fine art. If they are more open and visually
experienced earlier on, perhaps many elements and situations that
will occur later in life will not generate negative perceptions of visual
culture. I largely think of comics and when I asked young children their
thoughts on the comics industry and why they enjoy comics. Each
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young child, even those dressed up for comic conventions, could not
articulate the visual culture they enjoy so dearly. As an educator, I
must work to teach my students to understand and think critically of
visual culture, especially since visual culture is intertwined so tightly
into our daily lives.

FACILITATION SHEET

Title: Chapter 5 Interpreting Visual Culture: Constructing Concepts

for Curriculum

Author(s): Kerry Freedman

Source/Date:
Freedman, K. (2003). Interpreting Visual Culture: Constructing
Concepts for Curriculum.
In Teaching visual culture curriculum, aesthetics, and the social
life of art (pp. 86-105). New York: Teachers College Press.

Main Idea/Purpose (2-3 sentences):

While we are living in a world where visual culture saturates our daily
lives more and more each day, art educators must adapt their lesson
planning. Art education must expand to cover this ever-growing and
ever-changing visual culture society.

Short Overview (Including at least 2-3 important quotes):

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Knowledge of visual culture is an important part of cultural

knowledge; this affects viewing art and making art. There are three
high-level interpretive skills that Freedman (2003) discusses:
1: Unpacking underlying assumptions
2: Forming multiple, possible associations; and
3: Performing self-conscious, critical reflection (p. 88)
Unpacking requires thoughtfulness of viewing art in traditional cultures
as being recontextualized in contemporary contexts (p. 90). Forming
multiple associations requires the understanding of suggestiveness (p.
90). And critical reflection requires students to have opportunities to
come to understand the multiple ways in which representation works in
visual culture, how it is used, and how to form visual interpretations of
their own ideas (p. 94).
Freedman frequently references advertising, which are important
forms of visual culture to understand and critically examine. The
impact of contemporary imagery has generated a wide range of
sociopolitical and economic issues, including its influence on student
identity, notions of citizenship, beliefs about democracy, and so on (p.
94). Advertising can represent or misrepresent, and through educating
students to think critically on visual culture is an important skill. In
further trying to make a sense of understanding post-modern visual
culture, Freedman provides a list of the concepts:
1: Art as cultural production
2: Temporal and spatial flux
3: Democratization and a concern for otherness
4: Acceptance of conceptual conflict
5: Multiple readings (p. 95)

Critical Response:
This chapter focused on reading visual culture, particularly that
of advertising. I could not help but recall my memories of my time
living and working in China. I believe my time there was when I first
began to truly dissect the advertisements surrounding me. The context
I was in was a non-western country surrounded by western imagery
and advertising. What was attractive for Americans was attractive to a
Chinese audience. I began questioning how these constant images of
western women affected young girls in China, and I then began to have
students approach me in tears because they could never have
beautiful blue eyes like [me]. I desperately tried to get these young
Chinese girls to read further into the advertising, and to question what
the marketing scheme was, yet they could not verbalize to me their
understandings of reading further into the advertisements. They were
never taught to think critically of images. From what little I have seen
Americans of the same age group think critically of advertising, there
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was at least a slight understanding of reading advertising. Education

matters, and I was awaked to the significance of teaching visual
culture when I experienced full denial of hidden messages in images
from my Chinese students.
Looking back upon my time teaching in China, I cannot help but
want to return and teach the importance of visual culture there, yet
due to the government, I doubt I would be able to. This experience will
and already has influenced my teaching style, and I aim to continue
using this lesson I learned by placing my experience into my
curriculum. I want my students to grasp how fortunate they are to be
able to live in a society that can openly critically examines visual
culture (and particularly be critical of the government through political
cartoons and such). There is, without a doubt, much work to do.

FACILITATION SHEET

Title: Chapter 6 Curriculum as Process: Visual Culture and

Democratic Education

Author(s): Kerry Freedman

Source/Date:
Freedman, K. (2003). Curriculum as process: Visual Culture and
Democratic Education.
In Teaching visual culture curriculum, aesthetics, and the social
life of art (pp. 106-127). New York: Teachers College Press.
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Main Idea/Purpose (2-3 sentences):

Providing context to visual culture can reflect hopes and dreams and
through curriculum, cultural contexts can be taught. Art education is
fundamental in teaching visual culture. This chapter focuses on
complexities and difficulties in writing curriculum.

Short Overview (Including at least 2-3 important quotes):

Inclusion in curriculum can be challenging, and as Freedman
(2003) states, contemporary curriculum involves more complex
systems of freedom, individualism, equity, and social responsibility (p.
106). These are challenging yet essential to include in the classroom;
the idea of democratic curriculum focuses on individualism.
Postmodern curriculum values democratic principles of
curriculum, yet realizes that these democratic principles are ideal yet
realize they are difficult to achieve in practice (p. 108). Postmodern
aesthetics require five conditions of the curriculum process:
1: Curriculum is a form of representation
2: Curriculum is like a collage
3: Curriculum is a creative production
4: Curriculum suggests likely stories rather than objectified and
disembodied truth
5: Curriculum should be made transparent (pp. 109-11)

Freedman explains some of the difficulties in teaching art

education, and one complex issue to address is teaching students
complex issues. A conflict that she quotes from Graff is that because
appropriate curriculum content is sometimes based on the idea of
promoting consensus, educators are often concerned that conflict in
curriculum will only confuse students (p. 124). Freedman argues that
if we want education to be intellectually challenging, educators must
take the responsibility to teach about conflicts because conflicts often
give rise to meaning (p. 124).

Critical Response:
I was particularly drawn to Figure 6.2 on pages 116-117 and how
these concept examples are built on a spiral model of curriculum.
Freedman is critical to state that this is one possibility and that we
should be flexible and support other forms of curriculum. Her multiple
examples of curriculum forced me to remind myself to always be
adaptable and willing to change and upgrade my pedagogy through
further experience and knowledge. The emphasis of focusing on the
strengths of multiple approaches for planning and designing curriculum
is a valuable lesson that I might not have considered as critically if I
had not read this chapter.
Sequential curriculum, for example, is an ideal curriculum format
if I were to build on from previous lessons. But what if a new student
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enters my classroom? What if my students do not have the required

previous knowledge because their previous institution did not have art
courses? I feel as though this building block approach is suitable for
an ideal pool of students; I think I would cause a disservice to my
students if I had to constantly get other students up to speed. I
thought that Dr. Grodoskis approach of having a student who misses
class frequently work with another student at the front of the class to
write down the review session notes was an excellent way to solve the
issue of a student missing an important sequence in the lesson.
Interactive curriculum would require student experiences from
outside of school. I think this approach is helpful in a way to tie the
outside visual world to the art classroom. I would like to assign
sketchbook assignments or weekly journal entries that would explore
the visual world outside of class. This way, I could be aware of the
visual cultural references that are popular for students.

FACILITATION SHEET

Title: Chapter 7 Art.edu: Technological Images, Artifacts, and

Communities

Author(s): Kerry Freedman

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Source/Date:
Freedman, K. (2003). Art.edu: Technological Images, Artifacts, and
Communities.
In Teaching visual culture curriculum, aesthetics, and the social
life of art (pp. 128-146). New York: Teachers College Press.

Main Idea/Purpose (2-3 sentences):

Technology is constantly influencing visual culture, and art educators
must be prepared and aware of the adaptations that must be made in
the classroom. Through studying advancements in technologies art
educators can work to expand cultural experience in the classroom.
Change in the classroom is a necessity when technologies change.

Short Overview (Including at least 2-3 important quotes):

Technology blurs the boundaries between truth and fiction by
acting as both. This imagery has become an important aspect of
students lived experience and as such is part of their reality
(Freedman, 2003, p. 129). These blurred boundaries are constantly
changing with newer technologies emerging, and Freedman
acknowledges the differing types of technologies. Computer games
and film are two examples Freedman discusses in the beginning of this
chapter.
Freedman continues to describe the ties between art and
technology and how students use them. The scope of student artistic
production at all ages reveals broad interest in and increasing
knowledge of technological media (p. 138). Interests range through
different age groups, and art teachers must be aware of these different
interests and how quickly interests can change.
There are even marketing specialists working with kids and
adolescents waiting for the next big thing to be discovered since
interests with technology are in a constant flux. Our interactions with
technology-driven visual imagery have increased in quantity, and
studying the effects technology has on students is vital in adapting to
teaching visual culture in the classroom.

Critical Response:
The entire time I read through this chapter, I was constantly
aware of the outdated information on current technological trends. This
only further proved the point of technology constantly changing,
growing, and adapting in our society. Writing and discussing
technology is tricky due to this constant change. If we are to teach
visual culture, studying technology is a requirement. So many parts of
our daily lives include technology from our laptops to our cellphones,
electrical appliances, and vehicles. We grow more dependent on
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technology every day; even many comic book creators have switched
from pen and ink to digital!
I am constantly in awe and inspired by the constant and frequent
changes in technology. I believe that I was born at an opportune time
to be witness to the birth of common cell phones, smartphones, wifi,
and virtual reality through the span of my adolescence and young
adulthood. Just being witness to this drastic change in the past fifteen
years has immensely proven to me how important and powerful
technology is.
This chapter reminds me to constantly remain vigilant of new
technologies emerging and to always be exploring and learning what
my students are interested in. Not only do I need to constantly be
studying this phenomenon, I need to teach my students to be aware of
the constantly changing technological world we live in. I have often
found that artists are not always thought of in changing technological
advancements, and I believe this is partially due to the removal of the
a in STEAM.
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FACILITATION SHEET

Title: Chapter 8 Contributing to Visual Culture: Student Artistic

Production and Assessment

Author(s): Kerry Freedman

Source/Date:
Freedman, K. (2003). Contributing to Visual Culture: Student Artistic
Production and
Assessment. In Teaching visual culture curriculum, aesthetics,
and the social life of art (pp. 147-168). New York: Teachers
College Press.

Main Idea/Purpose (2-3 sentences):

The studio is an educational setting and making art is the most
important step for children to grow to understand the importance of
visual culture. Teaching visual culture is a way of knowing and to
assess student work, art educators need to be up-to-date in their own
research of the ever-changing world of visual culture.

Short Overview (Including at least 2-3 important quotes):

The ultimate goal of the art classroom is for students to
contribute to visual culture, and Freedman (2003) states that student
artistic production is a visual illustration of the influence of the broad
range of imager and objects they encounter every day (p. 147). Their
work explores their understandings of the visual world that they
experience as individuals, and students create art for a variety of
reasons.
Adolescents are drawn to suggestive, symbolic attributes of
visual culture and are not necessarily drawn to pursue formal qualities
in their work (pp. 151-152). As students are growing more aware of
visual culture, students grow to work in group processes of critique.
Freedman discusses these critique methods that can be used:
traditional critique, student questioning, individual dialogue, small
group critique, peer pairs, and role play.
Assessing student work is difficult without experience and
communities. Freedman says that experience should include a focus
on the most up-to-date student and professional art being produced at
any given time (p. 168). Constant awareness of visual culture changes
through art education through peers and individual research is a
challenge that is necessary.
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Critical Response:
Assessment is tricky due to state and national standards shifting
and changing after a few years. Assessment is also a difficult task
when considering the location you are placed to teach. Are you
teaching in a rural area? A city? What backgrounds in art do your
students have? The answers to those questions will affect your
curriculum and lesson choices. When working with a community for
assessment discussions, I will aim to consider the needs of my
students in my district versus others as well as the inclusion of the
national standards. Using the art education community will certainly be
an important resource, and having a community to share ideas and
continue to grow with would be an incredible asset to gain knowledge
from.
I particularly enjoyed the emphasis in the chapter to continue to
conduct research and to continuously be aware of the contemporary
artists who are up and coming. If I am teaching art, I should be aware
of the current trends and current popular artists to further express to
my students that art is not an old, dead, white male hobby, rather,
art is alive and relevant today too.