| Aim | Goals | Philosophy | The Four Strands | The Foundational Objectives | The Components of Arts Education | Saskatchewan Content |
The Arts Education program has one major aim: to enable students to understand and value arts expressions throughout life. This one aim describes the main outcome for students and the primary reason for including Arts Education in the Core Curriculum for all students.
Goals
The aim of the program can be achieved through meeting the following goals. By participating in the Arts Education program, students will:
The foundational objectives for each of the four strands (dance, drama, music and visual art) are aimed at meeting these goals so that all students can benefit from what the arts have to offer.
The Arts Education curriculum has been developed for all students in the province. For this reason, the program is broad in scope and includes a diverse range of arts experiences. "Arts" includes fine arts, popular arts, traditional arts, craft, commercial arts and functional arts, with the understanding that there is much overlap among these categories.
At various times in the history of Arts Education, different reasons have been given to justify the arts' place in the classroom. The resulting programs have ranged from the purely creative (letting the student's creativity "unfold" without interference from the teacher) to the purely historical (prescribing a body of content based on history) to the purely academic (focusing the program on the formal elements of the particular arts area -- art for art's sake).
The Saskatchewan Arts Education curriculum includes the benefits of these three approaches, but focuses on the aesthetic benefits of an Arts Education. The arts provide a unique "way of knowing" about the world and human experience. In order for students to benefit from this unique way of knowing, the Arts Education program encourages the following:
In addition, the program recognizes that artists are thinkers. Their ideas have contributed and continue to contribute to an understanding of human existence. The Arts Education curriculum provides a place for their ideas.
The Four Strands
The four strands of the Arts Education program are dance, drama, music and visual art. Each of the strands has played a unique role in history and continues to play a unique role in contemporary cultures and societies. Most students are exposed to dance, drama, music and art at home through cultural events and the mass media. By extending what the students already know, the Arts Education program can encourage lifelong enjoyment and critical understanding of all four strands.
In the Kindergarten to grade nine curriculum guides, the four strands are presented in separate sections. In the Arts Education 10, 20, 30 document all four strands are again presented separately, but they are interrelated within each module of the program.
The Foundational Objectives
The foundational objectives describe the required content for each strand. The foundational objectives are broad in scope and are developed over the course of the entire year or semester. Detailed descriptions of the foundational objectives for each strand are included in each curriculum guide.
The Saskatchewan Goals of Education state that "a body of knowledge and a range of skills and attitudes are necessary to function in a changing world". The Arts Education curriculum includes the development of knowledge, skills and attitudes in the areas of perception, procedure, conceptual understanding and personal expression. These four categories were taken into consideration when the foundational objectives for each strand were determined.
Three Components of Arts Education
Through the inclusion of the following three components, the Arts Education curriculum is structured to achieve a balance in focus. The components are not to be segregated but are intended to be interwoven throughout the program.
This component includes the exploration, development and expression of ideas in the language of each strand or art form. In order for an activity to be creative, the student must be actively engaged in a critical thinking process. The student will learn where ideas come from, and how ideas can be developed and transformed. Reflection, both ongoing and summative, is an essential part of the creative process and allows students to evaluate their own growth in their creative endeavours.
This component deals with the role of the arts in culture, the development of the arts throughout history, and the factors that influence the arts and artists. It includes the historical development of each art form. In addition, it focuses on the arts in contemporary cultures, and includes popular culture and various cross-cultural studies. The intention of this component is to develop in students an understanding that the arts are an integral aspect of living for all people.
This component enables students to respond critically to images, sounds, performances and events in the artistic environment, including the mass media. Students will become willing participants in the interactive process between artist and audience rather than passive consumers of the arts. The curriculum suggests a seven-step process to help teachers guide discussion about works of art (for example, visual art works, musical compositions, or dance and drama performances). The process is intended to move students beyond quick judgement to informed personal interpretation, and has been adapted for each of the four strands. A description of the process appears in the introductory section of each strand in the curriculum guide.
Saskatchewan Content
The curriculum encourages students in this province to explore the rich and exciting arts community that exists here. It is important that students become familiar with their own artistic heritage and surroundings. If they study Saskatchewan arts, they will recognize themselves, their environment, their concerns and their feelings expressed in a diverse range of materials, styles and art forms. They will learn that Saskatchewan artists deal with personal, cultural, regional and global concerns, and that the artistic accomplishments in this province are cause for celebration.