Critical Studies as Culture-based Art Education

문화중심 미술교육으로서의 비평학습

This study examined the condition of an educational discourse, relating the concept of creativity, culture, culture-centered, and critical thinking, to explore Culture-based Art Education(CBAE). In particular, art education practice was examined using interpretations of creativity and critical theory positions from the field of education. Discourse analysis was used as the research method to contextually situate and analyze the ways in which art education theory and practice of creativity and of critical studies encoded meanings. The study helped build an understanding that creativity was formed as a modernist discourse in the humanistic stance. In education, creativity became the fundamental concern for progressive educators who pursued innate ability of individuals. The way to enhance creative potential of students was to induce their motive, as was the same case in art education, while in artist training, free expression was its main method. In this way, as creativity was intimately connected with the concept of expression, in art education art making is the only course for enhancing creativity. However, because creative process cannot intelligently be regarded as logically distinct from the creative product, and creativity can only be said by product, it seems valid to think that creativity is the quality not to be achieved by teaching. Furthermore, its emphasis on art making resulted in unbalance of art making and art appreciation in art education. It was the late sixties when several alternatives for creative education were made their appearance. Critical studies in art adopted critical theory as its theoretical background has developed as an alternative of creative art education, when research and theory for creativity could not be adequate to deal with the problem of practice. Critical theory is a broad and diverse field of theory and practice drawing on aspects of the modernist perspective of the later Frankfurt School, feminism, Freirean pedagogy, postcolonial discourse as well as postmodernism to construct a practical approach to education. It is very this eclectic nature to provide the mosaic that need to experience cultures from different perspectives in a pluralistic society. Because one's personality is formed by multiple aspects of culture which is very complex and is made up of what we do and value, creativity cannot make part of educational discourse with the philosophy of culture centered. On the other hand, critical studies, as a school art program of critical theory, can perform the role of CBAE, because it would have to deal with the investigation of social and cultural issues form multiple personal, local, national, and global perspectives.