Aesthetic Theory and the Ideology of Educational Institutions

Abstract

Within the last decade or two increasing attention has been given to that discipline which has become known as education. 1 It is clear that the acceptance of aesthetic education as a distinct and legitimate educational enterprise is due in no small measure to the views of such writers as Elliot W. Eisner and Harry S. Broudy and the schools of thought and traditions that they represent. They are responsible, together with other influential writers and scholars, 2 to a considerable extent, for the current interest in aesthetics and schooling. For this it seems that we are all indebted. Without wanting to delimit or detract from these analyses of the place and value of aesthetic education, however, it may be both necessary and insightful to consider the dominant traditions in the field a bit more critically than has often been the case; in addition, to thoughtfully consider divergent views that represent other traditions, concerns, and conceptual frameworks in educational and curriculum theory. The dominant traditions in aesthetic education regard the problem of implementing a sophisticated and incisive program of aesthetics in schools as a purely pedagogical or educative one, to be ameliorated by various educational or training interventions (e.g., see Broudy 1972b). Implied in this dominant perspective on the field is the view that educators need to first uncover the proper or most efficacious techniques of instruction to fit whatever set of appreciative skills and abilities we may approve of in regard to increasing aesthetic sensitivity and, following this, to devise appropriate evaluation measures of those instructional outcomes. In this way many of the most prominent writers in the field seem to regard the central problems as inherently solvable or rectifiable through the discovery and utilization of the proper techniques, methods, or objectives. In short, the problems of aesthetic education are allegedly solvable by. the adequate and appropriate training of school people who are in some way involved.

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