Historical Context Teaching Suggestions:
Learning about art history should be lively, interactive and affectively as well as cognitively rewarding. Dry facts disconnected from student experience do not develop the inquiring attitude and appreciation of different, artistic expressions that begin a life of rich art appreciation. Some suggestions for meaningful and lasting learning would include:
1. Sharing the global commonalities of art processes, purposes and themes.
2. Discussing and applying personal, family, community, national and world history.
3. Studying the present and past multiple functions of art and including of diverse pluralistic histories of cultures and subcultural groups.
4. Avoiding teaching the ethnocentric perspective of history that exclusively focuses on Western (European/American) art and derogatory, categorizing hierarchies.
5. Exploring cross-cultural themes as well as rich cultural and historic contexts.
6. Using lively creative motivations and art projects that incorporate student authenticity with expansive knowledge of the world of art.
Art History Lives in the Present
Global/Multicultural Perspectives
Teaching Suggestions