Teaching and learning to see

Author(s)

Rachel de Sousa Vianna

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Educação (FE/SBD)
• Defense date: 2009-04-24

Examining board members

Celso Fernando Favaretto; Ana Mae Tavares Bastos Barbosa; Teresinha Sueli Franz; Marcelo Giordan; Eduardo Fleury Mortimer

• Advisor: Celso Fernando Favaretto

Abstract

This research tackles the process of teaching and learning to see from different angles. Its first part uses the genetic method proposed by the sociocultural theory to investigate the development of visual perception in phylogenesis, in socio history and in ontogenesis. The second part of the research aims at mapping the role of visual perception within the methodologies for appreciating/reading images and objects. The literature review indicated three tendencies within the methodologies which emphasize development of visual perception: visual-verbal, modernist, and semanticist. A field research at Roehampton University, at London, comprised semi-structured interviews with eight professionals involved with teacher training in the field of art and design. The results indicated that there is not a consensus on the kinds of knowledge and abilities required to actively engage in works of art, neither there is a general agreement about the role visual concepts play in this process. The third and last part of this research involved a field research in Brazil. The data comprised audio recording of three art classes in three non governmental organizations which work with art education and two guided visits in two art museums. For data analysis, I used an adapted version of a sociocultural tool developed by Eduardo Mortimer and Phil Scott (2002, 2003). This tool, which was originally developed for the field of Science education, focuses the way the discourse is used to construct meaning in the classroom. Its adapted version proved to be an interesting tool for analyzing visual art classes and guided museum visits, as it permits to map which aspect of the aesthetic experience teachers and educators emphasized and to describe the methodology they used. A comparison between the five activities of appreciating/reading images that comprise the data reveals that there is great diversity in approaches and methodologies. Therefore, the results point that there is not a common understanding of objectives, content and methodologies among the participants, which suggests that Brazilian art education has not developed its own discourse genre. (AU)