Art Education, or the Art of Education

Author(s): Erzsébet Tusa

Source: Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, T. 25, Fasc. 1/4 (1983), pp.
101-109
Published by: Akadémiai Kiadó
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 Art Education - or the Art of Education

Erzsebet TUSA

Budapest

The danger of over-specialization in our age is well-known. As Professor

Imre Magyar put it: "We know more and more about less and less". At the
same time it is interesting that two geniuses of different fields: Zolt~n Koddly
the composer and Alfrid R6nyi the mathematician have independently from
each other formulated the same idea: "The root of art and science is the
same."

In the scope of this interdisciplinarian tendency of our days integra

education can be a tool for understanding the relations between differen: sc
ences and arts, i.e. as far as possible between all the manifestations (phenom
of existence, - by this means developing the human personality and m
forces, too. Music with its acoustic and artistic laws is especially suitabl
bring to light the major cosmic-natural-human correspondences, and thu
create a new united scientific-artistic view.
The integrated educational model can be considered a descendant of
ancient Greek education. It is based on the elaboration of so-called "ke
problems, which are appropriate - also in the sense of the General Sys
Theory - to demonstrate the structural analogies and hidden relations be
distinct things. So we get to qualitative "key" knowledges which can o
the doors towards other values as well - instead of simply accumula
quantitative data.
The integrated education can be considered a development of the Kod
concept: as relative solmisation is a "key" which can be transposed everywhe
in the same way the key-problems of the integrated education can be transp
on every area.
I am convinced that true education is not a construction built of differen
layers, but instead a concentrically broadening exploration of the world
Therefore, as a starting point for such a work, Bartdk's Microcosmos off
itself even by its title. Let's have a look at the very first piece !

Fig. 1

Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 25, 1983

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102 E. Tusa: Art Education - or the Art of Education

What is going on there in the music material ? The tune makes

upwards, rests there, makes 3 steps downwards, stops again, it is follo
3 steps upwards + 3 steps downwards and it comes to an end. It imm
strikes the eye that it is a structure of thesis-antithesis-synthesis.
Let's see what kind of ideological meaning it contains! What we fin
is that the same course can be followed either upward or downward dir
- both being equally true. Expounding the same idea further, we sh
that the truth has various faces, various aspects: it is what we call
view". (I.e., as a statue can be photographed from several perspect
each picture will be true, while the full truth is the totality of al
pictures.)
The moral-educational effect of this idea can be illustratedby a spon
exclamation of a 12 year-old girl. Pondering on the idea that a thing w
convex from the one side looks concave from the other, she exclaimed
it is a great responsibility !" To my inquiry she explained what she
whenever we say or do something to others it leaves an impression
Does the importance of the educational effect need to be explained
can realike by herself that she is responsible for the impact her deeds
make on others ?

Another reflection; in the course of the melody the same note (e.g. the "
may adopt different roles. It can serve either as the aimn of the way upward
or a simple transient note in the downward line, or else the starting point, e
Accordingly, on the "hill-side" of life the same path may lead either upwards
or downwards, the same cliff may serve as a place for rest, a goal or a suppor
but can as well be a place of fall. It is a not negligible achievement of educatio
to help the youth acquire an attitude not to judge an event as being necessaril
good or bad but to know as well that it depends upon the individual and t
nature of experience that the given event will turn out to be a support or an
obstacle for him or her.
Proceeding to another way of expression, let's have our topic represented
visually. In this field I can give an account of a "micro-experiment" yielding
surprising results: a considerably great number of our subjects,pupils and teach
ers alike represented the thesis-antithesis-synthesis structure in the sam
way. The upward-phase (fig. 2) and the downward-phase (fig. 3) were represent-
ed by arcs, thus the thesis-antithesis by a sine-curve (fig. 4) while the synthesi
by a circle drawn around it (fig. 5) which is the symbol of the eternal cyclicity
of existence. As the majority of the pupils previously had not been aware of the
meaning of that symbol, it may well be that it is a content of an archetypical
nature dwelling in the deep sphere of the psyche.

Si LJ i S Fig. 2-5
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 E. Tusa: Art Education - or the Art of Education 103

The generalvalidity of the above scheme is confirmed by its corr

to the Universal Cyclicity Law (a scientific discovery of Professor E.
Kardoss). In one of the stripes of the cyclicity diagram there are the u
and the sound waves; when the waves reach a certain length the
turns into earthquake, and when the wavelength of the earthqua
the diameter of the Earth it does not continue in the form of a sine-curve but
instead it "goes round" as the rotation of the Earth. The transition can
continued: the rotation being considered a new base-wave and compleme
by its counter-part, a new rotation is obtained which is characterized by a d
ble diameter of the former rotation, and so forth - up to galactic order
magnitude. In this way, from a given starting-point gradually develo
wonderful system of hierarchies. This, by means of manifestation in all ord
of magnitude but phase-alternating of the same base-wave, describes the infi
but not unlimited character of the Universe. (Since it can be continued ad
infinitum to both macro- and microdimensions, never going beyond the unique
starting-point of "Origo".)

Fig. 6

The thesis-antithesis-synthesis structure can also be formulated mathe-

matically: the thesis being represented by x the antithesis (as its reciprocal
1
value) will be -Xand there is a beautiful correspondence that the relation of
1
those two makes a synthesis mathematically too: x: - -- x2 x

Among the numerous geometric analogies it is probably the Pythagoras,

theorem which is the most remarkable. Another example, brought in by a pupil
of mine, offers an opportunity of an interesting chain of thoughts (Fig. 7).
Apparently, the synthesis of the two functions makes a straight line. However,
this straight line is not a simple one: it is very sophisticated and complex,

y=sinx y=-sin x

Fig. 7

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104 E. Tusa: Art Education - or the Art of Education

since it came into being by the summation of all the opposing po

That is where its force and tension come from. And that is the b
of the strength and ethical solidity of the independent individu
from among countless possibilities the straight way.
As a possible biological analogie we mention now only the mo
one: heredity. The genes of the parents (thesis and antithesis) are un
child's genes (synthesis).
History is again a very convenient stage for the interaction an
movement of forces and counter-forces. And to express the dialectic
there is nothing more appropriate than the thesis-antithesis-synt
and the scheme on figure 6. discussed above.
Still another very important field is the movement - which in th
does not mean gymnastics, physical training, nor a stylized ballet. W
searching for, is the primeval gestures, elementary motions, m
The children easily create simple movements fitting the content of
thesis-synthesis. A more complex series of movements evolved,
enthusiastic practice of these has proved to be educationally effectiv
this exercise "picking of flowers". The course is the following: There a
blossoming along our way (the way of our life or of a piece of music),
them leaning over them delicately; 2) embracing them or binding th
bunches we enrich them by our own values; 3) this new value, im
ourselves, we don't keep to ourselves only, so, by proffering gesture
them to serve some higher, loftier purpose. Each of the three gestur
particular moral impact. 1) Reception, gathering of experiences. W
pass the "flowers" of our life, our environment without taking noti
On the other hand, it also means that the flowers, the experienc
along our way, there is no need to go to search them to far-off plac
elaboration. Those who lack self-confidence are awakened to the d
irreproducible quality of their own self and to their own responsibilit
personal tasks. (It is only you who can bind the flowers up in a bunc
particular way.) 3) The offering of the evolved value for an universa
may guide even the egoistically ambitious ones towards noble ideas.
The above analysis alone makes clear, what a powerful resourc
strength can be found behind the simplest relationships of music
On the other hand it shows that each of these tiny pieces are wonder
themselves. As such, they may serve as an ideal basis for the con
an up-to-date integrated educational system.
At several educational establishments throughout Hungary a grea
of integrated projects are being developed - a fact which underli
questionable actuality of this educational problem. These projects oft
rather spontaneous nature, and lack any central coordination. Th
come for us to evaluate the aims and results of these projects sys

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 E. Tusa: Art Education - or the Art of Education 105

and thus promote better understanding and cooperation. Th

aimed at such a survey but of course it cannot offer an overall v
The "Integrated Education and the Developing of an United Scie
View" (a project within the framework of the Main Direction titl
Devoted to the Promotion of Public Education" of the Hunga
Research Plans, sponsored by the Cultural Ministry) of which I am
leader focuses attention on integrated education experiments all o
We wish to encourage educators who feel inclined to do such wor
information about ongoing experiments. Our work is being
different levels.

For example, there are music schools where several different type
teaching strategies are being tested. Such is the music school of Kaposv
Here one of the teachers, K. Simon, experiments with the so-called "sing-a-s
games" which are Hungarian folk-songs performed with dramatization
accompanied by drawing or painting. She recognized that playing can be a go
preparation for various adult activities. She elaborated also Multiple Ch
Programs for the intellectual approach of the elements of music.
It should be mentioned that the methodology of the singing games stem
from K. Forrai, an international well-known kindergarden music special
She designed the singing-music curriculum for our kindergardens and also r
complex music playgroup activities, both based on Hungarian folk singin
games. Movement is their inherent natural component and they can be accom
panied by initiative-symbolic actions like pretend plays. (The education
situation for such an approach is especially favorable in early childhood, at a
age when the personality of young children is still naturally integrated.)
singing-games offer good opportunities for inventing variations. In each
there are rules, restrictions which set limits to free imagination (e.g. the pl
the given rhythm, the number of syllabes, etc.). It makes these situat
analogous in this respect to the conditions of the adult's creative activ
It has been proved - among others by psychological assessments of M. Ka
- that the Kodly-based integrated music education has a beneficial rol
the children's mental development. Moreover, the facilitating effects in crea
ity, concept formation and motor skills can occur before the beginning of t
school age.
Another piano teacher, M. Gallai, of the music school at Kaposvir mention-
ed before elaborated a method using the same "logic toys" (plastic geometrical
shapes used in classes of mathematics) on music classes to illustrate the struc-
ture of music. By means of demonstrating of identity, similarity or diversity she
makes children realize these structural analogies between mathematics and
music.

The same idea is represented by means of visual toys used in ma

in the work of R. Horvith at the Szombathely Teacher Training Coll

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106 E. Tusa: Art Education - or the Art of Education

A well-organized type of integrated approach is represented at th

music school led by T. Osvith. The method of education of the wh
institution is based on the principle of integration. The work here, in
F. Lantos, leader of the P6cs Visual Workshop, was initiated by
teacher M. Apagyi. Analogies have been first searched for betwe
and the visual fields. Later the experiences have been applied to m
and conceptual behaviour, like language and mathematics. The guiding
of this work is one of A. Szent-Gytirgyi's thoughts: "Nature is built
principles. Nature does not build distinct principles for a tree, a bush
or a man. All are built on a common, large basic principle -- therefor
not really matter what is the topic that we study, if we are intellige
to understand the basic principle, the structure of life". This basic st
is approached in two ways:
1) They search for similarities and common bases in the structures o
fields, that is, for identity in variety.
2) They try to show how many diverse relationships are concentr
single field - in this case in music.
The children recognize the relationships by various analyses. In this w
arrive at the smallest parts, the basic elements (in the language
tone, melody, cluster - and their visual analogies: dot, line and pat
as the constructional principles (e.g. parallels, contrasts, proportions:
try-mirror, symmetry and asymmetry in time, Golden Section) which
mented by the pupils in their creative work. In this activity improv
an essential role by facilitating the fluent of the language of music,
mnent, etc. The results of this school have been published and dem
at home and abroad at various professional meetings. The startin
these demonstrations can be a piece of music to which all the ana
being connected through some examples of nature and visual arts as w
children's drawings, movement, conceptual and musical improvisation
to this piece, referring at the same time either to contemporary or
music. I find it very important that this approach fosters the nee
and also enables the children to observe and create an order both in ar
Improvisation has an essential role also in the work of the we
jazz-specialist and ingenious music-educator, J. Gonda. He is conv
the genre of the jazz will stand the test of time only if it is organically
to the mainstream of classical music, improvisation being vitally
for both. His workshops in different parts of Hungary successfully
concept. M. Apagyi and he agree that music is a language to be sp
don't want "to educate composers" but people who can communicate m
Their demonstrations in the course of which pupils solve the same co
problem both in classical music and in jazz enjoy great popularity am
fessionals and laymen alike.

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 E. Tusa: Art Education - or the Art of Education 107

Not only musicians but also artists and educators of the visual ar
the problem of integration a vitally important one in contemporary
M. Vida-Szdkics was among the firsts who introduced the idea of uni
school system of isolated forms of aesthetic education. A practic
and a distinguished scholar of developmental psychology, she exp
proved that movement and dance can foster visual creativity and sel
through fine arts. She conducted several experiments with pre-sc
junior pupils of primary schools and published her integrated projec
search results in volumes which serve as essential manuals for kin
teachers and art educators.

Her student and follower, A. Kirpiti, an art historian and educatio

is presently working on integrated curricula of art, music and literature.
has chosen three ways of integration:
1) the linguistic one, focusing on similar structural laws, aesthetic or
principles and compositional phenomena of music, art, literature
mathematics;
2) the thematic approach, providing multisensory experiences and exercis
several forms of art, to enlighten common themes, ideas and "messages
3) the cultural-historical approach, encouraging stylistic analyses, pref
studies and an acquintance with the lifestyles of the ages, intending to
the roots of arts and sciences: masterpieces and inventions in the mirro
their age.
The three ways of integration are realized in experimental projects conduct-
ed by A. Kirpiti in several schools of Hungary, including the Zoltin Kodly
Music School of Kecskemit where a project of linguistic integration: "Language
- Music Mathematics - Art" is being carried out. (This programme is
closely connected to the work of J. Dim6ny and the F. Lantos, M. Apagyi
team.) An European Council member of UNESCO's International Society for
Education through Art (INSEA), she is presently trying to establish working
contacts with the UNESCO-body for music educators, ISME to promote the
idea of integration on an international level.
Our project wants to prove that these methods can be included also in the
didactics of the normal primary schools and so enrich the moral effect of aestetic
education there. Here is an example from the practice of a class of the prinary
school of Vili Street Budapest led by M. Winkler and A. Szeberinyi. Learning
about the characteristics of canon the children formulated following ideas:
it is the task of the beginning voice to articulate musical ideas clearly and in an
easy-to-follow way. The task of the other voices is to pay attention to each
other and in the meantime keep to their own course. Thus, the structure of
canon reflects the basic principles of social interaction (e.g. the possible
mistakes are the same in both: we communicate our message too loud, too soft,
too early or too late, etc.). Analysing this "model" children can encounter

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108 E. Tusa: Art Education - or the Art of Education

good and bad examples of the fulfilment of social rules. Principles

the course of one subject are adapted to the others. There is no rigid
of activities, subjects interrelate as in life.
The experiment conducted at the vocational secondary school at Szo
focuses on children aged 15- 19. It is generally known that appr
pupils of this school - lack aesthetic experiences. Some people th
situation is unimprovable. I myself however firmly believe that even
a long-lasting musical practice and theoretical education these y
can be made sensitive to music. My project whishes to support this c
It is a great pleasure for me to "compose" together with the chil
themselves decide about the character of the beginning and the endin
of the musical piece, the way of reaching the climax, the usage of sim
ments (xylophon, drums, triangulum) they can handle, etc.They discu
solutions and ways of interpretation. These creative activities reveal
dren's hidden phantasy and talent, their manual skills and sensitivity
We can make good use of the countless pedagogical ideas and g
closed in the books of J. Diminy. She is one of the producers of the
section of the Hungarian Radio, an important forum for integrated e
Her radio programmes actively involve young children in all sortes of
al games. Her book "Language - Music - Mathematics" (a wor
"integrated title") can be used as a teacher's manual, too. Her othe
rich collection of vivid musical games. She herself also conducts
various houses of culture.
The workshops, operated by the houses of culture, are especially suita
for integrated activities. Similar ones can be found at Budapest (I. Szatmi
G64dll6 (A. Ferenczi), Picsvirad (P. Nekim), Koml6 (M. Apagyi), Debrecen
(D. Varvasovszlki). In addition to the workshop there are also working gro
carrying out projects of integrated education. One of the groups wants
establish a relationship between music, humanities and sciences at the Second
ary Music School of Debrecen (led by T. Straky; coordinator: A. Szender
They intend to develope, according to the principles of integrated educati
a creative pedagogical atmosphere and mutual cooperation among the sta
of this school. Another group is doing a preparatory course for music sch
connecting music and movement with preschool-age children (I. Horvith).
Movement and control over the functions of the human body and its
training is a very important topic for two researchers, G. Kovics and Z
Ndgyessy, who have been elaborating solutions to kinaesthetic problems
musicians. The basis of this pedagogy is individual treatment. In my opin
it would be a beneficial change to have individual treatment during gr
training in the teaching of instruments also, instead of the traditional ex
cises, practiced individually but not designed according to the needs of t
individual.

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 E. Tusa: Art Education - or the Art of Education 109

In connection with the movement we have to mention some remarkable

projects. K. Kokas, a well-known specialist of the early-childhood music
education at the Zoltin Kodily Institute of Music Education Kecskemit dea
with an integration of music and spontaneous creative movement of youn
children. In her workshop at the Cultural Centre of Budapest her pupils impr
vise dances while listening to music. She records and analyses these impro
sations.

Similar initiatives are observable also at the music schools of Barcs,

Budafok and at Obuda where K. Domokos conducts an integrated project of
music and movement.

Elaboration of an integrated curriculum for primary schools is the res

topic of T. Deme, collaborator of the Institute for Educational Researches.
The diaporama-shows produced in the course of our research seem to g
more and more importance. The shows composed by T. Lendvai and A
meniczky are suitable both for performance and educational purposes. Exp
ences obtained so far prove some of the most apparent pedagogical eff
this new artistic genre:
it helps the young audience appreciate the previously unfamiliar for th
electronic music;
- it shows the soft changes of harmony characteristic for impressionist m
(Debussy) by means of a flow of images;
in the field of popular music it facilitates orientation and develops a cr
attitude;
- it teaches to see, hear and associate;
- it helps to reveal structural analogies and differences, and thus serv
didactic aims of integrated education;
besides its aesthetic content it is able to communicate moral values;
it units visual and auditive effect as well as a scientific imagery.
At the highest level, integrated research is being carried out at the Ge
mic Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The extremely impo
discovery of Professor Sz deczky-Kardoss, the Universal Cyclicity La
manifest in all spheres of life. It is the task of a team of top-rank scie
and myself as an artist to elaborate the various aspects of this law (in the
of geology, mathematics, astrology, meteorology, sociology, philosophy, bio
microbiology, pedagogy and music). This work enables us to organize
interdisciplinarian sessions where the same topic is discussed from v
aspects (e.g. the role of the geometrical mean in the macro- and microcosm
well as in music).
Summarizing our goals: integrated education aims at restoring the
among recognition, intuition and the spiritual elements which, having for
originally an inseparable whole, will now be reunited on a higher level
theoretical synthesis of science, art and moral.

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