Name: Christa Matundan

FACILITATION SHEET

Title: Chapter 1 The Professional Field: Theorizing Visual Culture in Education

Author(s): Kerry Freedman

Source/Date: Freedman, K. (2003). Teaching visual culture: Curriculum, aesthetics, and

the social life of art. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Main Idea/Purpose (2-3 sentences):

The main idea of this chapter was to first argue for the importance of art education and
how art as a whole is embedded within daily life. Freedman (2003) then goes over the
different ways art education has been taught and how its pedagogy has been dependent
upon the dominant cultural movements like the Enlightenment or postmodernism. Lastly,
Freedman discusses how visual culture should be used as an umbrella term to both
include ‘fine art’ and ‘popular arts’, to expand the range of what students learn and how
they interact with the ‘makers’ through art.

Short Overview (including any important quotes):

Freedman (2003) first discusses how art education in itself is an integral part to
our society, as art and visual culture is a part of our daily life. Freedman believes that art
is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary, and that “art education is about the objects,
meanings, purposes, and functions of the visual arts students make and see every day as
much as the art in the museums” (p. 2). To Freedman, art education impacts identity
formation, and that art functions as a way for people to have discourse and critique about
different topics (pp. 3-7).
Next, Freedman (2003) discusses how art education has been dealt with over time,
stating that it “has continually changed in response to contemporary experience” (p. 9).
From the Enlightenment where science and rationality trumped all emotion and nature
(pp. 10-11). Later on, movements such as modernism and post modernism fought for
more gender equality (p. 12). Interpreting artwork for its singular content and artist intent
has shifted to including more of the audience’s relationship and multiple interpretations
that contradict each other (p.13).
Freedman (2003) argues that by including visual culture within art education, it
crosses borders as visual culture impacts how we think; by ‘expanding the palette’ so to
speak, art educators can enrichen students’ lives with more knowledge through providing
multiple lenses as to what constitutes as art (p. 14). Freedman states that “visual culture
has become increasingly more accessible, interactive and dependent upon broad audience
viewing habits” (p. 15). Because of this, art education needs to include visual culture
since it comprises a lot of the visual arts that students are experiencing and will only help
make sense of said imagery (p. 15).
Lastly, Freedman (2003) focuses on how visual culture physically encompasses

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objects that are outside what is expected of the realm of ‘fine arts’. Outside traditional
objects like paintings or sculptures, visual culture is open to other mediums such as
fashion design, computer graphics or arts such as dance, theatre of music (p. 16). Having
narrow curriculum results in students learning what can be tested versus what they should
be learning (p. 17). In the end, Freedman believes that one of them main objectives that
need to be taught in art education is “the power of imagery and the freedoms and
responsibilities that come with that power” (p. 20). Images are visceral and can evoke an
immediate reaction from us, so it is imperative that we teach students the power of visual
culture and how it affects our lives.

Response/Critical Reflection (Include applications to future teaching):

I think that this chapter was useful in introducing Freedman’s (2003) beliefs
regarding visual culture and its importance within the inclusion of art education. As
someone who had a teacher more concept based and open to media experimentation,
there was not a lot of emphasis on the teaching of visual culture through the inclusion of
performance art, films, toys or fashion design. I agree with the fact that art is a part of our
daily lives and valuing the visual arts like those that we see every day the same as those
experienced in a museum (p. 2). I liked how Freedman connected the way in which art
was taught and the social context of which it was taught in, like the Enlightenment period
and Postmodernism, as I believe that just connects even further the relevance of art in our
society.
In terms of applications to future teaching, I think that I would definitely be more
open about including visual culture within my curriculum in order to make it more
socially relevant as well as connect with students who are taking my classes without any
plans on majoring in art so that they can at least learn how to critically look at the visual
culture they consume on the daily.

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FACILITATION SHEET

Title: Chapter 2 Finding Meaning in Aesthetics- The Interdependence of Form, Feeling

and Knowing

Author(s): Kerry Freedman

Source/Date: Freedman, K. (2003). Teaching visual culture: Curriculum, aesthetics, and

the social life of art. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Main Idea/Purpose (2-3 sentences):

The main idea for this chapter was the history of formalism and how the discipline based
art education style was pushed forward as the way to teach art to students. Freedman
(2003) in this chapter discusses postmodern versus modern aesthetics and how having a
disinterested way of looking at art removes important context to fully understanding a
piece.

Short Overview (including any important quotes):

In this chapter, Freedman (2003) goes over the history of aesthetics, and how art
has been broken down into categories such as the art and principles of design and how we
experience aesthetics (pp. 23-24). However, because times have changed, Freedman
argues that we now experience visual culture in new ways and thus have to reconsider
how much we value traditional aesthetics.
Freedman (2003) then goes over modernist aesthetics, and how this came out of
the conflict of separation of the body and soul, a concern during the Enlightenment (p.
25). Freedman defines the opposition to modernism- postmodernism, which points out
modernism’s flaws by being more open to “irrationality” in art (p. 25). Modernism
resulted in the formalist perspective, “[an] approach visual culture as a series of objects
isolated from larger social meanings” (p. 27). Formalism is about removing the social
context, looking at art for its elements and principles, as it is seen as a more disinterested
viewpoint. However, because of formalism perspective, Freedman argues that “it closed
off symbolic interpretations as a critical foundation of art education” (p. 30).
Next, Freedman (2003) discusses symbolism and argues for the inclusion of social
context when analyzing art. Freedman states, “the knowledge we construct through our
many overlapping and associative visual experiences, tell us that the aesthetic exists in
many forms and is as interested as it is sublime” (p. 32). Because art experienced by an
audience who have different past experiences, it changes how it is perceived from person
to person, making art more complex than its elements and principles. She argues that
some artists even rely on their audiences’ experiences in order to add their own meanings
by making visual cultural references (pp. 33-34).
Towards the end of the chapter, Freedman (2003) says, “It is now longer easy to

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view cultures or subcultures as totally separate because they interact on many levels and
through many media” (p. 36). This is because people such as artists borrow from each
other all the time in order elicit a certain response from the viewer as they establish and
make these connections. Freedman brings up John Dewey, a philosopher who believed
that art creates relationships between the material, process and idea, “creating a cycle of
communication resulting from making and viewing” (p. 39). Freedman then adds that
over time, art continues to have different values as it is experienced by different people at
different times (p. 40).

Response/Critical Reflection (Include applications to future teaching):

I liked this chapter because I think that what Freedman (2003) is arguing for a different
way to teach art education, specifically through visual culture. In this current age of
technology, social media and worldview, what is and is not art has been blurred to the
point of no return. I do understand the formalist perspective and have come from the field
of ‘it is important to learn the rules before you break them’. I agree that there is value in
teaching the art and principles of design because they are tools that artists deliberately use
in order to create a certain effect or achieve a goal. However, I think that including the
social context and history of whatever art you are using for your examples in the
classroom is highly important because it adds a completely new perspective and
understanding to what was happening contextually during the time period of the artist and
the artist’s life. Visual culture is more universal and open than the barriers created by the
concept of ‘fine art’ so I think that including this when discussing art in the classroom is
important so we can better relate to our students and show that we value their opinions
on what we are teaching them since art is not just a passive subject to accept, but should
be interpreted and discussed.

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FACILITATION SHEET

Title: Chapter 3 The Social Life of Art: The Importance of Connecting the Past with the
Present

Author(s): Kerry Freedman

Source/Date: Freedman, K. (2003). Teaching visual culture: Curriculum, aesthetics, and

the social life of art. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Main Idea/Purpose (2-3 sentences):

The main idea from this chapter was to discuss ways on how art history has been taught
within art classes. The chapter examines art history in the past and how authorities who
determined what is ‘good art’ exclude other social contexts and teach art in a linear time
frame. Freedman (2003) argues to see art history as ‘structures of consciousness’, and
thus seeing the cross-cultural connections that exist within art.

Short Overview (including any important quotes):

Freedman (2003) first introduces how art history has been traditionally taught in
schools, and the problems with this outdated approach. First, she states, “Art history…
generally gives little attention to larger social, political, and economic concerns that are
the contexts of artistic production” (p. 44). She argues that art history just focuses on
specific objects, and what art is studied is usually by white men in power, ignoring other
cultures and perspectives like people of color or women.
Freedman (2003) then critiques that because art history is taught under a linear
timeline, it does not take into account the sociohistorical contexts, and how other cultures
influence each other. She argues that instead, art history should be taught where “time is
represented as a multidimensional space…which various cultural groups inhabit and
influence as their ideas coexist and collide” (p. 48). By doing this, Freedman believes that
it shows how other cultures and ways of thinking interact and influence each other, rather
than limiting cross cultural relationships.
Next, Freedman (2003) discusses ‘production contexts’ and ‘viewing contexts’ (p.
51). Production contexts relate to the environment of which the artwork was made, while
viewing contexts refer to how the visual culture is seen and used (p. 51). Freedman
argues for the importance of including these contexts, as they “provide the conceptual
connections that make images and objects worthy of study” (p. 51).
Freedman (2003) concludes that, “education in visual culture must include an
opening of disciplinary boundaries if we want students to understand ways in which the
past lives in the present and future” (p. 62). Art history is not just a subject of cause and
effect, and by including multiple perspectives and exploring cultural connections, it
enrichens students’ lives and understanding of the art they are studying.

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Response/Critical Reflection (Include applications to future teaching):

As someone heavily interested in art history and wanting to teach it in the future, I
thought this chapter was extremely helpful at pointing out problematic ways that art
history has been taught in the past. Art history has been problematic from fetishizing
‘primitive’ cultures that are non-western to ignoring women’s art by delegating is as a
craft as well as how Western art is taught as the superior and only way to create art. As I
have gotten older, my teachers have pointed out how art history is usually centered
around the lives of old, dead, cisgender straight males, excluding so many other female,
LGBT and artists of color. I have never considered how art history has been taught in a
linear perspective, and I liked how she talked about how time should be broken into how
the society as a whole has been thinking and how cross-cultural interactions effect art
production. As a teacher, I have always wanted to make sure that I am teaching a diverse
curriculum, and including multiple histories within my examples, so students can see the
value of art outside aesthetics. I want to constantly bring up and talk about artists of
different backgrounds to better reflect the whole realm of art from multiple perspectives
instead of just one. By using artist examples that are varied and diverse, students who are
from these identities feel represented and valid.

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FACILITATION SHEET

Title: Chapter 4 Art and Cognition

Author(s): Kerry Freedman

Source/Date: Freedman, K. (2003). Teaching visual culture: Curriculum, aesthetics, and

the social life of art. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Main Idea/Purpose (2-3 sentences):

Freedman (2003) first discusses the cognitive relationships created when making art.
Then she mentions how psychologists theorized the developmental growth of artistic
skills within children, explaining the stage by age and expert novice theories. Although
Freedman sees some value in these theories, she argues against using them as a basis of
teaching pedagogy, instead advocating for constructivist and sociohistorical phycology
perspectives.

Short Overview (including any important quotes):

First, Freedman (2003) introduces how the Enlightenment and view of separation
of emotion and learning caused the study of the psychology of art to often be ignored due
to the difficulty of measuring data (p. 63). Freedman argues that the cognitive processing
that occurs when one views art is not just a biological response of seeing something, as
“learning takes place based on cognitive connections, including those that relate to
emotion, and more connections mean greater learning” (p. 66). When we look at visual
culture, as passive as it may seem looking at something is, images can remain with us
subconsciously and be brought up again later in life whether it be conversational or
showing up in or artwork.
Next, Freedman (2003) goes over two different popular theories of how children
develop their artistic capabilities. She describes Lowenfeld’s Stage-by-Age development
model, which was part of an early childhood study research (p. 70). According to
Freedman, this model “depended on chronological age” and describes children’s art
development as a “naturally unfolding, unchangeable process... moving toward
increasing realism” (p. 70). To Freedman, this model is only helpful in regard to early
elementary development, and only saw art development as linear, which is not always the
case. This model is generally unhelpful as it does not take into account the learning
environment that the student is in as well as the student’s personal experiences with art
outside the classroom.
The other theory that Freedman (2003) critiques is the Expert-Novice theory
which she states is, “based on steps of learning required to advance from a novice level of
knowledge to higher-order expertise” (p. 72). To Freedman, this theory looks only at
one’s individually motivated behaviors, and is focused on specifics of what is being
learned (pp. 72-73). Her critique of this theory is that this theory loses its complexity
when practiced, describing it as “a rotelike development of production skills and an
intuitive leap to a complex level of artistic expression” (p.73). For Freedman, art becomes

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more of a craft or students are expected to learn too much too fast. Art should revolve
around student ideas and serve as an outlet for personal expression as well as
communication of their ideas. By only focusing on technical aspects, we are missing out
on engaging students with learning through encouraging their ideas.
In the latter half of this chapter, Freedman (2003) heavily criticizes these
perspectives, as they do not include factors such as group dynamics, informal knowledge,
visual culture and overall teaching environment and context that the children or students
are in (pp.73-74). Freedman lists examples of how children often draw with multiple
cultural sources in mind and come into the classroom with their own preconceived ideas
of cultures (p. 75). Freedman explains how across the world, standards of drawing
development for children are not universal, as “contents and structures of children’s
drawings differ across histories and cultures, indicating that development is influenced by
time and space” (p. 76). This means that outside forces can also heavily influence what
children produce, rather than everything getting attributed to natural progression and
innate abilities. As art educators, our job is to introduce and foster students’ talents and
ideas by guiding them with our curriculum. They are not just blank slates for us to only
teach formal techniques and methods.
Freedman (2003) focuses on ideas of knowledge, learning and social context. She
believes that “learning is development” and “the mind creates knowledge in response to
the world, as it creates and recreates itself” (p. 80). This means that students are
constantly developing knowledge within social contexts, and depend on each other,
contrasting the individualized perception of earlier theories (p. 80). Humans are social
creatures, and as an art student and teacher, without having discussions with fellow peers
about our ideas, we lost out on potential avenues and possibilities by staying closed off to
only our own minds.
Freedman (2003) concludes the chapter by stating that not only should art
educators change their teaching style by including more visual culture, but to also change
the “institutional methods” within the system to include the newer theories of cognition
by recognizing the importance of the classroom as a social context to facilitate learning
(p. 85). This is important because it emphasizes our responsibility as an art educator by
telling us that our job is important and that we impact our student’s lives as much as they
impact each others.

Response/Critical Reflection (Include applications to future teaching):

When I first started reading this chapter, I thought it was interesting that from the
earlier readings Freedman (2003) kept mentioning the Enlightenment and how much of
that philosophy has shaped art education from DBAE to how art was not researched as
much psychologically due to the difficulty at measuring ‘art’. As an art educator planning
on incorporating more visual culture, I think that it is imperative to take into account
what the students know beforehand and how collaboration in the classroom has potential
to impact not only from student to student but also within the classroom as a whole. One
of the earliest ways children learn is through copying, not just from the teacher, but also
from what they have seen outside the classroom like movies, tv shows, ads or whatever

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images they come across on social media. As teachers we are in charge of keeping
control of the classroom, not just in terms of behavior or classroom management, but also
how we facilitate student ideas, how we teach our students and what we have access as
tools to make the best environment conducive to learning art. Each classroom is its own
ecosystem, and we cannot generalize all students by arbitrary things such as age or sex,
as each student has their own potential to grow and develop art.

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FACILITATION SHEET

Title: Chapter 5 Interpreting Visual Culture: Constructing Concepts for Curriculum

Author(s): Kerry Freedman

Source/Date: Freedman, K. (2003). Teaching visual culture: Curriculum, aesthetics, and

the social life of art. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Main Idea/Purpose (2-3 sentences):

In this chapter, Freedman (2003), went over how we as art educators need to expand our
view of how we analyze art and how when we look at visual culture as it influences our
decision making and perceptions. Students need to learn how to view and interpret visual
culture; otherwise they are only passive viewers of media.

Short Overview (including any important quotes):

Freedman (2003) introduces the idea that art education needs to be more inclusive
of visual culture, and how when analyzing art, it is not just the physical object and its
qualities. She states, “Curriculum must now address objects that are made, seen, and
judged in terms of an array of sociocultural positions, interactions, and institutions” (p.
87). Art educators need to reinforce the conceptual ideas behind creating artwork, not just
the formal qualities and physical characteristics that are present within the work, the
answers are elsewhere.
Then, Freedman (2003) advocates for the importance of including the social
context of when and where the artwork or visual culture that were discussed, stating,
“Contexts reveal the underlying assumptions with which visual culture is created and
seen.” (p. 88). By including cultures, sociopolitical histories and connotations, it allows
for students to have a deeper level of understanding for students to value the work.
Freedman (2003) also goes in depth about the world of advertisements, and how
images are used to influence consumers in society. She brings up the idea of
suggestiveness, stating, “Suggestiveness refers to the associative power of visual culture
to lead to emotional, cognitive responses an interactive, multileveled meanings” (p. 90).
This means that when advertisers place certain images against another, it makes the
viewer create associations that might have not been there without seeing the ad. It allows
for our brain to create connections that might have not existed, as “students continually
create personal and cultural meaning from visual culture” (p. 93). Students when taught
to think critically are constantly pulling in their personal experiences and knowledge.
One of the last points mentioned is that “students do not view images critically unless
they are specifically taught how to do so” (p. 101). By saying this, Freedman places the
responsibility on us as art educators to make sure that we are teaching our students to
think critically, so when they watch different movies, tv shows or other forms of visual
culture, they have a better awareness and understanding of the underlying messages and
are not believing everything that is being fed to them.

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Response/Critical Reflection (Include applications to future teaching):

Overall, I liked this chapter because it builds on the idea that we as teachers need
to keep including outside context and information in our lesson plans so our students can
think critically and analyze visual culture at a higher level. I liked how Freedman went in
depth specifically about advertisements, because that is one of the most common forms of
visual culture that students will encounter in their lives. I think for me personally, this is a
concept that I want all my students to walk away from with- having the ability to analyze
visual culture and think critically about the media they are consuming.

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FACILITATION SHEET

Title: Chapter 6 Curriculum as Process: Visual Culture and Democratic Education

Author(s): Kerry Freedman

Source/Date: Freedman, K. (2003). Teaching visual culture: Curriculum, aesthetics and

the social life of art. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Main Idea/Purpose (2-3 sentences):

Freedman (2003) goes in depth about the different types of curriculum theories and
approaches and how the theory of curriculum needs to consider postmodern thought
processes. She then argues for the importance of including visual culture in curriculum
and the importance of integrating multiculturalism as well.

Short Overview (including any important quotes):

In this chapter, Freedman (2003) notes the importance of postmodern theory,

explaining, “Postmodern art…[highlights] the importance of interactions between
individuals, cultural groups, forms of representation and professional disciplines” (p.
108). Instead of a discipline-based art education curriculum, art education curriculum
needs to involve more of the social atmosphere and history within the classroom.
Freedman argues that there needs to be more of an emphasis on the ideas around art, not
just the techniques, stating- “conceptual side of art—the ideas, imagination, style and so
on—can only grow when cultivated through enriching social environments” (p. 109). By
creating enriching social environments, you can then have more teaching opportunities to
discuss the conceptual side of art which involve high levels of critical thinking.
Freedman (2003) then describes different teaching curriculum styles. She
describes sequential curriculum which is about building on previous knowledge, in the
forms of linear, spiral or building block approach (p. 113). Linear adds to previous
knowledge, spiral adds knowledge while reinforcing older concepts and the building
block approach adds difficulty and amount of content to be learned (p. 113). Interactive
curriculum connects to students experiences outside of school, and contemporary issues
(p. 114). Event experiences are based on shared experiences outside of the classroom like
attending a museum, gallery, or performance (p. 114). Lastly, interdisciplinary
curriculum is about integrating art education with the other separated school subjects,
focusing on concepts and shows range (pp. 114-115). All of these styles each have a
different purpose and situation that its best fit for, and there is value in having multiple
approaches ready to use dependent upon the environment of your classroom.
To teach visual culture, Freedman (2003) argues that you need to promote
“enriching engagement in activities that reflect life experiences and provoke several

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levels of thought” (p. 118). By doing this, you are engaged with students by connecting
classroom content with their own lives. Students are constantly exposed to popular arts
and consciously or unconsciously appropriating these images through transforming them
into something else (p. 119). Freedman is taking into account that students do not come
into the classroom with nothing, but a collage of their past experiences of visual culture
that should be utilized. According to Freedman, by incorporating popular arts, students
have more awareness of the power of imagery (p. 123). This is because in art classrooms
we are also teaching students how to analyze images for hidden messages they are
sending. And by incorporating diverse visual culture throughout the lesson that is up to
date, you can promote the richness of visual culture, acceptance of disenfranchised
groups and contributions of world cultures (p. 125).
Freedman (2003) concludes the chapter by saying that by teaching a curriculum
that incorporates visual culture, we are teaching students that objects are created by a
variety of people, and that images hold power as well as providing a platform for students
to create their own visual culture. By making connections to visual culture, we are then
having students connect old and new information together which then forms new
connections and knowledge to form (p. 127).

Response/Critical Reflection (Include applications to future teaching):

I liked this chapter because it went in depth about ways of how to incorporate
visual culture in your curriculum and the different ways of going about teaching. I think a
common theme throughout this book is connecting theories to practice, specifically those
pertaining to postmodernism. I would definitely incorporate concepts of taking advantage
of different teaching styles depending upon the context of the situation. For example,
going to a museum with my students allows for unique opportunities that should be taken
advantage of since it makes learning more engaging and hands on when students see
work in person. And I enjoyed the way Freedman (2003) critiqued older curriculum
models and how they removed contexts from works that are not in the Western canon,
and allows for misrepresentation so it is important that in the future as a teacher to use
updated and culturally sensitive sources to teach proper messages about diversity in
visual culture.

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FACILITATION SHEET

Title: Chapter 7 Art.edu: Technological Images, Artifacts, and Communities

Author(s): Kerry Freedman

Source/Date: Freedman, K. (2003). Teaching visual culture: Curriculum, aesthetics and

the social life of art. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Main Idea/Purpose (2-3 sentences):

As technology advances, students of today are interreacting with new forms of

visual culture, such as video games, film and even photo manipulation. Freedman (2003)
argues that because these visual images are democratic and more available to the masses,
we as art educators need to include these medias in our classroom and teach students to
think critically about these medias and the messages they create.

Short Overview (including any important quotes):

In this chapter, Freedman (2003) discusses the evolution of technology and how it
adds to the visual culture landscape. She states that “Visual technologies easily and
quickly enable us to cross conceptual borders” (p. 128). This is because the new
technologies that she discusses such as film, tv, and videogames are complex forms of
visual cultures that can be dissected and looked at in different ways. Freedman notes
specifically how video games “problem-solving simulations, entertaining games, and
examples of computer art” (p. 131). As we process images and interact with them, it can
affect us in different ways that can affect our world views, and beliefs. Freedman argues
that art education curriculum that promotes visual culture needs to include these art forms
due to their impact on us.
Freedman (2003) goes in depth about The Blair Witch Project, an indie movie that
blew up in popularity against its small budget due to how it was marketed- with a website
that portrayed the movie as a ‘true story’. Because of the internet campaign, fake
interviews and flyers, Freedman believes that, “[The Blair Witch Project] illustrate ways
in which students can shape the media by crossing high and low tech boundaries” (p.
134). This is an example of how new visual technologies are going cross-platform and
because of this, increases accessibility and the probability of our students knowing and
seeing more visual culture and a faster rate than ever before. Freedman says, “the social
conditions of viewing are vital to the way in which visual messages are received and
understood” (p. 135). As technology is more accessible and normalized, it influences how
we take in media today and as art educators need to make sure to teach our students to
think critically and be skeptical of media to determine its validity.
Freedman (2003) although acknowledges the growth of these new technologies,

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she is still aware that not all students have access. She states, “Equity issues, such as
whether students (and which students) have access to computers, demand attention if we
are to understand student uses of technology” (p. 139). Not all schools will be equipped
with proper computers or tablets, and students might not have cell phones due to their
parent’s financial situations or if they are just not allowed. So, we need to be conscious
with how we teach visual culture with new media to ensure that our students get what
they need out of our lessons.
One of the last points that Freedman (2003) focuses on is the power of imagery
from these new forms of visual culture. For example, she brings up photoshopped
images, stating, “Manipulated images have become so common…that untouched
photographs are used to shock people into paying attention” (p. 141). Especially in
today’s context where people can use voice modulators or deep fakes (superimposing
faces onto others in video) it is easy for those without skepticism and accepting
everything as true to be manipulated in harmful ways. Even in television, Freedman says,
“that art has the power to convince, persuade, seduce, make what does fiction seem to be
fact, and make reality appear unreal” (p. 143). Through editing, adding music television
shows can create a new hyperreality that can pass off messages of how one should
behave or look like. She states, “the relationships between images, and their
interdisciplinary connections, including the sociopolitical conditions under which they
are produced and seen, are vital to understanding fine art and other forms of visual
culture” (p. 145). Popular visual culture forms are created by those in power to mass
distribute their media, passing off hidden agendas like in advertisements or messages of
what it means to be a man or woman. Contextualizing new technological forms of visual
culture within the classroom is necessary for students to not only think critically about the
media they consume but also society on a broader sense.

Response/Critical Reflection (Include applications to future teaching):

Although this text is dated, I think that the concepts behind why it is important to
analyze and include newer media such as TV shows or videogames under the umbrella of
visual culture is very relevant to today. By including these newer medias that accessible
to the average student especially during middle and high school we as teachers can not
only relate to our students better but also to teach them the importance of skepticism and
how to engage deeper with the media they are consuming constantly. As a teacher who
currently is in love with film and videogames, I definitely want to bring awareness to my
students that these are art forms in their own way and can be looked at more than face
value.

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FACILITATION SHEET

Title: Chapter 8 Contributing to Visual Culture: Student Artistic Production and

Assessment

Author(s): Kerry Freedman

Source/Date: Freedman, K. (2003). Teaching visual culture: Curriculum, aesthetics and

the social life of art. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Main Idea/Purpose (2-3 sentences):

In this chapter, Freedman (2003) discusses the various ways of assessing student
work in art education. Assessing and grading work in art education has been debated due
to its lack of quantifiable data compared to other subjects, yet Freedman argues that the
feedback given to students is more helpful due to its specificity and how it can help them
in the future. Finally, Freedman goes over critiquing in the classroom, portfolio reviews,
as well as how to facilitate group assessments and encouraging collaboration the
classroom.

Short Overview (including any important quotes):

Freedman (2003) traces back to Enlightenment and scientific values being upheld
in Western culture, which has affected our perception of art assessment due to its
subjectivity. Freedman states, “methods of assessment that art communities have long
used to promote quality are considered “anecdotal,” subjective, and illegitimate outside
the arts, while testing is considered scientific, objective, and therefore legitimate” (p.
150). She admits that judgements will always have some sort of bias due to the teacher’s
knowledge and experience but that does not mean we as art educators cannot teach that
art can have quantifiable values to it (p. 151). However, just because there can be
numerical ‘data’ on how to assess art, Freedman states that we can still teach that there
are “multiple ways of looking at art can be justified and that we need not always look for
a consensus of opinion” (p. 153).
Freedman (2003) brings up the importance of the portfolio and goes in depth
about how assessing works in art education. Portfolios are useful as they can “take into
the account the breadth and depth of student learning” (p. 153). As we have one on one
meetings with students or group critiques, students should be talking about their skills,
reasoning for choices and what they felt was successful and unsuccessful (p. 154). By
doing so, we are contextualizing the artwork and can give more in depth feedback that
will be beneficial for the student moving forward.
Next, Freedman (2003) discusses critiquing in the classroom. There are different
ways to critique, from traditional critiques where the teacher leads the discussion,
working in peer groups and having a student led discussion to having students keep

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 Name: Christa Matundan

journals to document their progress and work (p. 156). According to Freedman, critiques
are important because looking at artwork critically is considered “higher-order types of
learning to which conventional testing cannot provide cases, such as imagination, critical
thinking, and problem solving” (p. 157). Due to the subjectivity and openness to
interpretation that art is, it allows for students to find multiple answers and solutions that
can be freeing as it encourages independent thought.
Freedman (2003) goes on to talk about how to include group work and
collaboration within the classroom. The importance of group work and assessment is
relevant in art education because despite notions of individualism and independent self-
expression, at its’ extreme would cause feelings of competitiveness and ignores the
impact of group identity and context (p. 158). It is not our job as teachers to make our
students compete for something as personal as self-expression, and unlike past
approaches, it is important to consider how the classroom environment and peer
interaction affects artwork production.
Freedman (2003) discusses how to make group assessments work in the
classroom. To have group assessments and projects work, the group needs to be
interdependent, have accountability of self and others as well as promote times for
positive interaction and skills of conflict resolution and negotiation (pp. 161-162).
Students need to be put in scenarios where they can work collaborative together rather
than each doing separate parts and putting it together in order to create unity and show
students why it is important to have a group in the first place. Group work and
assessment allows for students to learn “the relationship between their knowledge and its
social value” (Freedman, p. 164). By having students work together it creates a sense of
community and also fights against the trope of the mythical, lone, genius isolated artist.

Response/Critical Reflection (Include applications to future teaching):

As a final chapter, I enjoyed how Freedman was able to give specific techniques or
methods of how to promote group work in the art classroom. I felt like she put into words
how art is perceived grade-wise compared to other subjects, as I have always heard how
art is ‘easy’ to grade due to its subjectivity, when in reality its harder because you as a
teacher need to be specific and in-depth of your analysis. As an art educator I would love
to include more collaborative projects that involve the whole class because it encourages
students who might have very individualized or conflicting ‘aesthetics’ to work together
and create ideas that they may not have had on their own.

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