The Teaching of Art Related to the Home Part 10

In this particular case, since the cla.s.s was small and the trip included only window shopping, some discussion was carried on in the group as they stood outside of the display windows.

At a little later time the same cla.s.s was taken to the stores on a shopping trip. Each pupil was asked to select material for two dresses for one of her cla.s.smates, one to be for a washable school dress and the other for a "dress-up" dress. The materials were to be selected from the standpoint of color and design for the individual and of suitability for the type of dress. The procedure set up by the cla.s.s previous to the trip was to work quietly and independently at the store and to refrain from saying why they did or did not like various things they saw there. When each girl had made her selections she was to ask the clerk for small samples and to be sure that the rest of the cla.s.s saw the large pieces from which she had made her selections. During the next cla.s.s period each girl exhibited her samples and justified the choices she had made. The girl for whom the selections had been made was given an opportunity to express her opinion, and the remainder of the group were encouraged to comment upon the proposed materials.

When these pupils later had the problem of selecting materials for the new spring dresses they had decided to make in cla.s.s, there were many evidences that the experience gained on the trips to the stores had been of real value to them.

In the study of accessories for the spring dress this cla.s.s had another window-shopping trip which followed a lesson on the selection of shoes.

The purpose of this trip was to see what effect tr.i.m.m.i.n.g lines had upon the apparent width and length of the shoes and to choose from those displayed in the windows the style of shoe that would be most suitable for some member of their cla.s.s to wear with a dress she had made or purchased.

Field trips that have a definite purpose and are well planned and arranged for in advance can make valuable contributions to the cla.s.sroom training in art. If a cla.s.s is to be taken on a trip to a store, to visit a home in the community, or to an industrial plant it is only courteous and an evidence of good management for the teacher to obtain permission and make necessary arrangements with the merchant, the homemaker, or the manager far enough in advance to avoid conflict in time and to plan in accordance with their most convenient time for visitors.

MEASURING RESULTS

How can the degree to which art training is functioning in the lives of the girls and women be determined? It is fully as important for the teacher to evaluate results of her teaching as to plan for it carefully. This has been commonly recognized as a definite part of teaching, but the procedure has been largely limited to the giving of written tests. Such tests have usually been of the type that measure factual information and have probably failed to indicate the degree to which the student's life has been improved by her use of the art information.

Tests which are thought provoking and the solving of school problems are both valuable measures, but they are not sufficient in themselves for testing art. They fail to reveal whether or not the girl is making voluntary and satisfactory art applications or appreciating beauty to any greater extent in her everyday life. Whitford[25] refers to outcomes as follows:

Two significant and fundamental outcomes of art education are revealed by an a.n.a.lysis of the relation of this subject to the social and occupational life of the pupil. These are, first, ability to recognize and appreciate art quality and to apply this ability to the needs of everyday life; and, secondly, ability to produce art quality even though in a relatively elementary form.

When art has been effectively taught there are many tangible evidences of its functioning in the personal and home life of the girl. What are some of these tangible evidences that indicate successful art training?

The outstanding ones may be found in the girl's appearance at school and in the choice and arrangement of furnis.h.i.+ngs in her room and home.

=Evidences of the Successful Functioning of Art in the Cla.s.sroom=

Improved personal appearance of pupils may manifest itself in their selection of ensembles from garments already possessed or from newly selected garments from the standpoint of--

1. Color combinations.

2. Texture combinations.

3. Appropriateness of clothing for school.

4. Appropriateness of style of garments to the girl.

5. Appropriateness of accessories.

The story of freckled-faced Mary well ill.u.s.trates how art did function in one girl's life. She was an unmistakably plain high-school girl.

Her hair was red, her face freckled, and her nose decidedly retrousse.

Her clothes of gaudy colors never fitted and always seemed to emphasize her personal deficiencies. But one day a new teacher came to the school, whose business it was to teach home economics, and into her hands Mary, mercifully, came. A few months later the State supervisor of home economics, a close observer, visited the school, and her attention was soon drawn to Mary, not as the worst-looking girl in the school but as one of the best-looking girls in the school. Soft, becoming colors, good lines, and a suitable style of garments had brought out the best tints in her red hair, softened the freckles, and transformed a plain girl into an attractive one. All of this had been accomplished as an indirect objective of the teacher in her related art instruction in home economics. Mary had unconsciously learned that beauty is, after all, a relative term in regard to individual objects and that it is the setting that gives grace and charm.

Unless the teacher is on the alert some interesting evidences of successful teaching may go unnoticed. Some of the changes in the pupil's appearance come about gradually and without audible comment.

Such was the case in one cla.s.s. Most of the year Betty had been wearing an old 1-piece wool dress. During the winter she had worn a belt of the dress material at a low waistline, so that the belt covered the line at which the pleats were st.i.tched to the dress. Early in the spring, and, as it happened, near the beginning of the art unit, Betty evidently became much interested in the styles that advocated a return of the normal waistlines and succ.u.mbed to the appeal of the new leather belts in the store window. For several days she proudly wore a wide leather belt fairly tight and high, with this straight flannel dress, all unconscious of the fullness bunching above the belt, the poor proportions of the dress, and the poorly finished seam where the pleats were joined to the dress. After some time had been spent on the art unit in which no direct reference had been made to Betty's belt, the teacher was very much pleased one morning to notice that Betty had taken in the side seams of her dress to remove some of the fullness and was wearing the leather belt a little more loosely and somewhat lower, so that the s.p.a.ce divisions of the dress were more pleasing. Is there a better evidence of successful art training than that which shows that the pupil is able to adapt in an attractive way the garments of her present wardrobe so that they measure up to the individual's desire to be up to date?

A Kansas teacher reports that she overhears comments among girls before and after school which reveal evidences that art is influencing tastes.

Here are some examples of these comments:

That color is too bright for her.

That particular green dress makes her skin look yellow.

Those beads harmonize beautifully with that dress.

She is one girl who should not wear her belt high. It makes her look so short and dumpy.

I have given my sister my colored scarf, which I now realize clashed with everything I had, but fits in with her things.

Better pupil contributions to cla.s.s work const.i.tute another evidence of the effectiveness of art instruction. These manifest themselves in--

1. Voluntary reports and comments of observations and experiences.

2. The bringing in of ill.u.s.trative material for cla.s.s and bulletin board use.

3. The asking of relevant questions.

Some of these may be evidenced outside the regular cla.s.s period. This was true in the case of Joan, a high-school freshman in an art cla.s.s, who had been rather unwilling at times to accept the art standards set up by the rest of the cla.s.s. Her argument was, "What difference does it make? Why can't everyone select just the things she likes?" Very little attention was definitely directed to her for she would sulk if pressed for a reason to justify her statement that everyone should choose as she liked.

One Monday morning the teacher, upon her arrival at school, found Joan waiting in the cla.s.sroom to tell her of the shopping trip she had had with her mother on Sat.u.r.day. Joan had selected a red silk dress which she and her mother had both liked. After going home Joan had begun to wonder if the dress would look all right with her last year's coat and hat and wanted to know what kind of hose would be best to wear with the dress. This teacher could well feel that her art teaching was developing in Joan a real interest in art.

a.s.sumption of greater responsibility by the pupils for more attractive arrangements at school contribute another evidence of the effectiveness of art instruction. This may manifest itself in the arrangement of--

1. Articles on tables, buffets, or bookcases.

2. Flowers in suitable bowls.

3. Books and magazines.

4. Exhibit cabinets.

5. Stage settings for cla.s.s plays.

Still another criterium of the effectiveness of art instruction is the spread of interest in the work from home economics pupils to others in the school.

A teacher of related art in Missouri says:

One of the most striking and pleasing evidences of art's carrying over is the fact that so many girls outside of the home-economics department come in and ask questions regarding some of our pupils'

clothing or ask to see the art work done here. The seniors in the teacher-training department are especially interested, as they expect to teach art in the rural schools and have had practically no work in it.

=Evidences of the Successful Functioning of Art in the Home=

One of the most gratifying results of art teaching is the influence it creates in improving the homes of the community. This may be seen through--

1. More attractive arrangements and rearrangements of furniture, rugs, pictures, and accessories.

2. Elimination of unnecessary bric-a-brac.

3. More suitable use of color.

4. More appropriate choice of textiles and texture combinations.

5. Improved selection and care of shrubbery, hedges, and flower beds. Removal of unnatural or grotesque shapes.

6. Improvements in walks, trellises, fences, and gates to make them more suitable for house and grounds.

A teacher in a vocational school in North Dakota reports as follows: