Art Criticism - The State University of New York
Art Criticism - The State University of New York Art Criticism - The State University of New York
student-as-Other "calls" us to teach well; as a teacher one is always already obligated by the future well-being of his or her students. Not only is the good of teaching a flexible end, but the Good itself is heterogenous. For in teaching in the classroom, one is not only obligated to the students, but also to many people not immediately present: administrators (to uphold the University's reputation); departmental colleagues (coverage of topics requisite for subsequent courses in the Art major); colleagues in art history (respecting the current state of scholarship); family (keeping the job to bring home a paycheck); and so on. The practice of teaching is always interwoven into other practices, be they administrative, collegial, professional, or familial. 17 So, for example, when giving a midterm examination, a teacher is obliged by students' rights to learn, but also by administrative imperatives for proper grading, collegial pleas for skill development, and more. How one structures the examination is a "response" to these heterogenous demands.ls I hl!-ve been speaking of the practice of teaching, but there is also the practice of being a student. Although teacher and student practices require each other, there are facets of being a student that exceed what might count for a teacher as properly educational. A good example is the growing obsession with getting good grades, whether this is to please Mom and Dad, impress a girlfriend, or enhance the chance of obtaining a high paying job. There is noticeable tension between the overlapping horizons of teacher and student, where the good of teaching to educate students is incommensurable with the good of being a student as this is increasingly dominated by the pressures of economic security. Rather than denigrating how students are now oriented, we need to except these circumstances and invent new ways of teaching well. My own experience is that as long as grades loom large on the horizon, students will orient themselves towards academic "success." I have therefore attempted to downplay grades, creating seminars that are AI F (a pa
So far I have noted that our current classroom formats prohibit the modeling of community. I have also indicated that the activity of teaching involves a heterogeneity of obligations, most of which are non-educational. Now, even if we are successful at inventing classroom formats that foreground educational imperatives, the establishment of community is not without its difficulties. And this has to do with a certain tension between the regulative ideal of equal power among all participants in lieu of the obligation to speak the truth of art. As discussed above, students cannot and do not readily become autonomous thinkers and doers when they are performing within a predominantly authoritarian situation. Passive learning is ineffective in nurturing ways of thinking and seeing that are conductive to becoming a "good citizen." Classroom dynamics need to de-emphasize the teacher's institutional authority as expert, and in its place sustain an atmosphere of rational dialogue and exchange where the students among themselves become active constructors of the course work. This approach empowers students, respects cultural; racial, and gender differences, and develops a sense of good will. It opens the way towards establishing community in the classroom. But the necessary rationale of the art history survey is to speak the truth of art. And in this regard the teacher's greater experience with art-historical matters is simply requisite for guiding discussion and modeling learning. Striving to establish a classroom community must de-emphasize the teacher as authority, yet the pursuit of truth can lead one to exercise that institutional role. These two trajectories are in a constant state of tension. Nor is some final resolution possible; we instead must constantly devise ad hoc strategies to negotiate these poles. 19 We must intuit when it is proper to interject key information, redirect the flow of a conversation, correct blatant falsehoods, or (what we academic find hardest of all) just keep our mouths shut Towards the Classroom Community To begin incorporating these educational ideals into classroom practice, we need to delimit lecturing; its purpose should be restricted to modeling art-historical skills and offering pertinent information not found in reading assignments. The vast majority of class time is to involve active student participation. Depending on the number of students in the course this can take a variety of forms. For the 25 or so students in my classes, I initially use the Socratic method for exercising the rudiments of visual explication (having them read beforehand Meyer Schapiro's landmark essay "On Some Problems in the Semiotics of Visual Art").20 During the first two or three class meetings, we explore the differences among: (1) analytic descriptions of an artwork; (2) synvol. 17, no. 1 109
- Page 60 and 61: suggestion to the artist and the po
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student-as-Other "calls" us to teach well; as a teacher one is always already<br />
obligated by the future well-being <strong>of</strong> his or her students.<br />
Not only is the good <strong>of</strong> teaching a flexible end, but the Good itself is<br />
heterogenous. For in teaching in the classroom, one is not only obligated to<br />
the students, but also to many people not immediately present: administrators<br />
(to uphold the <strong>University</strong>'s reputation); departmental colleagues (coverage <strong>of</strong><br />
topics requisite for subsequent courses in the <strong>Art</strong> major); colleagues in art<br />
history (respecting the current state <strong>of</strong> scholarship); family (keeping the job to<br />
bring home a paycheck); and so on. <strong>The</strong> practice <strong>of</strong> teaching is always interwoven<br />
into other practices, be they administrative, collegial, pr<strong>of</strong>essional, or<br />
familial. 17 So, for example, when giving a midterm examination, a teacher is<br />
obliged by students' rights to learn, but also by administrative imperatives for<br />
proper grading, collegial pleas for skill development, and more. How one<br />
structures the examination is a "response" to these heterogenous demands.ls<br />
I hl!-ve been speaking <strong>of</strong> the practice <strong>of</strong> teaching, but there is also the<br />
practice <strong>of</strong> being a student. Although teacher and student practices require<br />
each other, there are facets <strong>of</strong> being a student that exceed what might count for<br />
a teacher as properly educational. A good example is the growing obsession<br />
with getting good grades, whether this is to please Mom and Dad, impress a<br />
girlfriend, or enhance the chance <strong>of</strong> obtaining a high paying job. <strong>The</strong>re is<br />
noticeable tension between the overlapping horizons <strong>of</strong> teacher and student,<br />
where the good <strong>of</strong> teaching to educate students is incommensurable with the<br />
good <strong>of</strong> being a student as this is increasingly dominated by the pressures <strong>of</strong><br />
economic security. Rather than denigrating how students are now oriented,<br />
we need to except these circumstances and invent new ways <strong>of</strong> teaching well.<br />
My own experience is that as long as grades loom large on the horizon,<br />
students will orient themselves towards academic "success." I have<br />
therefore attempted to downplay grades, creating seminars that are AI F (a<br />
pa
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