Personal Philosophy
Most people consider The Arts domain to only be about beautiful paintings, a visit to the museum or about what a child constructed with left over recycled boxes at Kinder. The Arts are in fact, a multi-faceted domain and part of people’s daily lives, even if it is not recognised.
Art is described by Koster (2004, p. 6) as a child’s first language. It is used to deliver concepts and learning via everyday exposures such as picture story books. Art is the masterpiece or symbolic representation, it is the result of exploration when materials are used to relay and represent thoughts, expressions, ideas and to make sense of the surrounding world (2004, p.6).
Art is full of history and culture, like cave art, which can date back to 28,000 years ago (Metanexus, 2011) or Egyptian art dating back to 8000 B.C. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2014). This history and culture is part of and relevant to who children are in today’s world. Art is a vital part of children's learning and development.
Visual and Media Art is important to children’s learning and development and can be either a stand-alone subject or interwoven across all domains of learning. Similar to the struggle educators have in teaching parents about the importance of play, educators also struggle and need to educate and shift the perception, proving that The Arts are more than just simple box construction, more than the same Easter rabbit template that children make and send home to every house during Easter (Teach Preschool, 2014). Educators need to show families and children the wonders of The Arts, teach and encourage them to appreciate and learn about the many facets, contexts, roles, nature and functions including the vital role of Visual and Media Arts in every child’s underlying educational foundations.
Throughout this website you can navigate to discover the many reasons as to why Visual, Media Arts and The Arts in general, should be included in every child’s early years learning foundations. Furthermore, you will find insight into the role and the way in which educators need to use Visual and Media Arts as an integral and necessary medium within the curriculum to nurture and enhance children’s aesthetic, sensory, perceptual and expressive development.
What is Art
The Arts are defined by the Oxford dictionary as an ‘expression or application of human creative skill and imagination’ (2014). Art takes the form of music, dance, theatre or drama, visual art and media art. Visual and Media Arts can be found everywhere from the design on the coffee cup you sip from first thing in the morning, to the creation and contours shaping the car you may drive. As you can see, representation of art in its various forms are represented everywhere.
Anderson explains how ‘art has had very specific functions beyond being decorative or beautiful’ (2003, p. 59). He elaborates further claiming its primary functions as being to tell a story and provide insight into history and culture whilst acting as a type or form of communication. Art is a vehicle for delivering and expressing ones thoughts, passions, just like this website, a form of Visual and Media Art, used to portray the creator’s personal appreciation and philosophy regarding Visual and Media Art in early childhood education.
In early childhood education Visual and Media Art allow children to explore, represent, construct meaning and understand, respond, communicate, experience and learn about society, culture, themselves and the world in which they live in (Grenfell, 2014a). Visual and Media Art is an essential tool for children's learning and development.
Most people consider The Arts domain to only be about beautiful paintings, a visit to the museum or about what a child constructed with left over recycled boxes at Kinder. The Arts are in fact, a multi-faceted domain and part of people’s daily lives, even if it is not recognised.
Art is described by Koster (2004, p. 6) as a child’s first language. It is used to deliver concepts and learning via everyday exposures such as picture story books. Art is the masterpiece or symbolic representation, it is the result of exploration when materials are used to relay and represent thoughts, expressions, ideas and to make sense of the surrounding world (2004, p.6).
Art is full of history and culture, like cave art, which can date back to 28,000 years ago (Metanexus, 2011) or Egyptian art dating back to 8000 B.C. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2014). This history and culture is part of and relevant to who children are in today’s world. Art is a vital part of children's learning and development.
Visual and Media Art is important to children’s learning and development and can be either a stand-alone subject or interwoven across all domains of learning. Similar to the struggle educators have in teaching parents about the importance of play, educators also struggle and need to educate and shift the perception, proving that The Arts are more than just simple box construction, more than the same Easter rabbit template that children make and send home to every house during Easter (Teach Preschool, 2014). Educators need to show families and children the wonders of The Arts, teach and encourage them to appreciate and learn about the many facets, contexts, roles, nature and functions including the vital role of Visual and Media Arts in every child’s underlying educational foundations.
Throughout this website you can navigate to discover the many reasons as to why Visual, Media Arts and The Arts in general, should be included in every child’s early years learning foundations. Furthermore, you will find insight into the role and the way in which educators need to use Visual and Media Arts as an integral and necessary medium within the curriculum to nurture and enhance children’s aesthetic, sensory, perceptual and expressive development.
What is Art
The Arts are defined by the Oxford dictionary as an ‘expression or application of human creative skill and imagination’ (2014). Art takes the form of music, dance, theatre or drama, visual art and media art. Visual and Media Arts can be found everywhere from the design on the coffee cup you sip from first thing in the morning, to the creation and contours shaping the car you may drive. As you can see, representation of art in its various forms are represented everywhere.
Anderson explains how ‘art has had very specific functions beyond being decorative or beautiful’ (2003, p. 59). He elaborates further claiming its primary functions as being to tell a story and provide insight into history and culture whilst acting as a type or form of communication. Art is a vehicle for delivering and expressing ones thoughts, passions, just like this website, a form of Visual and Media Art, used to portray the creator’s personal appreciation and philosophy regarding Visual and Media Art in early childhood education.
In early childhood education Visual and Media Art allow children to explore, represent, construct meaning and understand, respond, communicate, experience and learn about society, culture, themselves and the world in which they live in (Grenfell, 2014a). Visual and Media Art is an essential tool for children's learning and development.