在華人社會，一談到藝術教育，總能聯想到許多顯得格外高尚的詞語，陶冶性情、培養審美、美育德育…… 但在現實的教育環境中，藝術教育和藝術一樣，要麼被視為富裕階層的象徵，要麼被貶作裝飾和等閒。讓藝術教育成為孩子成長生活的一部分，我們需要拓展對於藝術教育的認知，並把它聯繫到日常生活中去。
美國的藝術教育制度似乎常常被引為典範，但在這裡的藝術教育部門工作後，我發現美國雖然制定了一整套相關的框架和指標（如紐約州的藝術學習指標Learning Standards for the Arts），但往往只具有政策引導作用，除了音樂以外，其他藝術學科並非中小幼課堂的必修課；學校必須足夠重視，或取得政府資助，才會主動開設。這使得藝術課程必須滿足更多的實際需要，比如許多華裔家庭的孩子透過藝術學習華語和華人文化，亦有移民家庭孩子以戲劇學習英語，這裡，藝術成為語言學習和文化傳承的工具。更多的情況下，藝術與其他課程以及教育目標結合，相輔相成地發展。
開始從事藝術教育行政工作後，我接觸到許多藝術教師，也了解到了更多實際的教案設計及實施。讓我印象深刻的是一次工作坊上，一位資深的舞蹈教師Angela分享了她如何通過教授非洲舞，幫助學生學習社會學。她會讓學生辨別地圖上非洲的地理位置，又會展示非洲國家的國旗，一些反映傳統生活、節慶文化的圖片……很快，學生便藉着觀察和討論發現非洲的音樂、舞蹈與其傳統生活方式之間的聯繫。在這思考的過程中，學生也自然地形成了學習的興趣，然後才開始跟着音樂學習簡單的舞步，並創作個人和小組的舞蹈，進行相互評點。
Angela的舞蹈教學在引導學生聯繫生活、進行獨立思考和創造方面令人印象難忘。她在一所公立小學任教多年，深受學生和老師的喜愛，每個班的學生都會上她的舞蹈課。那天上完她的工作坊，我和其他參與的藝術教師也感到樂在其中，受益匪淺。為甚麼她的舞蹈課程能在全校開展？為甚麼一個小學的舞蹈課能讓成人也受益？因為老師在課堂上不是單向地傳授知識，而是引導學生去發現和創造；透過分享和討論，同儕間相互學習，甚至老師也不時會從學生的想法中獲得啟發。被帶進教室的不僅是藝術的形式和內容，還有它聯繫的生活、文化、社會和歷史。我想如果小孩從小就能接受這樣的藝術教育，他／她們的獨立思維、創造性、對藝術的看法、對周遭世界的想法，也自然會變得很不一樣吧。
在華語地區，美術課、書法課、音樂課等等似乎早已成為學校慣常開設的課程，但大多數的課堂上，我們被要求去記憶和模仿，不加批評地接受書本上的內容；我們很少透過藝術來思考，借藝術來表達。華人學生在海外學習過程中，常常顯得缺乏獨立思考的能力；那其實是因為從小到大，我們的教育環境沒有鼓勵我們作出這樣的思考，更不要說去作出美學上的獨立判斷和創造。
這麼說來，好像已經不僅是在討論藝術教育的問題了，而是整體的教育模式。不過「填鴨式」教育的問題也早已是老生常談了，要鼓勵學生多作思考和創造，也許正適合從藝術教育着手。
紐約州藝術學習指標：www.nysed.gov/curriculum-instruction/arts-standards-implementation-resources
原載於 C2文創誌 第三十一期
In Chinese societies, when talking about art education, one instantly think of things like extraordinary nobility, moulding temperaments, cultivating aesthetics, and moral education. Like art itself, in reality, art education is either regarded as a symbol of the wealthy class or just decoration and nonentity. In order to make art education a part of children’s life, it is necessary for us to raise our awareness of art education and relate it to our everyday life.
The art education system in the United States is always considered as a good model. But after working at the art education department, I found that even though they do have a framework and a set of indicators (such as the New York State Learning Standards for the Arts) for art education in the U.S., they only provide guidance. Except for music, other art subjects are not cored courses. Only schools that really value art education or have received funding from the government will provide art courses for students. That said, art education needs to meet many practical demands. For instance, lots of Chinese children learn Chinese language and culture through studying art. Some children from immigrating families learn English by studying drama. In such instances, art has become the tool for language and culture studies and a gateway to learning cultures. In most cases, art and other courses, along with the goal of education, supplement one another and develop comprehensively.
Since working in the field of art education, I have been in touch with many art teachers and got to know more about practical course designs and the teaching methods. I was impressed once at a workshop when an experienced dancing teacher Angela shared how she helped students study sociology through learning African dance. By asking students to locate different regions in Africa and showing some graphics of the flags of African countries and showing the lifestyle and traditional festivals, students are then able to observe and discuss the correlation among music, dancing and traditional culture in Africa. Through this process of contemplation, students spontaneously developed an interest in learning. They started to learn simple dance moves afterwards and even produced their own choreography with peer reviews.
Angela’s teaching method encourages students to relate knowledge they learn in class to daily life, to think independently, and to improve creativity. She has been teaching in a primary school for years. Respected and loved by both the students and teachers, Angela’s class is very popular in school and every student will take her class. Other art teachers and I found the experience in Angela’s class absolutely delightful and we benefited a lot from it. The question to ask here is that why her course is so successful in that school and why a dancing course designed for primary school students can also benefit adults. I think the possible answer is that she not only teaches knowledge but also encourages students to explore and create more; through sharing and discussions, mutual learning among peers, students can even inspire the teacher from time to time. Besides the forms and contents of art are taught in class, other components of art related to our daily lives, culture, society and history are also given room for discussions. If our children can receive art education in this way, their ability to think independently, their creativity and appreciation for art, and their capacity of interpreting the world would be different.
In Chinese-speaking regions, fine arts lesson, calligraphy lesson and music lesson are commonly offered by schools, while most of the time, we are required to memorise the knowledge and imitate without reflecting on the content critically. We rarely contemplate and express ourselves with the help of art. It is true that when Chinese students are studying overseas, they tend to be insufficient in independent thinking since our education system does not train us such skill, not to mention making a judgment and presenting creativity when it comes to aesthetics.
It seems that we have gone beyond the discussion of art education by re-evaluating the education system. Since the problem of “spoon-feeding” is full of banality, in order to encourage students to think independently and to be innovative, promoting art education could be a good starter.
New York State Learning Standards for the Arts: www.nysed.gov/curriculum-instruction/arts-standards-implementation-resources
Source: C2 Issue 31