Discipline-based art education.

Essay by eagle1211University, Bachelor'sB, November 2003

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DBAE: An Approach to Teaching

Discipline-based art education (DBAE) is one of the approaches to instruct and learn in art. Educators who take the DBAE approach integrate content from four disciplines to contribute to the creation, understanding, and appreciation of art. DBAE is a comprehensive approach to teaching and learning art.

Disciplined-based arts education is a conceptual framework that ensures that all students, not just gifted or talented students, are involved in rigorous study of the arts as a part of their general education (AIEA, 2001). With DBAE, students are able to study the arts by using four discipline perspectives. These four perspectives are history, production, aesthetics, and criticism. History is encountering the historical and cultural background of works of art. Production is creating or performing the art. Aesthetics are discovering the nature and philosophy of the arts. Criticism is making informed judgments about the arts. These disciplines of art provide knowledge, skill, and understanding that enable students to have a broad and rich experience with works of art (CPS, 2000).

An obvious example of comprehensive arts instruction DBAE in the classroom is one of a Social Studies teacher using the music, theatre, and visual arts of the period to teach about the Great Depression (AIEA, 2001). By using the four perspectives in DBAE, through a series of questions and activities related to the works of art, students discover the characteristics of the times, chronicles of events, and contemporary attitudes and thereby attain a broad understanding of the era. Not only do teachers incorporate painting, drawing, sculpture, and architecture into their lessons, but they also include fine, applied, craft, and folk arts (CPS, 2000).

Chamber Music America Rural Residencies Program is studying DBAE and non-DBAE teaching in Selma City School district. Quadre, the Rural Residency ensemble, is working with four...