Creative Arts A Process Approach for Teachers and Children

The creative arts are our universal language, the language of our imagination, of musicians and dancers, painters and sculptors, storytellers and poets. They are the rhythmic language of the dancing five-year-old using her body to re-create the graceful movements of a swimming dolphin. The creative arts are the silent language of the first grader who uses his imagination to go places he has never been, those faraway places that bring adventures beyond his daily routine. The language of the arts is revealed through the painters and sculptors who choose not to be restrained by convention as they represent their understanding of color, shape, and form in ways that are personally satisfying and pleasing. The creative arts are the language of children adding original dialogue and new ideas to a story line during the enactment of a familiar story. The creative arts are one of the most revealing of all human activities. They are the ways we communicate the very essence of our aesthetic experiences--our powerful, essential, and lasting ways of bringing beauty into our world. The arts are never dry, boring, or mundane. They provide a pathway for people of all ages to reach into new unfoldings and understandings of themselves. Imagery, music and movement, the visual arts, creative drama, sculpture, and literature broaden and enrich our lives by enabling each person, whether six or seventy-six years old; to express feelings and ideas in a multitude of ways and through many different forms and modes of expression. In writing the second edition of this text more than four years ago, I sought to convey the importance of the process of creativity in the arts and to broaden our understanding of how teachers acquire knowledge and skills when actively engaged in the creative arts process. I also emphasized that it is the human being, not the art activity, that should be at the center of the experience. My objective remains unchanged. This new edition presents a comprehensive and up-to-date survey of professional research, while continuing to provide links between theory and practice. The approach is one of nudging teachers to attend to the importance of research and contemporary thought regarding the arts. At the same time, the narrative frames complex theoretical ideas in ways that are meaningful and significant to the adult who has chosen teaching as a profession. Throughout the book I use the wordteacherto describe the adult who is charged with the care and well-being of children. When I refer to teachers, I am including the preservice college student enrolled in a teacher education program, the student teacher embarking on a teaching career, practicing teachers, master teachers, college professors, and other professionals who are dedicated to enriching the lives of children. The teacher is essential in helping children find venues for creative expression and growth, and once teachers tap into their own creativity, they are better equipped to assist children with creative expression that is appropriate to their own developmental potentials. What this edition does, then, is move the teacher away from a reliance on prescribed activities and an endless array of uniform products toward a more secure sense of everyone's ability to engage in the creative process--regardless of product. And how do we accomplish this? The overall framework through which this information is presented follows the continuum of the affective domain--a developmental framework that moves you along on your journey to becoming a teacher or to becoming a more enlightened and articulate, experienced teacher. As you move through the chapters, and the continuum, you will progress from the basic, first levels of affective development to the highest. Your awareness of your growth through these levels will heighten your sense of your own creative abilities and those of your students. The organization and structuEdwards, Linda Carol is the author of 'Creative Arts A Process Approach for Teachers and Children', published 2001 under ISBN 9780130908964 and ISBN 0130908967.