Aesthetic education is aesthetic education, emotional education and spiritual education, which is conducive to cultivating innovative consciousness and noble sentiments. Some countries have fully tapped aesthetic education resources, and families, schools and society have made concerted efforts to accumulate beneficial experience in promoting the development of aesthetic education.
France–
Aesthetic concepts run through school education
In museums large and small in France, children are often seen sitting around in front of paintings or sculptures and listening to teachers. Usually, school teachers will use Wednesday afternoons without courses to go to museums and art galleries with students to perceive and explore the beauty of art.
Aesthetic education is one of the basic contents of French national education. The school not only offers a variety of systematic aesthetic courses, but also strongly supports all walks of life to ensure that young people have equal access to high-quality cultural and artistic education.
As a major cultural and artistic country, France has a profound tradition of aesthetic education. In 1880, then Minister of Education, Ru Feili, included painting, music, etc. in the basic education curriculum, in order to achieve the goal of “making students exposed to beauty”. After a century of development, French aesthetic education has been further institutionalized and diversified. In 1988, the Art Teaching Law was adopted, which reaffirmed the necessity and importance of art education at the legal level.
Entering the new century, French primary schools, middle schools and vocational high schools have set up “art and cultural project courses” to stimulate students’ artistic creativity and create a good campus artistic atmosphere through group cooperation, field visits, work presentation and other means. In 2005, France established the Higher Committee for Arts and Cultural Education to supervise the development of cultural and artistic education in schools and ensure the quality of aesthetic education. Since 2008, French primary schools have included art history in the compulsory curriculum, emphasizing open cross-disciplinary learning through artistic works. The French Ministry of Education believes that ensuring that all children can receive aesthetic education at the compulsory education stage is not only conducive to the young generation to understand art, feel beauty, cultivate their imagination and creativity, but also to promote cultural inheritance and dissemination.
Aesthetic education is a compulsory course in primary and junior high schools, and senior high school will offer a variety of elective courses according to the specific situation. For example, music teaching continues from kindergarten to secondary school, and increases the cognitive ability of teenagers to work works through choirs, orchestral training, etc. At the kindergarten and primary school levels, there are at least three hours of art education courses a week; in the junior high school level, students can get one hour of professional art training a week; in the senior high school level, students can take art courses according to their personal interests, and artistic achievements and literacy are also part of the high school graduation examination.
A large number of cultural and artistic institutions, including museums, art centers, theaters, etc., maintain long-term cooperative relations with the school and actively participate in the school’s art education. Artists enter the classroom, organize students to visit on the spot, experience artistic works, and cooperate with art institutions, so that teenagers have the opportunity to directly contact artists and rich artistic resources.
Young people under the age of 18 can visit public museums and national historical sites free of charge. Most of the artistic resources of the French National Library Center and Documentation Center are open to teachers and students in primary and secondary schools free of charge. Many museums such as the Louvre and the Pompidou Art Center have also opened youth art zones to provide students with more choices for extracurricular art education.
Frank is a student of film art at the University of Paris VIII. He told reporters that aesthetic education in France focuses on aesthetic enlightenment and cultivates aesthetic consciousness, rather than placing too much emphasis on learning professional skills.” I still remember the scene of the teacher taking us to the Louvre to enjoy the painting in junior high school. We sat on the floor and listened to the teacher’s stories about the characters and stories. After that, the teacher would ask us to discuss the art of the work. It was also in the process that I gradually found my interest in art and determined my professional direction in high school.” Frank said.
In Frank’s view, aesthetic education runs through the whole process of school education, which has formed a good atmosphere for France to respect art and creation, thus promoting the strong support of art education from all walks of life.” Aesthetic education from an early age can enhance people’s feelings, imagination and creativity, enrich and enrich people’s spiritual world, which will be a lifelong wealth. He said.
Russia-
Systematic improvement of music education model
The Frill Children’s Music School named after Soviet pianist Yakov Frier is small and “hidden” in an old residential building in the northwest region of Moscow. The first basement is the parent lounge and teacher’s office, and the upper basement is the music classroom and music hall. The school space is not big, and from time to time there are bursts of piano, which makes people relaxed and happy.
This children’s music school is the starting point for many children nearby to receive musical enlightenment.” After school in ordinary schools, the children come to us every afternoon to learn music, including instrumental performance, music theory knowledge and chorus. Absalamova, director of the string department of Frill Children’s Music School, told reporters that children entering music schools are usually zero-based. After several years of study, the best of them will enter professional music colleges, using music as a lifelong career; but the majority of students study here mainly to be inspired by music. Make music a hobby in life.
According to the introduction, more than 3,500 students have graduated from this music school for decades, and about one-ten graduates specialize in music, and most of the children have developed musical understanding and appreciation here.” When children first learn the piano, they must play skills and cultivate their sense of rhythm from an early age. Of course, the most important thing is to let them feel the beauty of music and fall in love with it. This will benefit them all their lives.” Abu Salamova said.
Russia’s thick-rooted music education, from early childhood education to higher education, improves the systematic music education model and is well-known in the world. Children’s music schools all over the country are an important part of Russian music education. In Moscow alone, there are 150 children’s art schools, including music schools, with more than 90,000 students. Most of these children’s art schools have a long history and have experienced teachers. Many of them are funded by the government, reflecting the public welfare of art education. For example, Frill Children’s Music School has been established for 70 years, and Absaramova has more than 30 years of violin teaching experience. Compared with private educational institutions, tuition fees here are quite low, affordable for ordinary families, and the top students in the entrance examination will also have free learning opportunities.
Moscow City Normal University surveyed 105 people with children’s music school experience. The study said that more than half of the respondents believed that learning music affected their career choices. Respondents said that although they are engaged in non-musical professions such as doctors, pilots, programmers, etc., their life trajectory is deeply influenced by music. They cultivate excellent qualities such as hard work, self-discipline, patience and diligence in music learning. Abu Salamova said that since many of the music he studied was written by Russian musicians, students deepened their understanding of Russian history and culture.
Now the Frill Children’s Music School has been renovated and has opened jazz piano, electric guitar, saxophone and other pop music majors to meet the needs of society. This is related to Russia’s efforts to improve the conditions of children’s art schools in recent years. Elmakova, director of the Science and Education Department of the Russian Ministry of Culture, said that 1,800 children’s art schools are being renovated and renovated, while multiple musical instruments will be purchased according to local needs. The Russian government plans to invest more than 3 billion roubles (1 yuan or 11.76 roubles) this year to upgrade children’s art schools, which will continue until 2024.
Not long ago, the Russian government also passed a federal law regulating the activities of children’s art schools. The law not only subdivides these schools into types such as “children’s music schools” and “children’s choral schools”, but also puts forward specific requirements for teaching activities and regulates the financing, equipment and staffing of schools. Russian society generally believes that with legal guarantees, Russian music education with rich characteristics will be better inherited and developed.
Italy-
Art education paints colorful childhood
In the Uffiz Art Museum in Florence, Italy, many photography lovers and painting learners come to admire it. Walking here, you can always see the figures of students of different ages. They either taste in front of the painting, copy famous paintings on the spot, or communicate and share aesthetic feelings, and their eyes flash their love for art. As the birthplace of the European Renaissance, Italy has countless art galleries, large and small, and art is almost within reach.
Children grow up in a strong artistic atmosphere. Kindergartens and primary schools pay attention to the cultivation of artistic literacy and hands-on ability. They not only provide introductory courses such as oil painting, clay sculpture, collage, etc., but also encourage children to create with different pigments, paper, daily necessities and food to express what they see, hear and feel. Early childhood teachers value the importance of visual symbols in children’s self-expression.” While emphasizing the development of children’s aesthetic consciousness, attention should be paid to the inner thinking and feelings of children, so that they can use art as a way of self-expression. Lola, a kindergarten teacher at the Little Bee in Rome, said.
The school often moves the art class to art galleries and galleries, organizes students to observe and study on the spot. Children’s artistic opinions and copy works will be included in the assessment results. Many large art galleries also have studios, which provide children with painting teaching activities.” Art should be a practical subject and must not be confined to classrooms and textbooks. Art education should be everywhere. According to Lorenzo Fiolamonti, the former Minister of Education, University and Scientific Research in Italy, one of the reasons why Italy’s art education is world-leading is that “Italy has an extremely rich resource of art education such as public art, museums, art galleries, etc. These are the best ‘readbooks’ and ‘ for children. Teaching aids.
In order to achieve open art education, many art galleries, public museums, etc. in Italy are open to children and teenagers free of charge or provide student tickets. At the same time, the Italian government also launches “Painting Art Day” and “Historical and Cultural Activity Day” and other related activities for children and adolescents from time to time.
“I have been to the Borghese Gallery more than 20 times, and the collections in it still make me excited. André Chesezes, a student at the University of Louis in Italy, said: “My classmates and friends around us, like me, will go to the art gallery whenever we have time to visit and enjoy the edification of art. This is a habit we have formed since childhood. Both teachers and parents will lead us to the gallery.
Teachers and parents usually guide their children to make a taste when they take their children on a tour of art and listen carefully to their comments.” Although the children’s comments are naive and somewhat fantastic, children’s careful observation of the work generate curiosity to actively understand the artwork, and form an appreciation of the artwork in the continuous evaluation. Stefano Vesari, head of the office of the Italian Ministry of Education and University Research, believes that “children can not only understand rich stories and understand diversified artistic spirits, but also develop their sense of autonomy and aesthetic ability in a happy atmosphere of participating in artistic activities.”
Brazil-
Artwork colores public spaces
Take the subway in São Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, as if walking through an underground art gallery. At Tukuluvi Station, you will pass by a sculpture of three cones; when you take an escalator down at Santa Cruz Station, you will face a colorful paintings showing the daily life of São Paulo above the escalator; when waiting for the train at Consolasan Station, you can see the long mosaic collage “Four Seasons”; you can see it through Blas. When standing in the passageway, you will be attracted by a group of shiny wavy steel plate devices; at the Sumare station, 44 portraits of ordinary people are printed on the glass, accompanied by beautiful poems of Brazilian poets…
When the São Paulo Metro Company was established in 1968, it intended to increase the artistic atmosphere of the subway station, so that people can also get close to art outside the official pavilion. In the 1970s, the first artwork was laid out by the São Paulo subway, and some experimental cultural activities and art displays subsequently received positive feedback from the public. In 1988, the São Paulo Metro officially launched the “Art in the Metro” project. Two years later, an Art Advisory Committee was established to invite representatives from the fields of art, architecture and commerce to help select works of art suitable for the public space of the subway station. At present, about 100 permanent exhibits are scattered in dozens of sites.
“Exposure with works of art can cultivate people’s emotions and emotions, have a moment of meditation, and slow down the pace of life.” Marcelo Freitas, who invited artists to create art for the São Paulo subway station, believes that works of art can color public space, make it softer and more humane, and at the same time, it can play an aesthetic role, stimulate people’s curiosity, imagination, and establish the concept of respecting and protecting public space. According to Brazilian art historian Radha Abramo, “art in the subway” not only allows people to enjoy beauty when watching works, but also subtly transmits art education to the public and enhances people’s happiness.
In addition to permanent art displays, the St. Paul subway station also holds cultural activities from time to time.” The Cultural Line project opens up cultural space for holding temporary exhibitions in subway stations. Poetry on the subway project brings the poems of Portuguese-speaking countries into the subway station, some printed on the wall and some posted on the elevator door. At the São Paulo Art Museum Station, there is also a exhibition cabinet in cooperation with the museum. People who do not have the opportunity to visit the museum can take a glimpse of recent exhibits.
Many passengers said that since not everyone has the time and habit to go to art galleries or museums, the works of art displayed in public spaces facilitate people’s access to art and stimulate interest. Some artistic devices that use scientific and technological equipment for interactive display attract people of all ages to participate, and some people will bring their children to the interactive experience.
Not only the subway station, but also the whole of St. Paulo is like an open-air gallery, with sculptures and installations scattered on streets, squares and parks.
In 2020, the first Narata International City Art Festival was held in São Paulo. Artists from Brazil and the world decorated several buildings with a large set of murals.” Art has the power to change people’s lives, and hopefully, after going through difficult times together, these paintings can bring some hope and color.” In the eyes of event planner Luan Cardoso, this is an artistic feast for everyone, which can be enjoyed for free by anyone passing by. Artist Alex Senner said that it is a great responsibility to create such a huge work in the city, not only to decorate, but also to show love and comfort through the work, and to inspire people with artistic power.
This set of mural art is welcomed by the public. Nearby residents watched it at the window, and passing motorcycle riders sounded their horns. “To create a mural requires the consent of all the residents in the building, and the people who started to have doubts end up enjoying them, they took photos, posted them online, and wrote, ‘Look how beautiful my home is,’” Cardozo said.
