Figure 9.--The dresser as found... Figure 10.--The same dresser after...Figure 9.—The dresser as found in the dormitory roomFigure 10.—The same dresser after the class in related art had remodeled and painted it
In a few instances, homemakers have entrusted the furnishing of rooms in their homes to the related art class. Thus it is seen that a variety of opportunities do exist. They should be located and such use made of them as will mean the enrichment and vitalization of the work in related art.
In the limited time usually allotted for the teaching of art related to the home the teacher is confronted with the problem of how to make the best utilization of that time. One of the first questions which must be decided is whether a portion of it shall be devoted to the making of notebooks. In analyzing the situation she will need to determine the purposes which they serve. The notebooks may be justified on the ground that they—
1. Provide a collection of illustrative and written materials which pupils may have for future use.
2. Provide a classroom activity through which pupils learn.
3. Measure pupil ability to recognize art applications through the selection of pertinent illustrations.
4. May supplement or be used in place of a class text.
5. Provide material for the school exhibit.
6. Insure material for competitive purposes at county and State fairs.
7. Maintain interest.
Answering the following questions may serve to determine whether notebooks are of value to the pupil:
1. Does the notebook provide for worthwhile individual experience?
2. Will it pay in terms of time and energy expended?
3. What is the ultimate use of it?
The following chart may serve to aid the teacher in judging whether notebooks are justified:
Chart 2.—Analysis of the value of notebooks in art courses
In the light of the analysis of their value it would seem that the use of notebooks should be carefully considered before they are given any place in the teaching of art related to the home. If used at all, they should not be the objective of the course but the voluntary effort of the pupils in attaining other objectives and should take a minimum of class time. From the standpoint of time alone there is certainly a question as to how much routine work in cutting, pasting, or writing should be permitted.
The teacher not only has a responsibility for teaching but for the most efficient teaching at a minimum cost in time and energy to the pupil. The immediate and ultimate uses of collected materials should be the most important criteria as to kind and amount. When the pupils have an opportunity to choose illustrations which show good application of art they are not only developing their powers of discrimination but are revealing the degree to which these powers have been developed. Some practices in judgment are valuable and probably sufficient in themselves. For instance, when a pupil selects two or three good examples of rhythmic movement in design she will have developed a finer feeling for rhythm and will have demonstrated her recognition of it. Of what value would it be for her to make a permanent record of these illustrations?
There are other selections that may be of more permanent value, such as pictures chosen to illustrate some art application. When these are mounted or framed attractively they make desirable additions to the girl's room and home.
Illustrations suggestive of new and interesting ways of applying trimming, or of arrangements for dressing table covers, window draperies, and similar materials are also of more permanent value. They may serve the immediate purpose of illustration in the art class and then be made available for later use if they are filed in some way. One of the most satisfactory means of keeping such materials is in large envelopes or portfolios. These may be provided at small expenditure of time and money by using heavywrapping or construction paper. The latter may be made very simply by cutting and folding the paper to form a double-pocket envelope.
Rather than encourage the notebook type of collection of magazine illustrations and samples of materials, the teacher may interest the girls and women in selecting simple articles that may be used in their own homes and will give lasting enjoyment.
If a notebook or portfolio is to be used for keeping certain records for later reference, the requirements for it should be limited to those which are easily attainable by all members of the class. However, this does not suggest a restriction of the efforts of the especially-talented pupil. Each page of the simplest notebook offers opportunity for the application of art principles in the planning of good margins, as well as in making attractive groupings of illustrations on mounted and written pages. It would seem desirable to discourage the elaborately decorated type of notebook covers because they consume considerable time for making and have such a temporary use. Portfolios well constructed and of lasting quality may be used later for keeping choice, unmounted pictures, or photographs.
The "laboratory problem" is a term quite generally used to designate a problem which is carried on within the classroom and involves some pupil activity.
Such problems may involve judgment, a combination of judgment and manipulative skills, or a combination of judgment and creative thinking with some manipulation. They may be used to discover a law or principle, to verify a conclusion, or to test the judgment and creative ability of the pupils.
The term as it is used here is restricted to the type of problem which involves judgment in selection, creative planning, and careful manipulation of materials for successful completion. Such problems are frequently known as craft problems.
Since this type of problem involves so many kinds of ability it is evident that it can not be introduced too early in the course if it is to be executed successfully by the pupils. To the degree that judgment ability in selection has been developed and there has been opportunity to do creative thinking, the pupils will be able to carry out such problems more independently.
This does not mean that all laboratory problems are to be reserved until the end of the course, but it suggests that each problem be considered carefully to determine if the pupils' preceding training has been adequate. For example, posters may be undertaken muchearlier than a problem in tie dyeing. The main requirement for successful posters is an ability to use the principles of proportion and emphasis. A problem in tie dyeing to be successful should be preceded by an understanding of the use of the principles of proportion, balance, and harmony as well as of color.
The successful laboratory or craft problem provides a measure of the pupil's judgment and creative ability; an opportunity for manipulative expression; and a means of producing something that should contribute to the beauty of the home. The pupil should visualize each finished article in its place in relation to the whole scheme of the room or home. The making of articles for which there is no definite need or place in the girl's home can hardly be justified in school time. The use of those materials in laboratory problems with which the pupils will need to work later is considered the more valuable experience. For example, experience in working with dyes rather than with water colors or paints will be more useful to the average girl, for in her home she is more often confronted with the problem of renewing color in underwear or other garments or changing the color of curtains to fit in with the new color scheme of her room than with problems necessitating the use of water color or paints.
Laboratory problems that are well selected and wisely directed will result in one or more of three values:
1. Pupils may have a better appreciation of fitness and purpose.
2. Pupils may have a greater desire to own and use beautiful things.
3. Pupils may have a greater appreciation for possibilities of beauty in the simple things.
With these possible values in mind the teacher will need to determine which of the many laboratory problems can be used most effectively.
The following standards are offered as a basis for evaluating the various possibilities for such laboratory problems:
1.Time.—This is probably the most important factor because, in the first place, many laboratory problems are far too time consuming, and, in the second place, the total time allotment for an art course is usually limited in the vocational program in homemaking.Every article which can be justified for a school problem should require a relatively small amount of time and few repetitive practices.
2.Ultimate use of the article.—This is a factor which is often lost sight of and as a result girls make ruffled organdy or embroidered or quilted silk pillows for which they have no real use.Every article should be evaluated in terms of itsrelation to use and surroundings and be chosen for a specific place.
3.Structural quality of the article.—"Structural design is the design made by the size and shape of the object."24Laboratory problems involving structural design afford opportunity to make use of several art principles, but to bring about structural beauty the pupil must have achieved real ability to use these principles.Every article should meet the fundamental requirements of good design.
4.Suitable decoration for the article.—"Decorative design is the surface enrichment of a structural design." Too often decoration has failed to contribute to the appearance or to the utility of the article.Decoration, if any is used, should make a lasting contribution rather than a temporary appeal.
5.Good technique.—An article may be well planned, with good design and pleasing decoration, and may be one that would not require too much time in the making, but the finished product may not be acceptable because of poor technique.Laboratory problems should require only that type of technique which can be achieved successfully by the pupil.
The ultimate purpose of this particular part of the training in art related to the home is to enable girls and women to make selections for their homes that will contribute to their attractiveness rather than to produce artisans in the various crafts. Therefore the selection of class laboratory problems must be made most carefully. The teacher will need to emphasize repeatedly the importance of structural value, as well as the utility of articles if the pupils are to appreciate these qualities as more fundamental than decoration.
Difficult situations often arise as a result of poor choices on the part of pupils for their laboratory problems or for the decoration of articles to be made. Great tact is required in leading pupils to see that such choices are poor without offending them. It sometimes means slow progress and waiting until the class judgment brings out opinions that may have more weight than those of the teacher. It is more effective for a teacher to allow a pupil to proceed through the "trial and error" method than to completely discourage the making of the poorly-chosen article. However, the successful teacher must evaluate each situation in light of the cost in time and money and the effect that failure would have upon the individual pupil. The most important consideration is that out of the experience the pupil will progress toward the desired objectives.
The "trial and error" procedure is well illustrated in the following report of a Wisconsin high school teacher:
Related art is taught in all units but is taken up in detail for the first time in the sophomore year in home furnishing and decoration, wardrobe planning, and the Christmas gift unit. Most of the girls come from very poor homes; and the prevailing idea of beauty is largely artificial flowers or large framed family photographs.
The aim in the related art work has been to help the girls use the things they already have and to appreciate beauty in the things they own and have the opportunity to buy or see.
The following problem arose in the sophomore class of 27 girls in the home furnishing and wardrobe planning unit:
The girls were to make Christmas gifts in which their knowledge of design and construction was to be applied. The gifts were to be for some particular member of the family or friends. After deciding what they were to make they planned the design and colors. Some of the girls used yarn or bias tape designs on theatrical gauze or monk's cloth, making scarfs, pillows, curtains, davenport covers, or couch covers. Others made collar and cuff sets, aprons, underwear, towels, laundry bags, pan holders, or passe partout pictures.
Elva came to school with a blue bird panholder to embroider in many colors as her gift to a married sister. I told her it would take much time and I wondered if it were worth while putting the time on a panholder. I asked her if the design were appropriate, and she said she liked it better than the plain quilted holders.
I did not know what to do as I did not want her to spend time on such a foolish and inappropriate article but decided that she might be convinced of her poor choice after making it so I allowed her to work on the holder, giving her help as needed, but no encouragement as to the beauty of the holder. In order that the others in the class might be more convinced concerning some of the things we had discussed in our related art from this holder, I asked each girl to keep accurate account of time spent in making the gifts.
The girls who were making plain holders had finished a set of them and at least one other simple gift while Elva continued embroidering on her holder. Everyone was much interested in all of the gifts and made many comments. Although none but Elva knew my views, she received no class approval or bursts of enthusiasm over her holder, and one girl even ventured to ask her if she thought her holder was good design.
Finally the gifts were finished, and each girl exhibited her work, criticizing it both constructively and adversely. Finally it was Elva's turn. It was a pleasant surprise when she said: "I spent 6-1/2 hours of time on this one holder, and I don't like it now. I could have made six plain ones, and they would have been better in design and served the purpose better than this one will. I don't think my sister will appreciate this holder more or maybe as much as one of the others."
The class did not take exception to her criticism, and we then evaluated the design, appropriateness, and time spent on it. The class decided Elva was right in her conclusions that she had made a mistake.
As most of the girls were giving their gifts to persons in the community, we discussed placing and use of the various gifts, and the girls decided that after Christmas they would tell how or where the gifts were being used. When this time came and Elva reported, she said the panholder had surely been used and was so badly scorched that you couldn't even see the design that took 6-1/2 hours.
Several laboratory problems which teachers have used in art classes are here presented. In the light of the standards which are offered as a basis for determining what problems shall be chosen, they are discussed briefly as to their educational possibilities. The order in which they are listed is alphabetical and not suggestive of importance in ranking.
1.Block printing.—If the designs are so simple that the girl learns how to adapt similar simple designs to other things for her home, this problem may have value in such a course. In addition, the girl is acquiring a wall hanging or a table cover that will have an appropriate place in her home. Such simple blocks may be kept for using on a variety of articles for gifts which the girl can make at very little expense and in a short time. The "stick printing" also offers some opportunity for adapting designs.
2.Fabric or yarn flowers for the wardrobe.—If such articles are made of appropriate materials, there is opportunity for girls to exercise judgment in the selection of colors, textures, and combinations that are suited for their use on special garments.
3.Hand stitchery (embroidery, hemstitching, fagoting, and quilting).—In so far as the pupils can justify the use of hand stitchery for a particular article or garment and then confine their efforts to the choosing and adapting of designs, to the planning of color combinations and to the doing of just enough of the stitchery to learn the process, stitchery problems may have a place in the art course. The actual repetition of stitches is too time consuming for class practice. Unless the pupils will finish such problems outside of class some others would better be chosen. There is an opportunity through stitchery problems to show girls how a bit of appropriate handwork may be applied to an inexpensive ready-made garment, thereby enhancing its attractiveness and value.
4.Lamp shades.—Lamp shades may be individual class problems if the pupils have real need for them. If made in class the educational value comes through planning the size and shape, choosing suitable and inexpensive materials, and adapting appropriate designs to them.
5.Lettering.—Since in many real situations in life one is requested to print one's name, it would seem desirable to include some very simple straight-line printing problems.
6.Marbleized paper.—This is a possible class exercise which involves the handling of colors. Such papers may be utilizedas wrapping for gifts, book covers, desk sets, or portfolios.
7.Painting furniture.—There will probably be little opportunity or need for the actual carrying out of such a laboratory problem in the beginning course in art related to the home, but it may be used successfully in a later unit in home furnishing or in a home project. The educational value in painting furniture is confined to the choice of finish and color and in learning the manipulative processes. The actual painting of many pieces is too time consuming to be done at school and too laborious for young girls to do unassisted at home.
8.Place cards.—The choice of size and shape of card and the placing of the name on it are the important factors in using plain place cards. Here is an opportunity for girls to make use of straight-line letters. In selecting and making decorated place cards, suitability to purpose and kind and amount of decoration are other factors that need to be considered.
9.Portfolios.—Simple portfolios may be appropriately used as class problems provided the pupils have a need for them. They afford opportunity for the application of the principles of proportion, emphasis, and harmony as well as of color. If decoration is to be used, it should be simple and suited to the material of which the portfolio is made and to its intended use.
10.Posters.—When the need for posters arises, a related art class may profit by applying their knowledge of color, emphasis, and space arrangement in making them. For a simple yet attractive poster, a well-mounted picture which suggests the story with one or two lines of lettering may be grouped to form a unit. This takes but a short time. For those students having difficulty in making the straight-line letters in crayon or ink, the gummed or cut letters may be used, or a school stamp lettering press may be utilized.
11.Rug hooking.—The educational value of this problem is in the selection and adaptation of designs and colors to the spaces and materials used. Beyond this point it is largely repetitive manipulation; and unless girls want to finish rugs outside of class, and will have an opportunity to do so, such work should be discouraged.
12.Tie dyeing.—If good dyes are procurable and the exercise is limited to using a few hues, tie dyeing may be desirable from the standpoint of developing ability to combinecolors successfully and to the fitting of the design to the shape of the piece dyed. If used as a class problem, special attention needs to be given to the adaptation of design to the space. This means careful preparation of the material for the dye bath. Wise planning for the desired color effects is also essential.
Shaded dyeing offers an interesting opportunity for further use of color. The problem involves the recognition of interesting ranges of values and the determination of pleasing space relations for those values.
It has been suggested previously that handling dyes would be a more valuable experience to girls than using paints or water colors. However, to insure success, dyes of standard quality should be selected and carefully prepared. Soft water has been found best for most dyes. A soft, loosely woven material without dressing is typical of the fabrics that are most frequently dyed at home and may well be used at school. Carefully dyed yard or half-yard lengths of cheese cloth have been found valuable in supplementing other fabrics in the study of color. The experience girls gain in mixing and handling the dyes for these short length pieces has been deemed by some teachers as far more valuable than that gained through making flat washes for a color chart as a means of understanding colors and their relationships.
Much time is usually lost in having pupils attempt to mix paints for flat washes for the various hues of color charts. The purpose of making color charts is to provide the girls with a guide for recognizing and combining colors. Many teachers have found that a more successful method is to have the pupils arrange colored fabrics or papers in the order of their hue relationship. It has not been considered necessary for each pupil to do this, since the ability to recognize hues and their relationships may be equally well achieved through working in groups. A large chart of standard hues provided by the teacher will be valuable in developing understanding of color.
13.Weaving.—This problem requires a loom, and for the small amount of weaving that should be done in school and in view of future needs, the teacher is seldom justified in asking for such a piece of equipment.
Book ends, trays, and candlesticks are essential articles from the standpoint of utility and well-selected ones are valuable as illustrative material in the development of good judgment in their selectionand arrangement. When these articles are used as laboratory problems, special care should be taken to avoid placing the emphasis upon decoration.
There are no doubt other problems that may be used successfully. However, only those should be chosen that will supplement the art training advantageously and that will measure up to the five suggested standards on pages47-48, which, stated in more specific terms, are—
1. Every article should require a relatively small amount of time and few repetitive practices.
2. Every article should be evaluated in terms of its relation to use and surroundings and chosen for a specific place.
3. Every article should meet the fundamental requirements of good design.
4. Decoration, if any is used, should make a lasting contribution rather than a temporary appeal.
5. All problems should require only that technique which can be achieved successfully by the pupils.
Field trips in some form have been used to quite an extent in the teaching of many subjects and have been undertaken for a variety of reasons. In the teaching of art the purpose may be fourfold:
1. To stimulate interest in beauty.
2. To provide contact with materials and articles as they are to be found in life.
3. To extend information.
4. To provide additional opportunity for exercising judgment.
Unless the trips to be made by the class are planned carefully they may become merely freedom from regular school routine. If the group has an opportunity to help plan the trip, including the route to be taken, the points of interest to be looked for and reported upon at the next regular meeting of the class, the conduct to be maintained on the trip, and the courtesy due the homemaker or the merchant or the business man who is cooperating with the class visit, there is bound to be greater interest and concentration upon the trip with more beneficial results.
Trips taken very early in the unit or course can do little more than serve as a means of stimulating interest in the new phase of work. Trips taken later may be used to verify conclusions and develop judgment in making selections as well as to create broader interests.
One class in a study of clothing selection made several trips to the local stores. The first one was preceded by a study of surface pattern in dress fabrics from the standpoint of the effect of design and colorupon the appearance of the wearer. The trip to the local stores was made to determine which of the wash dresses exhibited in three store windows best met the standards which the class had set up for such a dress. The standards were as follows:
1. The style or design of the dress should be suited to the kind of fabric and the surface pattern of it.
2. The trimming should be in harmony with the construction lines and the color of the dress.
3. The surface pattern of the material should be one of which the wearer and her friends would not soon tire.
In this particular case, since the class was small and the trip included only window shopping, some discussion was carried on in the group as they stood outside of the display windows.
At a little later time the same class was taken to the stores on a shopping trip. Each pupil was asked to select material for two dresses for one of her classmates, one to be for a washable school dress and the other for a "dress-up" dress. The materials were to be selected from the standpoint of color and design for the individual and of suitability for the type of dress. The procedure set up by the class previous to the trip was to work quietly and independently at the store and to refrain from saying why they did or did not like various things they saw there. When each girl had made her selections she was to ask the clerk for small samples and to be sure that the rest of the class saw the large pieces from which she had made her selections. During the next class period each girl exhibited her samples and justified the choices she had made. The girl for whom the selections had been made was given an opportunity to express her opinion, and the remainder of the group were encouraged to comment upon the proposed materials.
When these pupils later had the problem of selecting materials for the new spring dresses they had decided to make in class, there were many evidences that the experience gained on the trips to the stores had been of real value to them.
In the study of accessories for the spring dress this class had another window-shopping trip which followed a lesson on the selection of shoes. The purpose of this trip was to see what effect trimming lines had upon the apparent width and length of the shoes and to choose from those displayed in the windows the style of shoe that would be most suitable for some member of their class to wear with a dress she had made or purchased.
Field trips that have a definite purpose and are well planned and arranged for in advance can make valuable contributions to the classroom training in art. If a class is to be taken on a trip to a store, to visit a home in the community, or to an industrial plant it is only courteous and an evidence of good management for the teacher toobtain permission and make necessary arrangements with the merchant, the homemaker, or the manager far enough in advance to avoid conflict in time and to plan in accordance with their most convenient time for visitors.
How can the degree to which art training is functioning in the lives of the girls and women be determined? It is fully as important for the teacher to evaluate results of her teaching as to plan for it carefully. This has been commonly recognized as a definite part of teaching, but the procedure has been largely limited to the giving of written tests. Such tests have usually been of the type that measure factual information and have probably failed to indicate the degree to which the student's life has been improved by her use of the art information.
Tests which are thought provoking and the solving of school problems are both valuable measures, but they are not sufficient in themselves for testing art. They fail to reveal whether or not the girl is making voluntary and satisfactory art applications or appreciating beauty to any greater extent in her everyday life. Whitford25refers to outcomes as follows:
Two significant and fundamental outcomes of art education are revealed by an analysis of the relation of this subject to the social and occupational life of the pupil. These are, first, ability to recognize and appreciate art quality and to apply this ability to the needs of everyday life; and, secondly, ability to produce art quality even though in a relatively elementary form.
When art has been effectively taught there are many tangible evidences of its functioning in the personal and home life of the girl. What are some of these tangible evidences that indicate successful art training? The outstanding ones may be found in the girl's appearance at school and in the choice and arrangement of furnishings in her room and home.
Evidences of the Successful Functioning of Art in the Classroom
Improved personal appearance of pupils may manifest itself in their selection of ensembles from garments already possessed or from newly selected garments from the standpoint of—
1. Color combinations.
2. Texture combinations.
3. Appropriateness of clothing for school.
4. Appropriateness of style of garments to the girl.
5. Appropriateness of accessories.
The story of freckled-faced Mary well illustrates how art did function in one girl's life. She was an unmistakably plain high-schoolgirl. Her hair was red, her face freckled, and her nose decidedly retroussé. Her clothes of gaudy colors never fitted and always seemed to emphasize her personal deficiencies. But one day a new teacher came to the school, whose business it was to teach home economics, and into her hands Mary, mercifully, came. A few months later the State supervisor of home economics, a close observer, visited the school, and her attention was soon drawn to Mary, not as the worst-looking girl in the school but as one of the best-looking girls in the school. Soft, becoming colors, good lines, and a suitable style of garments had brought out the best tints in her red hair, softened the freckles, and transformed a plain girl into an attractive one. All of this had been accomplished as an indirect objective of the teacher in her related art instruction in home economics. Mary had unconsciously learned that beauty is, after all, a relative term in regard to individual objects and that it is the setting that gives grace and charm.
Unless the teacher is on the alert some interesting evidences of successful teaching may go unnoticed. Some of the changes in the pupil's appearance come about gradually and without audible comment. Such was the case in one class. Most of the year Betty had been wearing an old 1-piece wool dress. During the winter she had worn a belt of the dress material at a low waistline, so that the belt covered the line at which the pleats were stitched to the dress. Early in the spring, and, as it happened, near the beginning of the art unit, Betty evidently became much interested in the styles that advocated a return of the normal waistlines and succumbed to the appeal of the new leather belts in the store window. For several days she proudly wore a wide leather belt fairly tight and high, with this straight flannel dress, all unconscious of the fullness bunching above the belt, the poor proportions of the dress, and the poorly finished seam where the pleats were joined to the dress. After some time had been spent on the art unit in which no direct reference had been made to Betty's belt, the teacher was very much pleased one morning to notice that Betty had taken in the side seams of her dress to remove some of the fullness and was wearing the leather belt a little more loosely and somewhat lower, so that the space divisions of the dress were more pleasing. Is there a better evidence of successful art training than that which shows that the pupil is able to adapt in an attractive way the garments of her present wardrobe so that they measure up to the individual's desire to be up to date?
A Kansas teacher reports that she overhears comments among girls before and after school which reveal evidences that art is influencing tastes. Here are some examples of these comments:
That color is too bright for her.
That particular green dress makes her skin look yellow.
Those beads harmonize beautifully with that dress.
She is one girl who should not wear her belt high. It makes her look so short and dumpy.
I have given my sister my colored scarf, which I now realize clashed with everything I had, but fits in with her things.
Better pupil contributions to class work constitute another evidence of the effectiveness of art instruction. These manifest themselves in—
1. Voluntary reports and comments of observations and experiences.
2. The bringing in of illustrative material for class and bulletin board use.
3. The asking of relevant questions.
Some of these may be evidenced outside the regular class period. This was true in the case of Joan, a high-school freshman in an art class, who had been rather unwilling at times to accept the art standards set up by the rest of the class. Her argument was, "What difference does it make? Why can't everyone select just the things she likes?" Very little attention was definitely directed to her for she would sulk if pressed for a reason to justify her statement that everyone should choose as she liked.
One Monday morning the teacher, upon her arrival at school, found Joan waiting in the classroom to tell her of the shopping trip she had had with her mother on Saturday. Joan had selected a red silk dress which she and her mother had both liked. After going home Joan had begun to wonder if the dress would look all right with her last year's coat and hat and wanted to know what kind of hose would be best to wear with the dress. This teacher could well feel that her art teaching was developing in Joan a real interest in art.
Assumption of greater responsibility by the pupils for more attractive arrangements at school contribute another evidence of the effectiveness of art instruction. This may manifest itself in the arrangement of—
1. Articles on tables, buffets, or bookcases.
2. Flowers in suitable bowls.
3. Books and magazines.
4. Exhibit cabinets.
5. Stage settings for class plays.
Still another criterium of the effectiveness of art instruction is the spread of interest in the work from home economics pupils to others in the school.
A teacher of related art in Missouri says:
One of the most striking and pleasing evidences of art's carrying over is the fact that so many girls outside of the home-economics department come in and ask questions regarding some of our pupils' clothing or ask to see the art work done here. The seniors in the teacher-training department are especially interested, as they expect to teach art in the rural schools and have had practically no work in it.
Evidences of the Successful Functioning of Art in the Home
One of the most gratifying results of art teaching is the influence it creates in improving the homes of the community. This may be seen through—
1. More attractive arrangements and rearrangements of furniture, rugs, pictures, and accessories.
2. Elimination of unnecessary bric-a-brac.
3. More suitable use of color.
4. More appropriate choice of textiles and texture combinations.
5. Improved selection and care of shrubbery, hedges, and flower beds. Removal of unnatural or grotesque shapes.
6. Improvements in walks, trellises, fences, and gates to make them more suitable for house and grounds.
A teacher in a vocational school in North Dakota reports as follows:
One of the most valuable evidences of improved practices that I see from our art work is the girls' appreciation of things that are beautiful and their desire to acquire a few truly beautiful things for their own rooms and homes.
An itinerant teacher trainer describes a lesson in related art which she observed. It is given here for its very practical suggestion of a means for measuring results of teaching:
The day before my visit the teacher had taken all the girls of her class to a city about 18 miles away to purchase Christmas gifts for their mothers. The girls had limited themselves as to possible types of gifts within their limited means and at the same time suitable for their mothers. Only one gift cost more than $1 and that was the joint gift of two sisters to their mother. The class had agreed that each gift should be of such nature that the application of art principles studied would be involved in making a choice. They had practically confined themselves to pictures, beads, book ends, or vases.
All of the gifts had been brought to the home-economics rooms for storage until the Christmas tea when they would be presented to the mothers.
The girls brought out all their purchases and all entered into the judging without false modesty. In some cases the purchasers were able to suggest improvements in future purchases.
The entire group showed unusual poise, self-confidence, and good judgment, as well as tact, in making suggestions.
The new problem arising from this lesson of designing an invitation to the annual Christmas tea for the mothers was a very real one to the girls. The principles of balance were taught and applied, and the girls decided on a design for the invitation.
Various tests and problems may also serve to measure the results of art teaching. A description of the test which was used at the end of one art unit, as a basis for determining the use the pupils were able to make of that training, is here included. It is hoped that this plan may prove suggestive to other teachers.
The test was given at the close of an art unit which had been conducted according to the method described earlier in this section. (See Section IV,pp. 34 to 42.) The class consisted of ninth-grade girls and met for daily class periods, 80 minutes in length.
At the beginning of the period on this day the teacher told the class that the first part of the period was to be devoted to a make-believe shopping trip. In this test, cost was not a factor but the material used did not include too wide a range in values. Slips with the names of the articles for which they were to shop and directions were prepared. Some of the shopping was to be done individually and some of it by groups. When all were finished the shoppers were to meet in the classroom and be given an opportunity to see all of the "purchases" and to know why each selection had been made. The slips were then passed out from which the pupils were to draw. The directions for procedure on the slips were as follows:
1. Select from the box of scarfs the one you think would be most suitable to wear with the blue coat that is in the clothing room. (Three girls drew copies of this slip and worked together in choosing the scarf and justifying the final choice.)
2. For the plain tailored flannel school dress hanging in the clothing room, select a scarf or some appropriate accessory which could be worn with the dress to introduce variety. (Three girls worked on this shopping problem.)
3. Mrs. B. wishes to use this colored picture and these blue-green pottery candlesticks in an arrangement on her mantel. She does not know what color of candles to buy. She is afraid that if she uses blue-green candles the color combination will be monotonous. Which of these candles would you suggest? Why? (There was considerable variation in the candles provided. In addition to several hues from which to select there were plain as well as decorated candles, and some variations in length. Two girls made this selection.)
4. Suppose your bedroom were a small one and had but one window in it. Select from these samples the wallpaper design that you think would make the room look larger andthe material to use for draperies in the room. (A large wallpaper sample book and several samples of plain and figured fabrics in a variety of colors were provided for the two girls who did this shopping.)
5. You are to have a new print dress. Which of these pieces of material would you choose as having the most rhythmic design? Which trimming material do you think would be best to use with it? (Several samples of printed materials were pinned together and each pupil who drew a copy of this slip was given a separate set from which to choose. Bias tape, braid, and lace, as well as plain and printed fabrics, were provided for trimmings.)
6. Choose from these printed fabrics the one that you think would be most suited in color and design for some member of this class. Tell for whom you have made the selection, justify your choice, and suggest the trimming that you think would be most appropriate. (The selections were made from a miscellaneous group of samples, printed and plain materials in a variety of colors.)
7. From colored fabrics plan three color combinations that could be used for a dress. Describe the combinations that you have used in each as to hue, value, and intensity, indicating areas of each color and justify their use together. (An assortment of fabrics separate from those used by other pupils was prepared for this group to save time and to enable the pupils to work independently. If fabrics are not available, papers may be used, although colors are never the same as in fabrics.)
As soon as the "purchases" were all completed the pupils individually or as group representatives, exhibited the selections to the class and gave the reasons justifying each choice. The entire class participated in commending or criticizing the selections made and the reasons given. Here the teacher was able not only to measure the individual's ability to solve a given problem but to observe how readily the pupils could recognize desirable selections and offer correct art reasons as the basis for those selections.
Immediately following the reports, the pupils took their places around the tables in the clothing laboratory, and the remainder of the period was devoted to individual and written judgments of materials which were passed around the class. This material was numbered, and to each piece was attached a slip of paper containing suggestive questions and directions as follows:
1. To which of these mounted pictures do you think the margins are best suited? Why? (The pictures cut frommagazines were suitable for the classroom or a girl's room and were mounted on a neutral construction paper. Only one had margins suited to the size and shape of the picture.)
2. Which of these stamped and addressed envelopes do you think has the most pleasing margins? Why? (Several envelopes differing in size and shape were addressed and stamped in a variety of ways.)
3. Which of these dress designs are balanced? Select one that you have decided is not balanced and suggest the changes necessary to make it so. (Illustrations of several dress designs that the pupils themselves might use were chosen from a current fashion sheet and were mounted and numbered. Attention was first focused on the designs which were balanced and then on the possibility of improving those that were not balanced.)
4. In which of these pieces of china do you think the design is in harmony with the shape of the dish and would make a suitable background for food? Justify your choice. (In the absence of real china, magazine advertisements of china furnished the necessary examples from the standpoint of color and design.)
5. Which of these three border designs has rhythm made most beautiful? Why? (Advertisements of towels with borders furnished the designs.)
6. Is this calendar pleasing in proportion? Give reasons for your answer. (The calendar was quite a long rectangle in shape, but the margins were well suited to it, and the entire space was well divided.)
7. What in this picture catches your attention first? How has the artist emphasized it? (The picture used was one taken from a magazine cover and was a copy of a painting of recognized merit.)
8. Which of these fabrics has the most pleasing combination of stripes? Why is that piece more pleasing than the other two? (Cotton materials were provided with stripes varying from those that were regularly repeated at intervals as wide as the stripes, to those in which there was an interesting grouping of stripes of varying widths.)
9. Which of the containers pictured in this advertisement would you select to use for an arrangement of flowers? Why? (The containers varied from those which were undecorated and well proportioned, to those which were elaborate in shape as well as in surface decoration.)
10. On this page are two color combinations. Tell what scheme has been used and by what means the colors have been harmonized. (These combinations were cut from magazine advertisements in which the combinations were pleasing. The colors had been harmonized through the quality of each color as well as the area.)
In each of the above situations the answer was not considered adequate if the pupil had merely made a choice. A reason was needed to substantiate that choice and the most complete answer was based on the principles of art which applied in each case. This did not mean that formal statements of the principles were required. It was considered much more desirable to have the pupils give in their own words the art reasons which justified each choice.
That such a test gives pertinent evidence of the use pupils are able to make of their art training is shown in the words of the teacher who gave the above test:
I did not want my students to feel that art work was something to be memorized until the course was over but a thing to be carried through life. I was very much pleased with the results I obtained from the class. The pupils responded to the idea that art could be used in every phase of life even when it came to writing up their daily lessons. They no longer thought of art as something accomplished only by professional artists, nor the word as meaning painting and drawing, but as the feeling or appreciation of things beautiful in line, design, and color. By having them constantly put into practice the art principles which they learned, by the end of the art unit the pupils had enough confidence in themselves to back up each choice that they made with a reason. I felt that this type of a test was a true test of their art knowledge because it was practical.
Immediately the question arises as to the source of materials to use in such a test, for it is evident that those used as illustrative material for developing or applying principles in class can not be reused in the test.
For questions 1, 2, and 3 of the first part (p. 59) the materials used may be borrowed from a store or solicited from interested friends. The girls themselves may be asked in advance to bring in a scarf and some dress accessory. Since the choice is confined to an article suited for a particular garment that choice ceases to be a personal one, although some pupil-owned garments and accessories are used. Drug stores, paint shops, and drapery departments may be solicited for wall paper catalogues and samples of fabrics. Some firms will send fair-sized samples or swatches of material for class use.
In the second part of the test (pp. 60-62) magazine illustrations and advertisements proved to be most usable. Illustrative materials have long been recognized as having an important part to play in the teaching of home economics. The possibilities of their use in testingthe results of teaching have not yet been fully appreciated. Further suggestions on illustrative materials will be found in Section VI,page 75. The objective type test also has its place in measuring results.26
As has been suggested, many tangible evidences of the effectiveness of art instruction may be observed and several of them can be noted in the classroom. Others of equal or greater importance can not be measured in the classroom, but can only be determined by the teacher as she visits the home, supervises home projects, and participates with her pupils in the life of the community. The home project has been an essential part of the vocational program in home economics since the inauguration of the vocational program in 1917-1918. It has afforded an opportunity for extending the work of the classroom into the home and has developed additional desirable abilities through practice under normal conditions. The project carried on in the home has therefore been considered a valuable educational procedure.
It is also a measure of results of teaching in that it shows how well the girl is able to apply classroom training to actual situations that arise in her project. Art can contribute to the success of many home improvement and clothing projects. There has been a tendency in some cases, however, for the pupil's interest in the actual manipulative processes involved in the project to be so great that she lost sight of the opportunities for the best applications of art.
In the home project "Redecorating my room," there is evidence that the pupil has consciously applied art for the successful attainment of it. This project, reported as follows, grew out of the unit in home furnishing, which is recommended as an additional study following the first general course in art related to the home.