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Theory and Practice of the Innovative Educational Program on the Aesthetic Discipline Cycle at the Siberian Federal University
Natalia P. Koptzeva*
Siberian Federal University, 79 Svobodny, Krasnoyarsk, 660041 Russia 1
Received 27.11.2008, received in revised form 17.12.2008, accepted 24.12.2008
The educational model of the Department of Art Theory and Culture Studies at the Siberian Federal University is considered in the article. It allows to create optimal conditions of ruling the idealformation process. That model of aesthetic education is intended for solution of the problem of development of synthetic thinking and personal development as a whole and as the most necessary condition of perfection of the contemporary society and, as a consequence, it is also solution of the problem of formation of socially perspective ideals. That is promoted by the thoroughly elaborated complex of educational programs at art criticism, culture studies, and cultural and social activity; the specificity of those programs is mutually complementary synthesis of theoretical and practical disciplines. There has been developed vast innovative experimental activity within that complex, which allows to obtain optimal results in the situation at modern education.
Keywords: work of art, masterpiece, ideal formation, synthetic thinking, aesthetic discipline cycle, innovative aesthetic education.
The base of the conception of general aesthetic education at the Siberian Federal University is a theory of culture as a process of ideal formation with a certain system of ideals, as a result. The subjects of ideal formation are big social communities, social groups, and individuals. It is obvious that the process of ideal formation can and must be ruled in the modern information society, giving certain content to the system of standards, models, and ideals as a concrete form of various social and individual actions.
The system of ideals is formed on the base of sensible-and-rational interrelation of a certain kinds of objects, which are the models of social and individual actions. Some special mechanisms
* Corresponding author E-mail address: decanka@mail.ru
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of ideal formation have already been set up and are being created inside culture - those are masterpieces of fine arts (works of art). A work of art initiates a special form of sensible-and-rational relationship: quite concrete changes in the sensible and rational kinds of human thinking or even in that one of a social group are initiated as a result of perception of the content of one or another work of art. A work of art is purposely created in such a way the perception of it could make those changes. Consequently, art as it is represents itself as environment of development. Masterpieces of art are the most effective power, which changes the forms of sensible and rational thinking.
Human thinking has synthetic nature: besides verbal thinking, visual, audile, and other forms of nonverbal thinking have no less, but greater importance. If the education at natural sciences and traditional humanities turns to verbal thinking, and it forms and develops just verbal thinking, then an organized aesthetic education forms culture of visual and audile thinking, which otherwise grows up spontaneously, often in a negative and destructive way for culture.
Aesthetic education presupposes formation of a certain system of ideals by forming culture of visual and audile thinking based on rational-and-sensible apprehension of models of artistic culture (masterpieces of the World Art).
The conception of aesthetic education supposes that it is possible to create innovative educational programs for the students of universities and other institutes of higher education, institutions of specialized secondary education, and those ones of secondary education, on the base of theory of culture as ideal formation and theory of visual and audile thinking. Realization of these programs is to provide the most total and purposeful formation of socially perspective ideals (patriotism, tolerant mind, social activity, independence, and many other ideals), for all this, the ideals are not laid down and suggested as finished results, but revealed in the processes of active work, the forms of which are determined by visual and audile thinking (equally by verbal and conceptual thinking).
The problem of the Siberian Federal University, being solved by the system of aesthetic education, is training of personnel able to orientate themselves on their own in the contemporary information area of ideal formative system of culture and to operate with different social objects on purposeful formation of socially perspective ideals.
The conception of aesthetic education at the Siberian Federal University is worked out
and inculcated by the Department of Art Theory and Culture Studies. V. I. Zhukovskyi, doctor of Philosophy, professor, and head of Art Theory chair, is a scientific supervisor of the project. His theory of visual thinking has been taken as the base of the scientific researches, educational and methodological, and practice activities of the faculty.
The activity of the department develops in two trends: 1) realization of the program of general aesthetic education for all trends and specializations at the university; 2) training bachelors and holders of a master’s degree of “Art Theory”, “Social and Cultural Activity”, and “Culture Studies”, who are able to work purposefully and professionally at all the spheres of social reality and who are connected with the processes of social and individual ideal formation.
The educational programs worked out at the faculty are formed on the systematic principle: theoretical training in that or another discipline of the aesthetic cycle is accompanied by a large number of practical projects, being realized at the institute of higher education.
The projects of the Siberian Federal University connected with giving musical concerts including performances of the symphony orchestra in the university space are well-known. Today the student subscription for Krasnoyarsk Philharmonic Society is valid: the university entirely pays for the students’ going to the concerts of the Philharmonic Society, and on every Friday the concert-hall of Krasnoyarsk Philharmonic Society is overcrowded with the students and staff of the Siberian Federal University. Vera Petrovna Lozinskaya, docent of the Culture Studies chair, is a curator of that activity, who in addition runs the chamber Musical Salon.
There has been created a student choir of the Siberian Federal University on the base of The Department of Art Theory and Culture Studies, which takes prize-winning places at prestigious
regional festivals. The Department of Art Theory and Culture Studies has vast links with many cultural institutions of Krasnoyarsk city, Office of Culture at Administration of Krasnoyarsk region, Regional Department of Union of artists in Russia, and provides for cooperation with the institutions within the whole university.
The educational activity on realization of the program of aesthetic education also has systematic nature. The programs for studies are formed on the principle of gradual extension of aesthetic content, progressive formation of culture of visual and audile thinking for all specializations of all SFU faculties:
1st and 2nd terms - “Language and History of Music”
3rd and 4th terms - “Language and History of Fine Arts and Architecture of Western Europe and Russia”
5th and 6th terms - “Language and History of the World Literature”
7th term - “Religion in the system of culture”
8th term - “Culture Studies”
That is an ideal system which is to be realized on the grounds of the decision of the University Academic Council, for the basis of that system has a number of scientific methodological and methodical principles, which purposefully allow to form the culture of synthetic thinking favourable for the most effective and nonviolent assimilation of the socially perspective ideals. In practice, the conception of aesthetic education in its educational constant is realized either completely or partially depending on a concrete faculty. Besides, a number of faculties makes applications for the courses, which richly in content respond to the conception of aesthetic education and, moreover, enlarge their information possibilities, adapting them for the needs of the basic educational program.
The concrete situation of 2006-2007 academic year is reflected in the Table given below.
Studies of these disciplines are completely supplied with training and methodical study guides, classes are held in the lecture-rooms, equipped with the modern technical means of education (audio- and video devices, multimedia projector, document-cameras, color TV sets, etc.). INTERNET-Centre, SFU scientific library and methodical room of the Department of Art Theory and Culture Studies give the widest information possibilities.
The lectures at “Language and History of the World Literature” course read by O.A. Karlova, “Religion in the System of Culture” read by head of the Culture Studies chair N. P. Koptzeva, and “Language and History of Fine Arts of Western Europe and Russia” course of A.V. Klykova, a lecture of the chair of Art Theory are a great success among the students of different faculties. Anastasiya Victorovna Klykova has worked out an electronic variant of her course, which includes more than 200 color pictures and is available for all the university students in the Internet. Three studios at the Department of Art Theory and Culture Studies are active: woodcarving, ceramics and pottery, the permanent exhibition of production of arts and crafts made by the students of Art Theory students is open.
Today it is absolutely obvious that the barest necessity of the present-day reality in Russia is prognosticating and dirigible social ideal formation. The Siberian Federal University has stored enormous scientific and practical experience both at formation of socially perspective ideals (by the means of the system of general aesthetic education) and at training of personnel with vocational knowledge and skills, which help to form the socially perspective ideals of the very different categories of Russian population today.
Table. The Cycle of Aesthetic Disciplines at the Siberian Federal University
Discipline Faculty Number of academic hours in a year
Language and History of Music 1. Mathematics 257
2. Physical Training 135
3. Chemistry 170
4. Economics 195
5. Physics 208
6. Law 127
7. Biology 188
8. Foreign Languages 100
9. Psychology and Pedagogy 185
10. History 55
Religion in the System of 1. Mathematics 134
Culture 2. Economics 45
3. Physics 95
History of the World Religions 1. History 197
Culture Studies 1. Mathematics 129
2. Physical Training 50
3. Physics 95
4. Law 92
5. Biology 150
6. Foreign Languages 70
7. Psychology and Pedagogy 100
8. Social Activity 50
Language and History of the 1. Chemistry 85
World Literature 2. Psychology and Pedagogy 225
History of the Oriental 1. Foreign Languages 60
Philosophy
Philosophy of Religion 1. Foreign Languages 60
Ethics 1. Psychology and Pedagogy 70
Aesthetics 1. History 54
History and Theory of 1. Psychology and Pedagogy 63
Religions
History of Foreign Philosophy 1. Psychology and Pedagogy 65
Language and History 1. Law 127
of Fine Arts 2. Psychology and Pedagogy 100
3. Foreign Languages 120
Training of personnel with professional competence at organization of socially optimum ideal formation is the most important thing. That is the aim the basic educational
program of “Art Theory” specialization carried out at the Siberian Federal University. It is obvious that such important social competence as purposeful ideal formation demands a great number of innovative educational technologies.
In order to rise the standards of students’ knowledge, the educational process at the Department of Art Theory and Culture Studies is organized taking into account two sessions and two intermediate attestations in an academic year approved at the university. That allows to control the quality of assimilation of the program’s materials by the students systematically in every two months. Efficiency of the estimation of knowledge is kept up by the four-mark scale
of estimation of students’ knowledge during the attestation and exams, which has been put in force at the university. Passing tests and other kinds of independent research works by the students are also accompanied with marks.
The faculty’s chairs have worked out and realized about 30 professional courses. Seminar-games at theory of fine arts can be considered as the new forms of training. Lecture-and-seminar providing for the students’ daily preparation for studies on suggested themes, questions and problems is also a new educational form worked out at the faculty. Since 2003 the Department of Art Theory and Culture Studies has resumed the experimental activity of the creative studios under the guidance of professor V.I. Zhukovskyi. “Actual problems of analysis of artistic text” is the main subject of the studio. The students do about 10 creative written research works; the fourth-year students work out problems of their course-works within the space of the studios, and the best of the research works were recommended as a report for the All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conferences and for publication in the bulletins of materials of the conference.
Scientific and methodical, researching and creative activity of the chairs’ lecturers, carrying out educational process on “Art Theory” specialization, first of all, are connected with scientific elaboration of the modern methods and technologies of education for the specialization. In this connection, the educational process at the Department of Art Theory and Culture Studies includes a number of scientific experiments.
The results of the experiments are being discussed and brought in everyday educational process. The most important experiment at students’ training is appliance of the method of education connected with the systematic approach at studying of Art theory as the main specialization. The researches of the last years have been kept off the detailed consideration of
the problem of philosophical bases of art, limited with only two approaches:
1) the problem of philosophical bases of art has been solved “from above”, it just has been worked out a theoretical scheme of aesthetic and philosophical categories, and attitude to the works of art (pieces of the World artistic culture) has been expressed in “giving examples” from the sphere of “History of art”;
2) it has been carried out a particular art critical analysis of creative process of one or another master and one or another work of art, not having touched the profound philosophical and ontological meaning of a work of art and the universal sense of the whole master’s creative life.
Although the tendency to synthesize the both mentioned approaches had unobvious existence, the problem’s general researching field reveals the gap between theory of artistic creative process including the philosophical basis of that theory and concrete researches of works of art. There has been stored vast volume of particular scientific researches, which demand generalization, synthesis on the base of a philosophical and aesthetic conception, within which the unique content of a piece wouldn’t disappear.
That research problem is not a narrow provincial one, but it reflects the tendencies of the world researches at sphere of philosophy of art, moreover, it is suggested an original educational conception, which has analogues neither in the science of our country nor in that one of the world.
ORIGINALITY OF THE EXPERIMENT consists of the methods and forms of education and discoveries of the philosophical bases of general theory of art made by the students, videlicet the faculty’s experts train students to carry out the synthetic approach for analysis of works of art and pursue their aim in two ways:
1) the platform and base of the universal theory of art is a philosophical conception,
within which a unique philosophical language is created and connected with the contents of terms “temptation-trial” (“iskus”), “artificiality” and “finesse” as the universal modes of a work of art (each epoch and artistic style);
2) analysis of a concrete work of art as a representation of an epoch in history of culture and master’s artistic style. That allows to get over unilateral art critical analysis of a piece of the World culture, when, on the one hand, unique philosophical sense of a work of art disappears, and, on the other hand, schematism of categorical analysis of a philosophical and aesthetic theory is also disappears, and it very often is not connected with the real existence of a work of art and creative process of a concrete master.
A principally new method, which has no analogues at philosophy of art in our country and that one of the world, is consideration of the same problem at different spheres of culture - philosophy, art criticism, music criticism, etc. and discovering: 1) the profound sense of the artistic world constructed in a work of the world artistic culture (“artificiality”); 2) skill, which makes a work of art appear (“finesse”), and 3) a way of existence of a work of art, when an author’s work of art involves “spectators”, “listeners”, etc. in its field, and it is also content of that inclusion and its ontological perspectives (“temptation-trial”/“iskus”).
The other experiment at education of the faculty’s students is a unique educational scheme connected with the fact that the theoretical cycle of studies is supplemented with a number of disciplines at practical studios -woodcarving, ceramics and pottery. According to the substantiated point of view of the faculty’s experts, it promotes the profound assimilation of the bases of artistic activity and it doesn’t make the students of the faculty withdraw in scholastic bounds of bare theory, which very often creates rather abstract ideas of the essence of art as the most necessary form of the human existence. The
educational and practical studios at woodcarving, pottery and ceramics are supplied with the special equipment, the classes are held individually, and the stored experience allows to draw optimistic conclusions on the positive influence of that kind of education on the general and special training of a professional at the sphere of theory of art.
And, at last, the experimental field is a sphere of comparative art critics, where the students are engaged in scientific researches. Studying of every epoch of the world artistic culture is carried out through synchronous studying not only theory and history of fine arts of a period, but also history and theory of literature, philosophy, religion, aesthetics, and mythology of a local culture. In such a way, there have been formed courses connected with the culture of Ancient Egypt, Ancient and Medieval India, Greece and Rome, Mediaeval Europe, Renaissance, Modern history and Contemporary history (XVII - XX centuries). The faculty’s students get whole notion of a studied epoch. The conception of training was presented at the All-Russian conference of lectures of religion discipline, held in Moscow on the 1st-4th of December, 1999, also at The Second All-Russian Philosophy Congress “The Future of Russia in philosophical dimension” in Ekaterinburg City on June, 1999, and at International Conference in Ekaterinburg City (the Department of Art Theory and Culture Studies of the Ural State University) in 2002, and it deserved approvals of the experts, participants of the conferences and Congress.
The results of the experiment were presented at The First, The Second, and The Third Regional Scientific and Practical Conferences at Culture, held in Krasnoyarsk City in 2000, 2001, and 2002, at The All-Russian Scientific and Methodical Conferences “Artistic Culture: theory, history, critics, methods of education, creative practice” held in 2003 - 2007. The positive experience of the Department of Art Theory and Culture Studies is recommended for appliance at high
schools and specialized secondary educational institutes of Krasnoyarsk region.
Thus, a great number of contemporary methods of education and forms of organization of educational process are used at the Department of Art Theory and Culture Studies. Especially, there could be distinguished the following:
1. A new method of students’ training of the special disciplines is the method of selection of pieces of art in their philosophical and art critical analysis: the selected masterpieces of different kinds of art for detailed analysis make the stem of one or another historical and art critics course. Thus, philosophical and art critical analysis of works of art is the main and primary thing in the content of special courses.
2. Educational seminars-games at theory of art.
3. The form of lecture-and-seminar presupposing everyday students’ preparations for the studies on suggested themes, questions and problems.
4. The form of creative studios under the guidance of V. I. Zhukovskyi. “Actual problems of artistic text’s analysis” is the main problem of the studio. The students prepare about 1Q creative written works, the fourth-year students work out problems of their course-works within the space of studios, and the best of the research works were recommended as a report for the All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conferences and also for publication in the bulletins of materials of the conference.
The independent students’ work of the Department of Art Theory and Culture Studies
includes preparation for the current lessons (lectures, practical, seminar and laboratorial works), studying the material intended for independent assimilation, doing home tasks, course-works, training research-works (TRW) and scientific research-works (SRW).
An independent research-work demands students’ preparations for such forms of current control of knowledge as colloquium, testing, control written work, work with bibliographical sources, references and abstract journals, Internet search for articles, monographs and statistics and other information on the research problems including writing essays at different studies. Besides, it is also solving problems with many variants with computer analysis on the optimal solution, participation in working out of new laboratorial works, information and software, using methods of “small groups” and “round table” work, obtaining practical skills at analysis of service market of social and cultural sphere, solutions of problematic aims and situations.
An independent student work of the Department of Art Theory and Culture Studies includes control tests written by the students (CT) under the guidance of lecturers, independent preparation for study groups and writing research works at different studies.
Thus, the complex of programs and methods of training worked out at the Department of Art Theory and Culture Studies of the Siberian Federal University allows the faculty and University as a whole to take its important place at the sphere of leading innovative educational technologies.
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