What is Discipline-Based Art Education?

Discipline-Based Art Education (DBAE) is a teaching approach originally developed—though not invented-- by the Getty Center for Education in the Arts. DBAE presents a curriculum built around art production, history, criticism, and aesthetics, and may be incorporated into other lessons as well, not just art education. For example, it may also be used to teach history in social studies classes. The Getty’s intention in developing this approach was to “broaden the content and strengthen the requirements of arts education within the school system” (Dobbs 1992), and as a reaction against what had been a primarily production-based method of teaching in schools (Dobbs 1992). This approach taught art as a means of self-expression, but often failed as a comprehensive lesson. Neglecting reading, writing, and discussion in art classes was, in the Getty’s opinion, contributing to the perception that art lessons did not contribute to overall education (Dobbs 1992). Art education in the past has often emphasized technical mastery of skills with little discussion of context that could help students create art that has meaning in addition to technical skills. Discipline-based art education aims to teach "a language of visual imagery" that is common to a variety of media, and that may be read by children in order to expand their understanding of art, much like learning to read opens new options (Rush 1987).

The disciplines of production, history, criticism, and aesthetics are merged, rather than teaching them separately. DBAE is “an approach and not a specific curriculum”, allowing for flexibility (Dobbs 1992). According to the Getty, there are certain features that all versions of DBAE will have in common (Dobbs 1992):

Art is taught as a subject within general education with a written and sequentially organized curriculum consisting of lessons containing content drawn from four foundational art disciplines. The lessons build a body of cumulative knowledge, understandings, and skills in art that can be appropriately evaluated.

Students’ abilities are developed to make art (art production); analyze, interpret, and evaluate qualities of visual form (art criticism); know and understand art’s role in society (art history); and understand the unique nature and qualities of art and how people make judgments about it and justify those judgments (aesthetics).

Art is implemented on a district-wide basis with administrative and community support, staff development, time and instructional material resources, and student/teacher/program assessment. (p. 10)

DBAE is flexible and may be adapted to almost any sort of lesson. Additionally, DBAE uses a broad definition of art, and does not only consider paintings, sculptures, or drawings as art, but also includes crafts, folk art, textiles, and even fashion design. The main idea is to provide visual images that have “unique meanings for human beings” (Dobbs 1992). While other methods such as Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) are more concerned with the aesthetics of art, DBAE is concerned with providing a context for those aesthetics and often utilizes art to teach other subjects as well.

In order for DBAE to be effective, regular time must be devoted to teaching art each week. The DBAE Handbook suggests a minimum of one to two hours of instruction per school week (Dobbs 1992). Regular instruction will result in students who are well versed not only in how to create art, but also in the meanings behind art and how to write and talk about art.

Curriculum, Evaluation, Benefits and Disadvantages

Curriculum

The DBAE Handbook suggests using a combination of commercially produced and locally produced curriculum (Dobbs 1992). A commercially produced curriculum will most likely not incorporate art that may be found locally or even regionally, but these lessons could be adapted to do so. However, there is no universally endorsed curriculum for DBAE. The Getty Education Institute completed an experiment from 1988 to 1990 where art educators from several states developed various DBAE lesson units, but not a complete curriculum. These units were then published by the Getty as reference material for educators wishing to develop their own lessons.

In addition, a classroom teacher may or may not be trained as an art educator. In many small or rural communities, where no art teacher may be available, the regular classroom teacher should try to collaborate with either an artist or a museum educator. Many museums provide teaching materials for free to classrooms, as well as materials that may be used before a field trip to a museum and afterwards.

Evaluation

Another component of DBAE is student evaluation. Because DBAE covers four separate disciplines, evaluating can be difficult. For example, reviewing a student’s portfolio fulfills the production discipline, but does not necessarily show that the student fully understands art history, criticism, or aesthetics. Evaluation also helps to build credibility for art curriculum in the eyes of school administrators and parents. There is no one widely accepted approach for evaluating art, however. Some educators may choose to include writings in the form of research papers or journals in their DBAE curriculum, which will provide a wider range of materials that may be used to evaluate their students’ progress.

The method of evaluation should take into consideration the student's skill level and should not discourage them from further learning (Day 1985). Comprehensive curriculum should allow for various levels of purpose. For example, some lessons may strive for a very specific outcome, such as creating a color wheel, where other lessons may allow for more freedom and self-expression (Day 1985). The desired outcome of the lesson will then dictate how the outcome should be evaluated and what criteria to use. A criterion-based assessment allows for evaluating how well a student fulfills goals without comparing them to other students (Gentile and Murnyack 1989).

Teachers should be evaluated as well; however, it is important that the person conducting the evaluation is familiar with DBAE (Dobbs 1992). For example, having an art expert who is not familiar with DBAE evaluate a teacher who is using DBAE would not be a beneficial method of evaluation.

Benefits and Disadvantages

Because DBAE is so flexible, it may be incorporated into almost any area of learning. The study of art is not necessarily the focus of a DBAE lesson, but rather, is used to teach another subject. For example, looking at art and music from a certain time period may teach students about how the people of that time lived and thought. DBAE strives to develop critical thinking and reasoning skills that lead to a well-rounded art education, providing context for the art students learn to create. DBAE may also be used with music, theatre, and social studies, educating students of the work of past artists and using that knowledge to help them create their own art, acting abilities, dances, or understanding of social sciences.

Conclusion

DBAE is a method that I find good in theory, but as emphasized above, it has a disadvantage in that there is no standard method. The literature on DBAE is extensive and may be overwhelming for a new teacher or even an experienced teacher who is seeking to change the methods they use to teach art. One of my high school art teachers used something that I am only now able to identify as a very dry, rigid use of DBAE, making us memorize facts about a different piece of art every day and write short paragraphs about them each day. This culminated in a test at the end of the week that consisted mostly of regurgitating titles, names, and dates, with little time spent on interpretation of the pieces we had looked at. Compare this to some of the methods mentioned in the articles referenced, for example, Jean C. Rush's detailed explanation of a lesson on contour drawing (Rush 1987). The lesson teaches critical analysis by having students compare their work to the examples created by adult artists, which builds background knowledge for the student. Basic criticism is learned as students evaluate their own work and that of their classmates.

Overall, DBAE is a matter of how it is used. It may either be used very rigidly, or very openly, and teachers will use it in their own way. Evaluation is important as it allows a teacher to discover what is and is not working in their classroom, and they will be able to adapt their curriculum to better suit the needs of their students.

References

Clark, G. A., Day, M. D., & Greer, W. D. (1987). Discipline-Based Art Education: Becoming Students of Art. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 21(2), 129-193.

Day, M. D. (1985). Evaluating Student Achievement in Discipline-Based Art Programs. Studies in Art Education, 26(4), 232-240.

Dobbs, S. M. (1992). The DBAE Handbook: An Overview of Discipline-Based Art Education. Los Angeles: Getty Center For Education In The Arts.

Gentile, J. R., & Murnyack, N. C. (1989). How Shall Students Be Graded in Discipline-Based Art Education?. Art Education, 42(6), 33-41.

Rush, J. C. (1987). Interlocking Images: The Conceptual Core of a Discipline-Based Art Lesson. Studies in Art Education, 28(4), 206-220.