Overview
The Ontario Arts elementary curriculum expectations in the Exploring Forms and Cultural Context strand can be categorized imperfectly into four general categories:
Arts Identities
Learning Goals // Buts d'apprentissage
- investigate and describe their own and community arts experiences, recognizing diverse reasons and contexts for engaging in artistic practices, and analyze the role of arts in fostering community expression
- examine how the arts influence personal character development and identity formation, considering global art expressions and comparing social values communicated across different artistic forms and historical periods
- étudier et décrire leurs propres expériences artistiques et celles de la communauté, en reconnaissant les diverses raisons et contextes pour lesquels iels s'engagent dans des pratiques artistiques, et analyser le rôle des arts dans la promotion de l'expression de la communauté
- examiner comment les arts influencent le développement du caractère personnel et la formation de l'identité, en considérant les expressions artistiques mondiales et en comparant les valeurs sociales communiquées à travers différentes formes artistiques et périodes historiques
Curriculum Expectations // Attentes du programme d'études
- identify and describe arts experiences in their own lives and communities
- identify various reasons why people engage in arts practices in daily life and various contexts in which they do so and the role of the arts in the community
- identify ways in which the arts and their depictions in the media may influence a person’s character development and sense of identity
- demonstrate an awareness of ideas and emotions expressed in art works from communities around the world
- compare and contrast how social values are communicated in several different forms and/or styles of art from different times and places
- identify and describe some of the ways in which art forms and styles reflect the beliefs and traditions of a variety of cultures and civilizations
Note: These curriculum expectations have been adapted from their specified art (i.e., dance, drama, music, visual arts) to be inclusive of all the arts. Many expectations were repeated across multiple arts with slight rewording.
At the beginning of a program, teachers can invite students to generate ideas about the arts in their community. In each program, the class might brainstorm collectively or students might brainstorm individually about the ways that the arts show up in their community and in their lives.
- For a dance program, students might participate in a variation of "Yes Let's" (the improvisation game) where they suggest locations that they see or experience dance and then students would pretend to be in that location, collectively exploring the dance in their communities.
- For a drama program, students might generate a Museum Tour showcasing the role of drama and theatre in their community through tableau and captions or narration.
- For a music program, students might create a community soundscape, using audio recordings, found instruments, or vocalizations.
- For a visual arts program, students might create a class mural reflecting the art forms, styles, etc. that show up in their communities and in their lives.
Teachers can coach students to consider the arts beyond the notion of institutional arts spaces (e.g., how playing pretend is a form of theatre, how kitchen dance parties are a form of dance, how singing in places of worship is experiencing music, and how sidewalk chalk drawings are a form of art-making.
In each program, students might create an autobiography related to the arts program (i.e., a genealogy of dance/drama/music/visual arts in their family and life) using a variety of media or forms to represent their artistic identity. This could be in the form of a written or oral reflections or each of these activities might act as a creative challenge, inviting students to use the Creative Process to expand on this theme (e.g., in music, the soundscape might be an impetus to create a piece of music blending the various community influences while using the elements of music; in dance, students might create dance phrases for significant dance influences in their life or community and blend them into an autobiographical dance piece).
Au début d'un programme, les enseignants peuvent inviter les élèves à générer des idées sur les arts dans leur communauté. Dans chaque programme, la classe peut faire un petit exercice de remue-méninges collectif ou individuel sur les façons dont les arts se présentent dans leur communauté et dans leur vie.
- Dans le cadre d'un programme de danse, les élèves peuvent participer à une variante du jeu d'improvisation « Oui, allons-y », dans lequel les élèves proposent des lieux où la danse est présente ou vécue, puis font semblant de se trouver dans ces lieux, explorant ainsi collectivement la danse dans leur communauté.
- Dans le cadre d'un programme d'art dramatique, les élèves pourraient créer une visite guidée du musée présentant le rôle de l'art dramatique et du théâtre dans leur communauté au moyen de tableaux et de sous-titres ou d'une narration.
- Dans le cadre d'un programme de musique, les élèves peuvent créer un paysage sonore communautaire à l'aide d'enregistrements audio, d'instruments trouvés ou de vocalisations.
- Dans le cadre d'un programme d'arts visuels, les élèves peuvent créer une murale de classe reflétant les formes d'art, les styles, etc. qui se manifestent dans leur communauté et dans leur vie.
Les enseignants peuvent aider les élèves à considérer les arts au-delà de la notion d'espaces artistiques institutionnels (par exemple, comment le jeu de faire semblant est une forme d'art dramatique, comment les soirées dansantes dans la cuisine sont une forme de danse, comment le chant dans les lieux de prière est une expérience musicale, et comment les dessins à la craie sur les trottoirs sont une forme de création artistique).
Dans chaque programme, les élèves peuvent créer une autobiographie liée au programme artistique (c'est-à-dire une généalogie de la danse/du théâtre/de la musique/des arts visuels dans leur famille et dans leur vie) en utilisant une variété de médias ou de formes pour représenter leur identité artistique. Cette autobiographie pourrait prendre la forme d'une réflexion écrite ou orale, ou chacune de ces activités pourrait servir de défi créatif, invitant les élèves à utiliser le processus créatif pour développer ce thème (par exemple, en musique, le paysage sonore pourrait inciter à créer un morceau de musique mêlant les diverses influences de la communauté tout en utilisant les éléments musicaux ; en danse, les élèves pourraient créer des phrases de danse pour les influences significatives de la danse dans leur vie ou leur communauté et les mélanger dans une pièce de danse autobiographique).
When relating forms and traditions to social values, begin with students' own traditions and their associated values.
Consider inviting students to conduct an inquiry into the traditions in their lives and their communities. Students might interview family members (if appropriate and accessible) or community members (see Section XX about guests in the classroom), using questions like the following, adjusting for age-appropriateness and complexity:
- What is the tradition?
- What happens during the tradition?
- Who participates in the tradition?
- When did it start (in your family or in your community)?
- Who started it (if known)?
- What is special about this tradition for your family or community?
- What is your favourite part of the tradition?
- How has the tradition changed from one generation to the next?
- Why does your family or community do this tradition?
- What could other people learn from this tradition? How does it build community?
In grade 2, it might make sense to connect these expectations to the Social Studies curriculum. See Section XX.
Extend this learning by using similar questions when introducing students to new art forms or traditions, either by finding media where this art form is explained by someone with this kind of knowledge or by inviting someone from the community to share their knowledge with students.
This serves to disrupt the narrative that the art forms present in the classroom are neutral and by providing a foundation from which to explore art forms different from those in your students' communities.
Lorsque vous reliez les formes et les traditions aux valeurs sociales, commencez par les propres traditions des élèves et les valeurs qui y sont associées.
Pensez à inviter les élèves à mener une enquête sur les traditions dans leur vie et dans leur communauté. Les élèves peuvent interroger des membres de leur famille (si cela est approprié et accessible) ou des membres de la communauté (voir la section XX sur les invités dans la classe), en utilisant des questions telles que les suivantes, en les adaptant à l'âge et à la complexité :
- Quelle est la tradition ?
- Que se passe-t-il pendant la tradition ?
- Qui participe à la tradition ?
- Quand a-t-elle commencé (dans votre famille ou dans votre communauté) ?
- Qui en est à l'origine (si vous le savez) ?
- Qu'est-ce que cette tradition a de particulier pour votre famille ou votre communauté ?
- Quelle est la partie de la tradition que vous préférez ?
- Comment la tradition a-t-elle évolué d'une génération à l'autre ?
- Pourquoi votre famille ou votre communauté pratique-t-elle cette tradition ?
- Qu'est-ce que d'autres personnes pourraient apprendre de cette tradition ? Comment cette tradition renforce-t-elle la communauté ?
En deuxième année, il pourrait être judicieux de relier ces attentes au programme d'études sociales. Voir la section XX.
Prolongez cet apprentissage en utilisant des questions similaires lorsque vous présentez aux élèves de nouvelles formes d'art ou de nouvelles traditions, soit en trouvant des médias où cette forme d'art est expliquée par une personne ayant ce type de connaissances, soit en invitant une personne de la communauté à partager ses connaissances avec les élèves.
Cela permet de rompre avec l'idée que les formes d'art présentes dans la salle de classe sont neutres et de fournir une base à partir de laquelle explorer des formes d'art différentes de celles qui existent dans les communautés de vos élèves.
Forms, Traditions, Genres, Styles
Learning Goals // Buts d'apprentissage
Students will:
- demonstrate an understanding of diverse art forms, traditions, styles, and techniques from various historical and contemporary contexts, exploring their social, historical, and community significance
- identify and analyze stylistic features present in art forms encountered in their daily lives, including those in their home, school, community, and media, fostering a deeper appreciation for how artistic expressions reflect and shape personal and societal identities
Les élèves vont :
- démontrer une compréhension des diverses formes, traditions, styles et techniques artistiques dans des contextes historiques et contemporains variés, en explorant leur signification sociale, historique et communautaire
- identifier et analyser les caractéristiques stylistiques présentes dans les formes d'art qu'iels rencontrent dans leur vie quotidienne, y compris à la maison, à l'école, dans la communauté et dans les médias, en favorisant une meilleure appréciation de la manière dont les expressions artistiques reflètent et façonnent les identités personnelles et sociétales
Curriculum Expectations // Attentes du curriculum
- demonstrate an understanding of a variety of art forms, traditions, styles, and techniques from the past and present, and their social, historical and/or community contexts
- identify some distinct stylistic features of forms they experience in their home, school, and community, and in the media
- identify and describe some similarities in the purposes of process, community-based artworks and more formal productions
Note: These curriculum expectations have been adapted from their specified art (i.e., dance, drama, music, visual arts) to be inclusive of all the arts. Many expectations were repeated across multiple arts with slight rewording.
When deciding which forms to explore in an arts program, teachers are encouraged to begin with their students' lived experiences, arts identities, and the arts forms present in their communities.
The curriculum often recommends examples of arts forms that might be explored in a specific grade. These suggestions may not be an appropriate choice for the students in a specific class and teachers should use professional judgment when determining which examples to highlight. In other words, just because the curriculum suggests exploring Chinese ribbon dance in Grade 1 dance, if there are no students in the class for whom Chinese ribbon dance is part of their lived experience, this genre or form should not be viewed as mandatory for grade 1.
While students can and should explore art forms beyond their lived experiences, they should not engage in art-making for an art form without the leadership of a knowledge keeper from that arts community. Consider the slogan Nothing about us, without us.
For this reason, we do not advise using curriculum expectations like this one for instruction without making significant modifications to the approach:
"describe, with teacher guidance, a variety of dances from communities in Canada and around the world that they have seen in the media, at live performances and social gatherings, or in the classroom (e.g., dance numbers in animated movie musicals such as Happy Feet and Ice Age; First Nation dances at a powwow; folk dances of the early settlers; the farandole of France)" (Ontario Arts Curriculum, 2009, Grade 3, p. 87)
This expectation calls for students to describe a variety of dances, taking on a position as an ethnographer. If the intention is to apply knowledge of the elements of art to an art form, this constitutes application of Western arts lenses to a cultural art form and treats the art form as an object of study. This disconnects the characteristics of the genre, style, etc. from their meanings for the communities that engage with them.
It is essential that teachers who engage in learning about an art form that is cared for by knowledge keepers of a specific community should not use that learning experience as permission to teach that art form on their own.
For example, a White teacher who participated in a hip hop music workshop should not take that learning and apply it the way that the workshop facilitators did. There are several considerations:
- Who is in your class? Is it a predominantly White class? Is it a class of students who are only connected to hip hop music through media representations? Does hip hop form a part of your students' identities?
- What is the purpose for having a hip hop unit? Would including this unit be a form of tokenism?
- Have you explored hip hop pedagogy? Are there ways that hip hop pedagogy could inform a unit that makes sense for your students?
- Should students be creating hip hop music? Would this constitute cultural appropriation?
- Should students be appreciating hip hop music? How might you prepare to address stereotypical understandings of hip hop from students' whose identities are not connected to hip hop music?
- How might exploring hip hop music connect to other musical forms (e.g., K-hiphop and Kpop) and discussions about status, class, appropriation, etc.?
A hip hop unit might be incredibly appropriate for a class if it is introduced with care, if leadership for the unit comes from the community, and it acknowledges students' histories or builds appreciation for that art form in critical ways.
Cultural Appreciation
Appreciating culture often involves community, connection, and learning, whereas appropriation is typically an individual choice influenced by popular media or tokenism (Source).
- Artist educators invited into classroom spaces are able to enthusiastically invite students to join in to a practice as a guest.
- Students are not encouraged to equate description of the elements of art with understanding of the art form's meaning to its community.
- Students might use their understanding of an art form's significance as a provocation for exploring their own worldview. For example, students might learn about Woodland Art from Indigenous knowledge keepers, explore Norval Morrisseau (Miskwaabik Animiiki)'s decision to share sacred teachings against the wishes of his community while he intended to share these teachings with Anishnaabeg who had lost access to them, and use the themes of an artwork to inspire their own art about a similar theme, without appropriating the symbolism of Woodland Art. Alternatively, students might consider what symbolism their communities use in their own art works, or create their own.
- Encourage students to research and present on artists and art forms that are meaningful to them or that they feel are underrepresented.
- Facilitate projects that allow students to explore their own identities and experiences through art.
Forms, Styles, Genres, and Traditions
Status
Learning Goals // Buts d'apprentissage
- analyze how forms and styles of art reflect social and political roles across diverse communities and historical periods, gaining insights into the dynamic relationship between the arts and societal structures
- identify and explain how the arts influence and are influenced by popular culture and media, exploring their impact on public awareness, understanding, and appreciation of artistic expression in contemporary society
- analyser la manière dont les formes et les styles artistiques reflètent les rôles sociaux et politiques au sein de diverses communautés et périodes historiques, afin de mieux comprendre la relation dynamique entre les arts et les structures sociétales
- identifier et expliquer comment les arts influencent et sont influencés par la culture populaire et les médias, en explorant leur impact sur la sensibilisation du public, la compréhension et l'appréciation de l'expression artistique dans la société contemporaine
Curriculum Expectations // Attentes du programme d'études
- describe how forms and styles of arts reflect people’s different social and political roles in various communities, times, and places
- identify and describe some of the ways in which the arts influence popular culture; identify and describe ways in which pop culture and the media influence our awareness, understanding, and appreciation of the arts
- identify and describe several ways in which the arts contribute to contemporary social, economic, and cultural life
- demonstrate an understanding of the broader world of the arts by identifying and describing the key contributions and functions, as well as the roles and responsibilities of arts personnel in arts industries
Note: These curriculum expectations have been adapted from their specified art (i.e., dance, drama, music, visual arts) to be inclusive of all the arts. Many expectations were repeated across multiple arts with slight rewording.
Students are learning about the primary colours. Mondrian and Janvier.
- Teachers should also note that “folk” can sometimes be used to lower the status of art forms originating from outside of (or within) Europe. "Folk"
- here it is used to note its relationship to Indigenous traditions. This list cannot possibly be exhaustive, but it does seek to provide a brief overview of traditional theatrical forms from around the globe.
Teachers should explicitly and critically discuss the canon with students:
- Encourage critical thinking and discussions about why certain artists and artworks are included in or excluded from the canon.
- Use questioning techniques to explore issues of representation, voice, and power in the art world.
- Collaborate with local artists, museums, galleries, and arts organizations to access diverse art collections, performances, and exhibitions.
Maintainance, Evolution, and Adaptation
Learning Goals // Buts d'apprentissage
- trace the evolution of the arts as responses to external factors such as migration, new environments, and cultural contacts, illustrating how artistic expressions adapt and transform over time
- analyze historical, cultural, and technological influences on artistic styles, genres, and innovations, demonstrating an understanding of how social, political, and economic factors shape the emergence and development of specific art forms or genres
- retracer l'évolution des arts en réponse à des facteurs externes tels que les migrations, les nouveaux environnements et les contacts culturels, en illustrant la manière dont les expressions artistiques s'adaptent et se transforment au fil du temps
- analyser les influences historiques, culturelles et technologiques sur les styles, les genres et les innovations artistiques, en démontrant une compréhension de la manière dont les facteurs sociaux, politiques et économiques façonnent l'émergence et le développement de formes ou de genres artistiques spécifiques
Curriculum Expectations // Attentes du programme d'études
- describe the evolution of the arts as different groups of people have responded to external factors such as migration, a new environment, and/or contact with other groups or cultures
- analyse some historical, cultural, and technological influences on style, genre, and innovation in the arts
- describe how social, political, and economic factors influenced the emergence and development of an art form or genre of their choice
- identify and explain some of the ways in which artistic traditions in a variety of times and places have been maintained, adapted, or appropriated
Note: These curriculum expectations have been adapted from their specified art (i.e., dance, drama, music, visual arts) to be inclusive of all the arts. Many expectations were repeated across multiple arts with slight rewording.
Common Reasons that Traditions and Celebrations Change:
- Families migrate and their new community does not always share the same traditions as their former community
- Loss of language (i.e., because traditions are communicated through language)
- Contact between cultures
- Changing generations
- Families that are made up of multiple cultures
- Technology and the media (e.g., using lighting in the theatre)
- Colonization (e.g., the banning of potlatch dances by the Canadian government)
Teachers can integrate contemporary and historical works that address issues of social justice, identity, and resistance and can discuss how art can both reflect and challenge societal norms and power structures.