Reading Analysis: The Artistic-Aesthetic Curriculum

In reading Maxine Greene’s, “The Artistic-Aesthetic Curriculum” I could further see the importance of art in education and the teachers role of ensuring the child’s life is enriched by this connection with art. Art allows one to experience a world typically not encountered because of the constant routine many find themselves in. It allows for new windows and doors to be opened by encountering alternative point of views and ways of thinking. Art forces one, in a sense, to become more aware and connected to the world they live in. Through reading the article, I found myself reflecting on Plato’s Allegory of the cave and how it interconnects with Maxine Greene’s thoughts on the role of the teacher to better the lives of the students as well as the use of art in the process.

In Plato’s allegory of the cave, prisoners were chained, trapped and unable to move in a dark desolate cave. These chains, restricting their movement, prohibited them from knowing life in any manner other than their current circumstance. These prisoners correlate with the mundane, routine lives Greene references that limit one from forming new ways of thinking and alternative perspectives. They see life in one manner because they are accustomed to it and forced to because they haven’t had the opportunity to encounter a new experience. Within the cave people walked by with artifacts that produced shadows but the prisoners still could not see. The prisoners viewing shadows of images on the wall have their perspective, those carrying the artifacts another and still yet those outside the cave another, all of which are based on their individual experiences. The breakthrough occurs through leaving the cave and encountering new perspectives. The prisoner that is now free has a different perspective, which has changed his original schema, transforming him. Art serves the same purpose it transforms one from their current perspective and way of thinking to a new broader perspective that is meaningful to them because of their experiences. If the prisoner had never been chained in the cave the meaning of being outside the cave would definitely diminish and a new way of thinking and understanding lost. Just as if the prisoner never left the cave the meaning of being outside the cave would not have any relevance to him. Most importantly, the prisoner does not transform on his own he is guided and helped as he makes his transformation. This important role of guiding one through a transformation is the role of the teacher. As Plato and Green acknowledge to be educated is to be transformed, art allows for this transformation.