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INDEX 85

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Publications of the Federal Board for Vocational Education relating to home-economics education 89

FOREWORD

Since the organization of the vocational program in 1917 the teaching of art in its relation to the home has been recognized as an essential part of the home-economics program.

Great difficulties have been experienced in securing adequate instruction in this field. Many schools, especially in the rural communities, employ no art teachers. In such schools the only art instruction is that given by the regular home-economics teacher, and is commonly reduced to a minimum of applicable content.

The teaching of art has dealt too exclusively with the creation of artistic things, and it is not easy to change the emphasis over into the field of appreciation and discriminating selection.

Clothing, home planning and furnishing, care of the sick, serving of foods, care of children, and family relationships, all have an "art" side. The successful discharge of household responsibilities is conditioned largely upon a perception of this truth.

There has been a dearth of teachers prepared to teach art in its application to homemaking. In the last decade, however, several of the institutions approved for training vocational teachers of home economics have introduced courses in this field, and the number of such institutions is increasing.

This bulletin was prepared under the direction of Adelaide S. Baylor, chief of the home economics education service, by Florence Fallgatter, Federal agent for home economics in the central region, assisted by Elsie Wilson, a member of the home economics teacher-training staff of Iowa State College.

The Federal Board for Vocational Education and Home Economics Education Service appreciate the cooperation of State supervisors, members of teacher-training staffs, vocational teachers, and art teachers both in the schools and colleges, and their contributions of material for this study.

It has been undertaken to meet a demand expressed very generally during the last 14 years by teaching staffs for assistance in adapting art instruction specifically to homemaking, to the end that all instruction for homemaking may be made more effective.

THE TEACHING OF ART RELATED TO THE HOME

Section I

INTRODUCTION

All art is life made more living, more vital than the average man lives it--hence its power. Taste, unlike genius can be acquired; and its acquisition enriches personality perhaps more than any other quality.--E. Drew.

Professor Whitford bases his book, An Introduction to Art, on two hypotheses: " That art is an essential factor in twentieth century civilization and that it plays an important and vital part in the everyday life of people; that the public school presents the best opportunity for conveying the beneficial influence of art to the individuals, the homes, and the environment of the people."

In keeping with this present-day philosophy, the introduction of art instruction into the public schools is increasing. Through the influence of home economics, a field of education in which there is an urgent need and wide opportunity for practical application of the fundamental principles of art, art instruction is finding its way into many of the small schools as a definite part of the vocational programs. Whitford refers to this present-day trend in home economics as follows:

At first there was very little articulation between the courses in art and the courses in industrial art or household art. At the present time we realize that these courses are all related, and all work together through correlation and interrelation to supply the child with those worth while educational values which aid in meeting social, vocational, and leisure-time needs of life.

Not until all girls in the public schools can have their inherent love for beauty rightly stimulated and directed may we look forward to a nation of homes tastily furnished and artistically satisfying or of people who express real genuineness and sincerity in their living.

With the inception of the vocational program in home making through the passage of the Smith-Hughes Act by Congress in 1917, art was recognized as one of the essential related subjects. Thus, in the majority of the schools that have organized vocational homemaking programs, art has been included as a part of these programs and an effort has been made to apply the principles of art to those problems in everyday life in which beauty and utility are factors. The aim has been to develop in girls not only an understanding of these principles but also an ability to use them intelligently in solving many of their daily problems. Therefore the teaching of art in home economics courses is primarily concerned with problems of selection and arrangement. The girl as a prospective home maker needs to know not so much how to make a pattern but how to choose one well; not how to make a textile print but how to select and use it; not how to design furniture but how to select and arrange it; not how to make pottery but how to select the right vase or bowl for flowers. At the same time, teachers of related art in vocational schools have endeavored to show that true art is founded upon comfort, utility, convenience, and true expression of personalities as well as upon the most perfect application of art principles. Considerable emphasis has been given, therefore, to a consideration and utilization of those material things that afford opportunity for self-expression. The importance of such self-expression is stressed in the following words by Clark B. Kelsey:

The home expresses the personalities of its occupants and reveals far more than many realize. It stamps them as possessing taste or lacking it. Thinking men and women want backgrounds that interpret them to their friends, and they prefer that the interpretation be worthy. They also want them correct for their own personal satisfaction.

In art courses that are related to the home, an attempt is made to build up in girls ideals of finding and creating beauty in their surroundings and to bring them to the point where they can recognize fitness and purpose and see beauty and derive pleasure from inexpensive and unadorned things that are available to all homes.

Mr. Cyrus W. Knouff has well expressed something of the importance of such a practical type of art training as follows:

Show the people through their children that one may dress better on fifty dollars, understanding art principles, than on five hundred dollars not understanding symmetry, design, color, harmony, and proportion. With this knowledge you furnish a lovelier home on five hundred dollars than on five thousand without it. Get your art away from the studio into life. Teach your children the gospel of beauty and good taste in their letter writing, their picture hangings, their clothes, everything they do.

Since the vocational program also provides class instruction for women who have entered upon the pursuit of home making, as well as for girls of school age, there has been some opportunity to extend art training to these women through adult classes. An attempt has been made in classes in art related to the home, home furnishing, and in clothing classes to give a training which will help them to better appreciate the influence upon family life of attractive and comfortable homes, of careful selection and arrangement of home furnishings, and of intelligent purchasing and selection of clothing.

For the girls who have dropped out of school and have entered upon employment, part-time classes have been organized under the vocational program. To these the girls may come for a definite period each week to secure such instruction as will further extend their general education, better prepare them for their present work, and also improve their home life. To the extent that the employed girl improves her personal appearance, makes her living quarters more attractive, and enjoys the finer things of life she is more valuable to her employer and is an asset to society. Much has been accomplished in this direction but there is a large opportunity in most of the States for more definite attention to such needs of the employed girl.

Section II

PURPOSE OF THE BULLETIN

The aim of related art education is to develop appreciation and character through attempting to surround one's self with things that are honest and consistent as well as beautiful.--Goldstein.

The vocational programs in homemaking are designed for girls over 14 years of age in the full-time day schools, many of whom do not complete high school or do not have opportunity for more than a high-school education; for those young girls, 14 to 18 years of age, who having dropped out of full-time school can attend the part-time schools; and for women who are in position to attend adult homemaking classes. The provision of time in the programs for related subjects as well as for home-economics subjects covered in these three types of schools has made it possible to develop the principles of art and science as more than abstract theories. In this way these principles become fundamental to the most successful solving of many of the problems in home economics. The fact that these principles may be applied repeatedly in many different home-life situations means in turn a very much better understanding and subsequent use of them.

Through the comparatively few years in which these vocational programs have been in operation, teachers in all States have attempted with some success to give an art training that is both practical and vital to young girls and women. They have, however, been confronted with many baffling problems. Some of these have been considered by committees on related subjects and an urgent request was made by one of these committees that a more detailed discussion of these problems be published. It is the purpose of the bulletin to point out some of the most significant problems in connection with art courses that are related to the work in homemaking and to present the pooled thinking of various groups upon them to the end that girls and women may know how to make their homes attractive even with limited incomes and how to choose and wear clothing effectively and becomingly. Some of the questions to be answered in an attempt to solve these problems are:

In vocational programs the courses or units in art related to the home are taught by both art teachers and home-economics teachers. In the larger schools they are frequently assigned to the regular art teacher, provided she has had sufficient contact and experience in homemaking to give her the necessary background for making the fundamental applications. In this case she follows very closely the work in the homemaking classes and makes use of every opportunity for correlation of her art work with the home.

In the smaller schools in which the vocational programs are organized there is usually no special art teacher and therefore the home-economics teacher must give all of the art work. In most States training in art is included among the qualifications for vocational home-economics teachers. The teacher-training institutions are providing instruction in art and also special methods courses in the teaching of related art in public schools in order that their prospective teachers may be as well prepared as possible to handle the related art as well as the home-economics courses.

This bulletin is intended as a help to teachers of related art courses, be they regular art teachers or home-economics teachers, to art instructors and teacher trainers in colleges, and to supervisors of home economics. The following tabulated suggestions indicate how it may be of service to these four groups:

While the major emphasis in the bulletin is directed toward the teaching of related art, mention should be made of the importance of environment as a potent factor in shaping ideals and developing appreciation of the beautiful. Constant association with things of artistic quality and frequent opportunity for directed observation of good design and color should be provided for all home-economics students. The home-economics laboratory offers an opportunity for centers in which interesting and artistic groupings may be arranged. These tend to eliminate much of the formal school atmosphere and provide a more typical home environment. Such centers in home-economics laboratories have been appropriately called appreciation centers. A laboratory with examples of the beautiful in line and color, such as well-arranged bowls of flowers, bulletin boards, wall hangings, or book corners, may prove an effective though silent teacher.

It would be futile to attempt to make most school laboratories too much like homes, however. Such attempts may give the appearance of being overdone. The light and cheerful room, with the required furnishings well arranged and one or more appreciation centers, is usually the more restful and attractive. From daily contact with this type of room girls unconsciously develop an appreciation of appropriateness and of orderliness and an ideal for reproducing interesting arrangements in their own homes. It is desirable to have the appreciation centers changed frequently, and to give pupils an opportunity to share in selecting and making the arrangements.

DETERMINING CONTENT FOR A COURSE IN ART RELATED TO THE HOME

Taste develops gradually through the making of choices with reference to some ideal.--Henry Turner Bailey.

PLACE OF ART IN THE VOCATIONAL PROGRAM IN HOME ECONOMICS

In recent years, many schools carrying the vocational program in home economics have scheduled courses in related art five to seven periods each week for one semester and in some cases for an entire year. In other schools, the entire vocational half day has been devoted to home economics, art being introduced in short units or as a part of some unit in home economics where it seemed to meet particular needs.

A unit of several weeks or a full semester of consecutive time devoted to the teaching of art as related to the home is generally considered more effective than to teach only certain art facts and principles as they are needed in the regular home economics units. Since art is recognized as fundamental to the solving of so many homemaking problems, it seems desirable to provide for this training as early in the first year of the home-economics program as possible so that it may contribute to the instruction in the first unit in clothing and home furnishing.

Prior to selecting the pattern and material for a dress, the girl needs to understand certain principles of design and color which will enable her to choose wisely. If art training has not preceded this problem in the clothing course, or if there is no provision for art work to parallel the clothing instruction unit, it becomes necessary to introduce some art training at this point. A similar situation arises in connection with the other units involving selection and arrangement such as home furnishing or table service. If art is taught only to solve specific problems as they arise the pupil will not have an opportunity to apply it to other phases of home-economics instruction and will therefore fail to develop the ability to understand and use the principles of art effectively in solving her other problems. There is the further danger that the girl's interest in home economics will be destroyed by interrupting the home-making instruction to teach the art needed for each unit. For example, if the girl is planning to make a dress, her interest and efforts are centered on its production. If preliminary to starting the dress, time must be taken to establish standards for the selection of the pattern and materials, the process of making is prolonged and the girl's interest in the art lessons and in the later construction of the dress is only half-hearted.

Training which provides for many applications of the art principles as they are developed gives the girl an ability to use these principles in solving the problems which arise at other times in home-making units. It is preferable therefore to arrange the vocational program so that the art instruction parallels or precedes those units in homemaking in which there is particular need for art. However, if the program can not include the teaching of art as a consecutive unit paralleling or preceding certain units in homemaking, it will be far better for the home-economics teacher to include art training as it is needed in the homemaking work than to omit it or attempt to proceed without the basic fundamental information necessary for the successful solution of many problems in home economics. In such a plan, time and opportunity should be definitely provided later in the homemaking program to summarize and unify the art training that has been given at various times in order that it may function in the lives of the pupils to a larger extent than that of solving only the immediate problems for which it was introduced. Such a summarization will make possible the application of the essential principles of art to a wide variety of situations and will mean not only a more thorough understanding of these principles but a more permanent ability to use them in achieving beauty and satisfaction in environment.

There are then three possible plans for including art instruction in the vocational program in homemaking, namely:

OBJECTIVES FOR THE TEACHING OF ART

In the vocational program in which the teaching is specifically designed to train for homemaking, it is obvious that the major objective in the related art units should be to train for the consumption of art objects rather than for their production. Bobbitt elaborates on this objective as follows:

It would seem then that individuals should be sensitive to and appreciative of the better forms of art in the things of their environment. As consumers they should be prepared to choose things of good design and reject those of poor design: and thus gradually create through their choices a world in which beauty prevails and ugliness is reduced to a minimum.

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