Florence Fallgatter

“ 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. ”

“ Attempting to awaken interest in art in a bare, unattractive room is even more futile than trying to create interest in better table service with no table appointments. In the first situation there is probably such a wide variation in the background and experience of the pupils and in their present ability to observe the beautiful things of their surroundings that it becomes increasingly important that the teacher provide an environment which is attractive and inviting. ”

“ 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. ”

“ More ambitious programs for improvement were thus possible, not only through greater family support and encouragement but through the boy's ability to make certain alterations in structure or finishing that a girl could not do alone. Through these projects the boy and girl have learned much from each other. Perhaps the most conspicuous evidence of success has been the spread of interest beyond the homes into community improvement. ”

“ The vast amount of material in art from which to choose makes the problem the more difficult. An attempt to teach with any degree of success all of the content in art books and to give pupils an understanding of all of the art terms would be futile and would result in confusion. In the time available for art in the day vocational schools, as well as in the part-time and adult classes, the teacher is limited in her choice of content and must be guided by the [15] objectives for the course that represent the girls' needs in their everyday problems of selection and arrangement. ”

“ Difficult situations often arise as a result of poor choices on the part of pupils for their laboratory problems or for the decoration of articles to be made. Great tact is required in leading pupils to see that such choices are poor without offending them. It sometimes means slow progress and waiting until the class judgment brings out opinions that may have more weight than those of the teacher. It is more effective for a teacher to allow a pupil to proceed through the "trial and error" method than to completely discourage the making of the poorly-chosen article. ”

“ Two significant and fundamental outcomes of art education are revealed by an analysis of the relation of this subject to the social and occupational life of the pupil. These are, first, ability to recognize and appreciate art quality and to apply this ability to the needs of everyday life; and, secondly, ability to produce art quality even though in a relatively elementary form.
When art has been effectively taught there are many tangible evidences of its functioning in the personal and home life of the girl. What are some of these tangible evidences that indicate successful art training? ”

“ Since in a vocational program the objective is to train for homemaking, it is essential that art contribute to the solving of all home problems in which color and good design are factors. In the selection and utilization of materials that have to do with child development, meal preparation and table service, home exterior as well as interior, and social and community relationships, application of the principles of art plays a large and important part. ”

“ Very few members of the class have had any previous art training and such training has consisted of some drawing and water-color work in the lower grades. Previous to this lesson, it is assumed that the teacher has developed the pupils' interest [35] in the beauty to be seen and enjoyed in the everyday surroundings of their community, and has developed pupil ability to understand and to use a principle of proportion, namely, that a shape is most pleasing when one side is about one and one-half times as long as the other. ”

“ How can the degree to which art training is functioning in the lives of the girls and women be determined? It is fully as important for the teacher to evaluate results of her teaching as to plan for it carefully. This has been commonly recognized as a definite part of teaching, but the procedure has been largely limited to the giving of written tests. Such tests have usually been of the type that measure factual information and have probably failed to indicate the degree to which the student's life has been improved by her use of the art information. ”

“ In all consideration of home furnishing and accessories, emphasis is given to the selection of the vase, the lamp, the chair, or the curtain which is most pleasing in shape and suited in color and texture for a particular grouping or arrangement. In the earlier and more general art unit, attention is confined to such selection for some parts of the home, but in the later study of home furnishing, they are made for the entire home, with more specific reference to the relationship of one room to another and to larger arrangements. ”

“ 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 [11] 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. ”

“ In certain subjects as mathematics in which there is but one correct answer, the reasoning problem is used. In other subjects in which, in the light of existing conditions, there is a best answer, the judgment problem is used. This best answer or final choice is determined upon the basis of the law or principle established through the inductive problems. Few subjects are more concerned with the making of choices than art. For this reason, judgment problems play an important part in an art training which is to function in the daily lives of pupils. ”

“ One of the most striking and pleasing evidences of art's carrying over is the fact that so many girls outside of the home-economics department come in and ask questions regarding some of our pupils' clothing or ask to see the art work done here. The seniors in the teacher-training department are especially interested, as they expect to teach art in the rural schools and have had practically no work in it. ”

“ When there is no opportunity within the school for such class or group projects, there are other available possibilities to which a teacher of related art should be alert. Better Homes Week is observed in many towns and cities and those in charge are usually glad to turn over the furnishing of one or more rooms for the occasion to the local home-economics department. A center to which so many visitors come affords an excellent opportunity for exemplifying to the community good taste in furnishings at a cost consistent with the income of the average family. ”

“ There is no better evidence of the success of art training than in the effective use the girl makes of it in her home life. It may be anticipated that a girl who has gone this far in improving a part of the home will endeavor to make other desirable changes. To the extent that the members of the entire family welcome the changes brought about by the project and enjoy the results, the project may be considered successful. ”

“ It should be remembered that the ulterior motive in all art training in the homemaking program is to give to girls that which will make it possible for them to achieve and to enjoy more beauty in their everyday lives. In the average class few, if any, girls will have that type of "creative ability" possessed by great artists, but all of the group may be expected to attain considerable ability in selecting, grouping, and arranging the articles and materials of a normal home and for personal use. ”

“ If the home furnishing unit is to provide worth-while training and experience it should give to the pupils not only an ability to recognize good design and pleasing proportion in various pieces of furniture but ability to determine pleasing combinations of color, design, and texture in upholstery, drapery materials, and floor coverings, and to arrange and rearrange furniture and home accessories so that the rooms are comfortable and inviting. ”

“ It is highly desirable in the teaching of art that the relationships of principles in the attainment of beauty be established as soon as each is clearly understood. It is not enough that a principle be clearly established and several applications of it made. ”

“ Having determined upon the pieces of material that are desirable, the next problem is where to obtain them. Every teacher of art should build up her own personal collection of materials to supplement what can be procured from other sources, for one teaches best from her own material. At the same time, the teacher has a responsibility in guiding the selection of some pieces which should be provided by the school as permanent illustrative material. ”

“ The type of furniture to be found within the community is always a guide in determining how much, if any, study of period furniture is to be made. An attempt to justify such a study is sometimes made from the standpoint of the pupil's personal need in assisting in the selection of new pieces of furniture for the parental home and of the future need in selecting furniture for her own home. ”

“ As has been suggested, many tangible evidences of the effectiveness of art instruction may be observed and several of them can be noted in the classroom. Others of equal or greater importance can not be measured in the classroom, but can only be determined by the teacher as she visits the home, supervises home projects, and participates with her pupils in the life of the community. The home project has been an essential part of the vocational program in home economics since the inauguration of the vocational program in 1917-1918. ”

“ The successful laboratory or craft problem provides a measure of the pupil's judgment and creative ability; an opportunity for manipulative expression; and a means of producing something that should contribute to the beauty of the home. The pupil should visualize each finished article in its place in relation to the whole scheme of the room or home. The making of articles for which there is no definite need or place in the girl's home can hardly be justified in school time. ”

“ But, after all, success in providing an attractive and convenient home depends more upon the harmonious combination of colors and materials and the satisfying daily arrangement of furniture and accessories than upon whether or not the furniture is of a definite period or style. It is upon the former that emphasis should be placed in planning and directing a unit in home furnishing if it is to be of the most service in the everyday experiences of the pupils. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The content of an art training course may be defined in terms of objectives to be attained and these in turn should be determined through a careful consideration of the art needs of girls and women. In order to know these needs, the teacher must study the appearance, conditions, and practices in the homes of her pupils. Through observation of the general appearance and clothing of the pupils and a knowledge of their interests and activities outside of school, she will obtain much valuable information, but, in addition, it is highly desirable that she visit their homes. ”

“ Initial interest of students may be stimulated through directed observation of the many things about them which are good in color and design or by discussion of problems which are very pertinent to girls' art needs or desires. 16 However, conscious effort on the part of [23] the teacher is necessary to "open the windows of the world," if pupils are to develop real interest and experience such enjoyment from the beauty which surrounds them that an ideal of attaining beauty in dress and home is established. ”

“ The third and final type is the creative problem, which makes use of the truth or principle discovered in the inductive problems, so that the pupil is encouraged to do some creative thinking by using the principle as the basis for determining procedure to follow in a new situation. Since everyday living is full of opportunities for making choices and combinations, it is essential that both judgment and creative problems be included in practical art training. ”

“ In art this is particularly true, for we can only enjoy and appreciate that which we are able to understand. Through training we may be able to appreciate and understand art even though we can not produce art to any great extent. ”

“ It would be far better for the girls to have no art work than to have the type of course that develops in them a hypercritical attitude or that creates an unhappiness or a sense of shame of their own homes. ”

“ Since the creative problems call for the highest type of thinking and are the most difficult, the natural place for them is at the end of the problem series. At that point the pupils should have sufficient information and judgment ability to enable them to solve the most difficult problem quite readily. Introducing the difficult problem too soon may discourage the pupil and lessen interest in the course as a whole. Some creative problems involve fewer art principles than others. ”