CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

INTRODUCTION

The Arts has been present since the beginning of civilization as it is an

essential means for man to live and communicate with others. It has been
used to enhance man’s life and surroundings, to express his thoughts,
dreams, and spiritual beliefs, and to share his own and his community’s
aspirations, celebrations, and events. Arts records, reflects, and rearranges
man’s life and existence.
Influenced by the American philosophy of education as they took over
during the early years of the twentieth century, art education in the
Philippines began to take shape as the Filipinos revealed their talents in art.
The Americans felt that these inherent talents should pay a vital part in the
total education of the people. Hence, American teachers took the
opportunity to make art a part of the educational growth of children and
youth in the schools. Art education in the Philippines is divided into three
periods.
Experimental Period (1915-1935). This period was characterized
by attempts in the gradual correlation of drawing with other subject areas
such as industrial works, language, and conversational English. Methods
used were authoritarian, dull and stereotyped. Children learned with the
teacher by imitation. Foremost among the advocates of this period were the
following and their contributions.
Proponent of Art Education and Contributions. Mary Mc Neel American
educator (1917) prepared an outline in an attempt to of prepare a grade
course of study which will provide for correlation of subjects with art.
Elizabeth Metchel American education (1927) prepared “A Drawing Course
for Primary Grades. Clara Carter, Pedro Villafuerte and Dativa Cristobal all
prepared in 1929 “A Course of Study for Normal Schools”. Vicente Alverez
Dizon (1935) published his book on Art Appreciation.
The New Movement (1935-1950). Professor Dizon began the new
movement for art education. This period gave hints as to what should be the
guiding philosophy behind the teaching art not only in the elementary
schools but also in the high schools and colleges. Correlation was then
extended to other subjects such as reading, English, music, geography and
health. In 1941, the late Mr. Sancho Enriquez, the supervisor of art in the
Bureau of Public Schools made a good study of suitable art activities in the
elementary and normal schools and published “A Course of Study in Art
Education for Elementary Schools”. The art lessons became more practical.
 The Newer Movement (1950 up to the present). In 1950, the
subject drawing was changed to Art Education. Along with the movement to
unify learning in the Philippine Normal College Training Department. Mr.
Pablo Victoria, art professor of the college, pioneered in the integration of art
in all subject in the curriculum. He introduced a variety of exciting activities
in the elementary grades in view of developing the whole personality of the
child. He had been since then an active exponent in the new movement of
educating the child through the wonders of art. In 1959, his book, Art in the
Elementary School was published and was adopted as textbook; clarifies the
principal role of the pupils as well as the teacher in art education.
The Arts is a visualization of a people’s history and uniqueness, a
reflection of their creativity and accomplishments, and a visible expression of
their distinct way of thinking, communicating, reasoning, and worshiping. It
is expressed in a unique symbol system that is visual, kinetic and tactile.
Howard Gardner, an educator and psychologist, affirms that the arts develop
the child’s “SPATIAL, INTRAPERSONAL, LINGUISTIC AND KINESTHETIC
INTELLIGENCES” for the Arts develop a distinct way of seeing, thinking,
communicating, and creating in a person. Furthermore, Art develops and
increases a person’s ability to apply creative and new solutions, for new
problems in our world. Schools, therefore, need to develop the multiple
intelligences of a student through the arts. The K-12 Arts Curriculum seeks
to address these needs of our students for the 21st Century.
The 21st Century is a different world: it is highly visual, with a
proliferation of images seen not only in static media like magazines, books,
paintings and posters. Now images are kinetic and accessible in various
media like television, outdoor advertisements, movies, cell phones, and new
technologies like iPads, iPods, DVD players, personal computers, and tablets.
Artists create, upload and share via the Internet, images, sounds, texts,
films, videos, pictures, artworks and designs. These are readily available and
interactive, involving the viewer to react, comment and utilize these visuals
through the Internet. Teaching Art to students is one way for them to
process and interpret the barrage of images and sounds, in a critical and
intelligent manner.
The focus of the K-12 Art curriculum is PHILIPPINE ART, CULTURE and
HERITAGE, appreciating the diversity of our local artists, our arts, crafts, and
indigenous materials to strengthen the student’s identity of being Filipino,
before he/she is introduced to the art of other countries. The modules guide
educators and provide our students with art experiences, concepts, and
processes that are presented in a SPIRAL PROGRESSION of difficulty and
depth from Kindergarten to Grade 12.
The approach is CHILD-CENTERED and HANDS-ON in creating art
using locally available materials. It develops the student’s imagination and
individual expression, and his/her CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS through
inquiry into the aesthetic qualities of his work, the work of others and of
artists from the Philippines and other parts of the world. It culminates in
connecting art to other subject areas and provides exposure and
apprenticeship to professionals in various art-related fields so the student
can discover and consider the different career opportunities in the arts.

With these general and specific observation and statements, the

researcher decided to conduct a study entitled “Framing the Proposed Art
Skills Development Program through the Perceived Needs of the MAPEH
Majors Second Year Students”.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The main purpose of this study is to frame the proposed Art Skills
Development Program through the Perceived Needs of the MAPEH Majors
Second Year Students and specifically attempt to answer the following
questions:

1. How can the respondent’s art skills be described as perceived by the

following:
a. the respondents themselves
b. the respondents’ teachers

2. Is there a significant difference between the perception of the

respondents and the teacher?

3. Based on the result, what strengths and weaknesses of the

respondents can be drawn?

4. Considering the identified weaknesses, what art skills development

program can be proposed?

HYPOTHESIS

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

SCOPE OF DELIMINATION AND LIMITATION

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
DEFINITION OF TERMS