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ELTE Faculty of Education and Psychology Doctoral School of Education
Educational Theory Programme
Virág Kiss:
Comparing Visual Art Education and Art Therapy in view of Teacher and Therapist Competencies
Theses of doctoral dissertation
supervisor: István Bodóczky, DLA
2014. Budapest
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Abstract
The aim of this research and dissertation is to compare visual arts pedagogy and art therapy from a theoretical, methodological and historical point of view with an emphasis on professional competencies. A detailed description of both fields is provided with regard to the connections and differences between them, while differences in professional discourses and approaches are also highlighted. The research is based on 38 expert interviews. These supplement the sources of the contrastive theoretical analysis and by analysing a smaller section of these interviews phenomenon mapping of the professionalism of the two fields was also possible.
Summary of results:
The dissertation provides a comprehensive description and systematisation of theoretical issues as well as historical and methodological aspects of visual arts pedagogy and art therapy and includes a definition of professional strata in both fields.
Theoretical, historical and methodological connections of the above two fields are shown and described while the differences in professional discourses and approaches are also highlighted.
To present an overview, I have compared methodological areas (types of tasks, giving reflections) which have not been dealt with so far.
A collection of professional interviews with representatives from the two fields has been compiled to provide a documentation of professional work in both fields. Ample source material from these interviews is included in the Appendix.
I have developed a method for the processing of expert interviews.
Thorough information gathering and professional discourse have been implemented regarding the question of competence boundaries and role boundaries in the two fields, and based on these, statements--as well as methodological suggestions--are made.
I have defined competence boundary as a domain, nevertheless, even if the person in the teacher role possesses psychotherapeutic competences, they can be hindered by the role boundaries during personal work with the students. This dual role of art teacher and art therapist can be merged or separated.
4 1 Introduction
The initial purpose of my thesis was the comparison of visual art education and art therapy. Originally I was trained as an art teacher then obtained an art therapist degree because I worked in the border of the two areas for many years. During my studies and professional experience questions arose as to how these fields are similar or different, , how the competencies are different, and where the limits of competence are.
It seemed necessary to answer these questions scientifically also in the Hungarian professional environment. In addition, to fill a scholastic niche, the theoretical description of both fields became a significant part of my dissertation. My research was sometimes impeded because of the marginal position of the study areas and the limited availability of pertinent literature. This is especially true of art therapy, which has no general review, or systematic literature in Hungarian that would establish the joint professional foundations. Therefore, the inclusion of primarily English-language literature was necessary, but my research focus was and is applicable in the Hungarian educational and therapeutic context. The art education literature also contained gaps in relation to the subject in hand, which made the need for processing even more pressing. I found few publications comparing the two areas in international literature, which emphasized the relevance of the topic and described the major issues. In addition, it was also obvious from these publications that the connection of the two areas can be different from country to country in the light of professional traditions and history. This made it necessary to include a brief review of the history of the fields in addition to the theoretical parts so the Hungarian milieu could be explored from this perspective, as well.
2 Research questions and hypotheses Research questions:
1. What are the similarities and differences between the fields of visual arts education and art therapy;
are there overlapping considerations?
2. Are there differences in professional competence; if so, what are those? Are there overlaps?
Hypotheses according to my research questions:
1 Visual art pedagogy and art therapy share some features at the level of theory and conceptualisation, but they are quite distinct fields.
2 Visual art therapy and art pedagogy have some historical loci of connection, the two fields interact.
3 Visual art pedagogy and art therapy also share some features at the methodological level, but there again, they are quite distinct.
4 There are intersecting areas of competence in expert interviews , but there are also unique teacher and therapist competence elements, as well.
5 3 Research features
My research is interdisciplinary in nature. The topic is at the intersection of three major subject areas:
arts, education and psychology, psychiatry, psychotherapy; however, their various discourses are significantly different based on different professional paradigm systems. I wrote my dissertation in terms of the pedagogical discourse, taking the perspectives of art and of psychology and psychotherapy into account.
My research is exploratory and qualitative, following the naturalistic research paradigm, somewhat recalling educational ethnography. In addition, it’s primarily theoretical, that is, compares the two fields with theoretical methods from theoretical, historical and methodological aspects. The theoretical research is accompanied by an empirical section, which primarily consists of expert interviews, completed with a questionnaire and other methods.
I consider my expert interviews to be the representations of reality, and I worked with them using the phenomenological approach and methodology. The phenomenological research looks for the experienced meaning of a particular phenomenon. As a method, phenomenology focuses on the experience, it aims for direct description, not for explanation or analysis. In both the theoretical and empirical investigation section my aim was a descriptive exploration of such phenomena and to produce a representative map of the data.. In addition, I relied on comparative pedagogical methods in a cultural-specific sense, and also made a comparative case study.
The interviews were also used in the theoretical research part and sometimes they supplemented or replaced the missing literature. A total of 36 experts were interviewed, of which 18 suitable interviews have been analyzed in more detail in the empirical studies (9 art teachers and 9 art therapists): I collected and systematized the competency elements they contain. The results of the empirical part of my research is not generalizable, and therefore only apply to this particular group, but my findings can be seen as a starting point of further research.
My interviewees are experts in their fields using original methods. They represent different areas of the profession from both sides, and their work is validated by the profession and/or the market. This is the reason why they appear in the research with their names. The thoughts expressed here are part of their personal-professional portfolio; it is like a work of art for the artist. Therefore I treat their verbal expressions like bibliographic references. For ethical reasons I have a written statement from all interviewees quoted by name, and I checked back with them about the quotations.
4 Theoretical-conceptual comparison and models
During the interpretation of the basic concepts leading to the concept of art education and art therapy (pedagogy, education, therapy, psychotherapy, socio-therapy, art, personality), I found that both areas examined in my research have the same target group (all the people)in a broad sense, but the emphasis is different. The target group of art education is mainly children and young people, while the target group of art therapy is mainly people in a problem-situation. The basic objectives of the two activities may be different: the transmission of culture and knowledge transfer in pedagogy, healing and mental health in therapy, but there are common goals, such as socialization, personalization, personal development, self-awareness.
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Because of my research topic I defined the concept of professional competence and role. The latter, because in addition to professional competence, role boundaries also affect, limit the specific professional activity.
I found a difference between the two areas with regard to the concept of art. Art therapy works with a more general anthropological concept of art: according to this, art, artistic self-expression is a kind of activity, a manifestation of the creative potential existing in every human being.
The concept of art itself is not important however, from the point of view of art therapy. What is important is only the activity, whatever it is called, because of its impact on the soul. The fundamental task of art education is the development of and reflection on the current art concept. The arts in both art education and art therapy situation have a specific role-altering effect.
Several approaches of the concepts of both visual art education and art therapy are known. I looked at art education in the broad sense, as a subject-pedagogy in my dissertation. Art therapy is a specific method of psychotherapy or sociotherapy, as well as a method that can be adapted to all sorts of areas, such as education, teaching and research.
In a theoretical comparison of the two fields I could differentiate two layers of both visual art education and visual art therapy along the professional layers of visual pedagogy and therapy and art.
In general:
artmoreb/lesspedagogy/therapymore/less
The individual layers mean different levels of professional competence in the artistic or educational/ therapeutic area. The multiple meanings of some concepts in the Hungarian terminology cause particular difficulty as they are used simultaneously in a broader and narrower sense. Such a concept is art itself, which can mean all the art disciplines and specifically the visual arts. And so is the concept of art therapy, which means the entire profession or one of its models, called art as therapy (the other is art in therapy).
In a publication of mine from 2010 (Kiss, 2010) I demonstrated the link and the existence of a continuum of visual art education and art therapy in models, which are as follows:
In a 2010 paper (Kiss, 2010), I demonstrated the link between, and the existence of a continuum of visual art education and art therapy in models, as follows:
Art therapy:
o Art psychotherapy/”art in therapy”: art as a symbolic language
o Art therapy/”art as therapy”: art as sublimation, with the emphasis on the process of creation
o Art educational therapy: therapeutic goals and frames with educational tools
Education through art: art as a tool of education and personal development
Education for art: the primary purpose is to study arts
Along the above sequence of models, focus shifts gradually from the personal aspect to the subject objectively considered, so to speak; and these models form a continuum.
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Table 1: Characterization of the three main models (Kiss, 2010)
Education for art Education through art Art therapy
Art is in the centre Art is a tool, not the aim The person is in centre
Aesthetics are important Problem-solving Process and meaning are important
Competition Socialization Protective space, safety
Artistic context Personal and artistic context Personal context
In summary, the two areas are not well-separated according to conceptual approaches, but they interweave. The concept of education and therapy overlaps them, but a shift of emphasis can be observed. The concept of art shows specific modifications in both the educational and therapeutic areas, and the concept of art in the two areas are not identical. The first hypothesis is proved.
5 Common historical intersections
I searched for, and found, shared nodes evidencing the direct professional connection between the two areas in the histories art therapy and visual art education, both internationally and in Hungary. Primarily, art-educational and pedagogical effects and backgrounds are present in art therapy. Certain historical loci of events (such as reform pedagogy, contemporary art education) exhibit the linkages more strongly. Also, several well-known art therapists’ also have art teacher backgrounds. Conversely, in art teaching, there is less of a link with the other field, but there are some people that integrate them, who are rated in both professions.
One of the nodes is the education reform movement, in which the two areas are related through many threads. In the art education movement, described as an independent reform school, the freedom to create is central to their philosophy. Rudolf Steiner, Waldorf education and anthroposophy have their own method of art therapy both in the field of anthroposophical medicine and the field of pedagogy.
Margaret Naumburg, known as the ‘mother of art therapy’, was also originally from the field of education, and founded her own reform school named Walden School. She studied with pioneering educators John Dewey and Maria Montessori. Her sister, Florence Cane, was the art teacher at her school, and the author of the first art therapy book.
According to the traditions of reform-education, modern child-centred and alternative pedagogies have links to art therapy. Contemporary art education and art therapy represent another, new meeting point. They are present in Hungary, although their approach is not widespread yet. Identity issues, social issues, and feminism are common problem areas where the two fields can potentially converge.
This encounter can be seen in the Hungarian context, as contemporary art education representatives are present in art therapy courses and on the art education training courses at MOME.
At that point in my research I was examining the professional backgrounds and original qualifications of well known art therapists. On several occasions, I found pairs of people in the two fields with some sort of direct social connection: siblings, student and teacher, parent and child, working relationships (Florence Cane and Margaret Naumburg, Friedl-Dicker Brandeis and Edith Kramer, Franz Cizek and Viktor Lowenfeld, Erik Erikson and Judith Rubin, Carl and Natalie Rogers, Sándor and Izabella Klein).
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Many of the best-known Hungarian art therapists have art teaching in their backgrounds. For example Erzsébet Katalin Komáromi and István Platthy were originally teachers of drawing, Márta Antalfai’s original degree is in special education, she became a psychologist later. Éva Sándor developed her brand of art education therapy on special education foundations – like Viktor Löwenfeld, but independently of him – based on Zsuzsa Gerő’s elaboration theory, presented in her book entitled The Aesthetics of Children's Drawings.
In what follows, I shall use quantitative data from my research that is applicable to the present issue. According to the data of visual art therapist training students of Pécs, out of a total of 118 students 71 had previous teacher training, while 47 had some other qualification (art, psychology, medicine, etc).
Summarizing this section, visual art therapy and art education has historical interfaces. The two areas interact with each other. This interaction is not symmetric, many art therapists have pedagogical background, but it’s not possible the other way around since the training terms do not allow it. I found the fourth hypothesis proven: there is interaction, however, is not symmetrical.
6 Methodological issues: frames, instructions, reflection
As for methodologies, I reviewed the frameworks of art teaching and art therapy, and I also produced typologies of the tasks and the forms of reflection and evaluation used in the two fields, comparing their characteristic forms of use. I have found some matching task types and forms of reflection as well, I shall detail them shortly.
6.1 Frames
The teaching of art is regulated by law, while art therapy is regulated by a professional framework. The boundaries are more flexible in art therapy, but examples of similarly permissive boundaries exist in the practices of art teachers as well. The interviews showed that art teaching has two simultaneous focuses:
it is both object-oriented and person-oriented; while art therapy is only person-oriented. There is a significant difference between the frames and their methodological roles, but certain areas within the practices of teaching show a degree of connection with therapeutic framing, particularly as regards practical use (e.g. contracts). Among the various roles assumed by art teachers and art therapists, some
Figure 1: Data of visual art therapy training students at Pécs (background in teaching)
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present the characteristics of one or the other field distinctly, while in some other roles, those characteristics merge:
a. Distinct: art therapy at school. The school as one of the arenas of professional art therapy;
The art therapist is a different person than the art teacher, or if they are the same person, that person assumes two distinct roles at different times.
b. Merging 1: art educational therapy
c. Merging 2: art teachers consciously working with therapeutic effects and elements, where, generally, the art teacher is also a trained art therapist
d. Merging 3: art education taking place within therapeutic or assistive frames, (also ) e. Instinctive/unintentional therapeutic effects in art education
As a matter of necessity, most art teachers work with large groups (30-40 people), while art therapists work with much smaller groups (4-10 people) or individuals.
6.2 Tasks and instructions
The bodies of literature on visual art education and art therapy contain a wealth of modes of instruction and tasks, and a wide range of possibilities was also evident in the practices that the interviews shed light on. Tasks with identical themes exist in versions different in the degree of freedom/fixity and in the degree of personalization. In art therapy, the "principle of minimum intervention" is used, while in art education, the objective is to present an optimal challenge with every task. In the field of instruction, the following types appeared in the interviews (summarized from both areas):
• Following patterns – copying (teaching and therapy)
• Axonometric, geometric tasks (teaching)
• Working from a visual image (teaching and therapy)
• Thematic work (teaching and therapy)
• Design (teaching and therapy)
• Art-based learning: the content of the task is from another subject (teaching)
• Narrative, storytelling tasks (teaching and therapy)
• Imagination-driven work (teaching and therapy)
• Creative, problem-solving, complex tasks (teaching)
• Personal tasks (teaching and therapy)
• Tasks based on a technique, material or perception (teaching and therapy)
• Projective task: associations, symbols, illustrations ... (teaching and therapy)
• Free creation (teaching and therapy)
Free creative work appears in the practices of both teachers an therapists, but in harmony with its principles it is more typical in art therapy; its use in art teaching is limited. In art education, working on the basis of a visual image, problem-solving and the more formal tasks are typical, but they can also be found in art therapy for therapeutic purposes. In addition, the fully pattern-following, copying type of task has also appeared in the therapeutic context, with specific therapeutic goals and focus.
There is a difference in the degree of how personal the task is. The tasks used in teaching art are more focused on the subject, but may involve personal elements, while in art therapy the personal element of the task dominates. We can distinguish between direct and indirect tasks in terms of the
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degree of personalization. Indirect tasks provide more protection, the personality of the maker is less openly expressed in the course of their performance.
Projective tasks represent a typical indirect personal task type. They use an evocative stimulus to elicit our free associations, the projections of our inner images. Projective psycho-diagnostic tests operate on a similar principle, only they are standardized (e.g. Rorschach test), but there exist also projective tests for measuring abilities (e.g. Clark's test). In this type of task symbols often play an important role. In the Hungarian literature, Judit (Bergmann) Hortoványi’s Five Symbols task series comes from a teaching context, while István Platthy’s method of projecting plant silhouette images can be used both for teaching art and as a method in art therapy. In the case of projective tasks, both in clinical practice and in educational settings, responding on the symbolic level is a recommended possibility, as it shows the inner feelings of the subject at the level of symbols, and in this way, we can work with those symbols without the subject being aware of them, purely on the unconscious level. This provides protection for the creative subject as well as the teacher at the level of reflection and verbal processing, while also ensuring that the teacher or therapist does not cross the boundaries of her role or her competence.
6.3 Reflection and evaluation
The common toolbox can be detected in the area of reflection on objects of art. Various types of verbal and non-verbal feedback appear, both in the literature and in my interviews. In a previous research project that I led, we produced a map of techniques of reflection, which was published in the earlier stages of my research, both in English and Hungarian. A more mature version of this publication is presented in my dissertation. The teacher and the therapist apply particular forms of reflection in accordance with the strategies of communication, teaching and therapeutic work that they employ: they choose one from the "range of techniques" in accordance with the actual situation and purpose. The most important roles of reflection are feedback and mirroring, but it also shapes the teacher-student and the therapist-client relationship. Those relationships also manifest themselves in the forms of reflection.
In the literature of art education, reflection or feedback is discussed under the category of evaluation, which also contains performance, valuation and assessment. Based on my interviews and the literature, it seems to be the case that art education avoids negative verdicts and prefers a non- evaluatory or positive feedback. Within the area of non-evaluative feedback, there exist a range of distinct methodological solutions, and descriptions of many such forms can be found in the literature of art therapy.
Feedback and reflection may appear in verbal and non-verbal forms. Non-verbal reflection may involve metacommunication and body language, as well as gestures reflecting on each other while working creatively together, with the "draw into" task also falling in this category. Verbal reflection can be expressed in words, in free text or as quantified indicators (percentages or grades).
As explained earlier, the various forms of reflection may be of an evaluatory type, or of a type that doesn’t actually rate the object of reflection. The non-judgmental modes of reflection are typically tools used in art therapy as well as psychological interpretation, but they may be also employed in the teaching of art. The phenomenological feedback techniques are as follows: questioning, response on the
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symbolic level, varieties of similes and metaphors, and CG Jung’s amplification and canonization, known as a specific form of amplification. "Structural interpretation", and the above-mentioned symbolic level response are non-rating reflection techniques. Forms of reflection that include evaluation can express direct judgment (praise and criticism), or suggest corrections. Comparison is the typical form of that – to each other, to him/herself or to an ideal.
Praise was particularly emphasised in the interviews with art therapists, but problems were also raised about its role and application. It was expressed that this form of reflection also involves expectations, and may reinforce self-esteem problems and the compulsion to conform, while on the other hand, according to several of my interview subjects, too much praise can raise doubts about the genuine nature of the praise. At the same time, it facilitates artistic work, and some specific target groups, with particularly low self-esteem may have a huge need for it.
On the teaching side, evaluation has the distinct functions of exerting formative influence, diagnosing problems and reviewing and summarizing longer processes. These categories can also be interpreted in the therapeutic context: the formative shaping function is less common during therapy because of the principle of minimum intervention, the summative type of reflection is highly recommended, and the diagnostic assessment function in teaching assumes a psychodiagnostic character in art therapy, and its role can be highly pronounced indeed. The palette of reflective techniques, subject to further extension based on additional observations (categories can overlap with each other, i.e. a specific form of reflection may appear in more than one category) is as follows:
Non-verbal reflection:
Metacommunication, body language
In co-creation, drawing, visual reflection
“Drawing into” someone else’s picture Verbal reflection:
Direct evaluation: praise, criticism
"Correction" – suggestions for improvement
Responding on a symbolic level – "be part of the game"
Interview, questions
Reflecting on the process
Interpretation, (ascription of meaning)
o Positive interpretation/”positive reframing”: finding the good in it o Negative interpretation
o Psychological interpretation
o Structural or phenomenological interpretation: the phenomenological response
Simile, metaphor, association (“what does it bring to mind?”) Special cases:
o Amplification: an association that broadens the meaning using cultural analogies o Comparison to a canonised work of art (special amplification)
Comparison
o To the person that created the work herself/himself o To others in the group
o To an ideal
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The review and analysis of the giving of instruction and tasks and of reflection and evaluation revealed that art therapy works with less directive methods with respect to both the giving of tasks (preference for freer tasks) and reflection (non-critical, non-evaluative). There is stronger management and control in art education during both task-giving and reflection – but both areas work from the same palette of tasks and modes of reflection.
In summary, the frames of the three areas show significant differences, but there are practices that connect the two areas (e.g., educational and therapeutic contracts). In instruction giving and reflection a greater overlap, similarity can be detected. I found the third hypothesis is proven.
7. Comparison of competency elements, and case study
During my research I carried out a detailed examination of 18 selected interviews. I sorted the competence elements appearing in the interviews into items and gave them item identifiers. The resulting competency items were grouped and organized into a structure, resulting in the following categories:
1. Personal operation
Keywords: self-knowledge, self-reflectivity, self-confidence, personal experience, supervision, responsibility, moral values, spirituality, decision, intention, courage/boldness, commitment, freedom.
2. Objective knowledge
Keywords: objective knowledge, cultural knowledge, personal knowledge (of the student, client, ourselves), social context, interdisciplinarity, discovering connections, associativity, complexity 3. Presence, improvisation, attention, spontaneity
Keywords: detection, perception (noticing), attention, memory, concentration, finding the essence, creativity, flexibility, problem-solving, ability to play, ability to be present, here and now, improvisation, intuition, spontaneity
4. Fitting in, acceptance, emotions and group dynamics, communication
Keywords: fitting in, acceptance, empathy, authenticity, connections, attachment, interaction capacity, cooperation, being personal, intimacy, adaptivity, communication, emotion management, group and psychodynamics, intrapsychic and interpersonal relationships, image of the learners
5. Framing, teacher-therapist role
Keywords: target group, rules, limits, contract, safety, atmosphere, material requirements, roles, organization, planning, documentation
6. Artistic and methodological knowledge and experience
Keywords: techniques, materials, equipment, instructions/tasks, reflection and evaluation, understanding the creative process, launching the creative process, projection
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Beyond the common structure, many professional competency questions can be grasped better in the details. In art education, too, there was an emphasis on experiences from art therapy. The topic of the need for, and the lack of supervision came up in both fields: in art therapy it’s a professional requirement, but still an unsolved problem in practice, while the pedagogical field is barely aware of it.
In the area of empathy, acceptance, and managing emotions the therapeutic area expressed not just generalities, but specific differentiated professional insights and experiences, for example the need for the therapist not to be carried away by empathic feelings about the client, no matter how serious a situation she or he talks about, or the importance of being able to distinguish the therapist’s own emotions and experiences from the client’s. Accepting the client can sometimes be a problem for the therapist (as well), which the therapist needs to overcome, and aim for acceptance, while also being aware of her own motives. If the aversion persists, the client has to be sent to another therapist. The need for cultural and personal knowledge during artistic work with students and clients was expressed in therapy and also in pedagogy. Both sides expressed the importance of presence, improvisational skills, the here and now, and attention. My interviews indicate that, while spontaneity may have a role in pedagogy, it has a more pronounced presence in the therapeutic area.
In my comparative case study I compared the professional activities of Nóra L. Ritók and István Platthy based on the questionnaires they completed, the interviews I conducted with them, and their publications. I chose them because they work with very similar target groups, and they are quite similar in a number of other respects as well (e.g. they are team-leaders, they are roughly the same age, both of them publish regularly, and they work using their own, personal methods), but their professional ways of thinking, their paradigms show significant differences. In the interviews, Nóra L. Ritók used the language and ways of thinking of education and social work, while István Platthy dominantly used psychotherapeutic approaches and terms. They both know their students’, clients’ situations, capabilities and problems well, but besides that, in the case of Nóra L. Ritók the personality of the student primarily plays a role in finding a task that is tailored to the student’s personal interest, while István Platthy considers the personality of the client as the manifestation of internal conflicts in the client’s unconscious world. They are both adept at getting children and young people interested, invested in artwork, they both use art as a professional tool to provide help, but their strategies differ: in one case, the effect is primarily directed towards the external world and interpersonal relationships, while in the other case, towards the internal, intrapsychic reality.
Overall, on the basis of the interviews selected, the competence items of the two areas could be organized into the same structure, but in the individual categories there were differences between the two areas in terms of quantity and the level of detail. Working with special target groups requires special competencies in self-knowledge, self-control and accommodation/acceptance. It also requires specific cultural knowledge of the specific target group. This is true of both fields, but it is applied more consciously and it’s more pronounced in the therapeutic area. The similarities and differences of the professional ways of thinking were particularly well-defined in the case study. The 4th hypothesis was proved.
14 8 Research results, theses
My research has a number of expected and unexpected results:
My dissertation offers a comprehensive description and categorisation of the theoretical issues and the historical and methodological characteristics of visual art pegagogy and art therapy – aspects that have so far lacked such a detailed treatment in the Hungarian literature of either of those two fields.
I determined the professional stratification of both professions.
I described and characterised the theoretical, historical and methodological links between the two field, along with their similarities and differences.
For the expert interviews used in the empirical part of my research, I developed a method that allowed me to identify the elements of professional competency that were presented.
I demonstrated that the competency elements that occurred in the expert interviews I examined could be categorised using identical categories as regards the field of art pedagogy and art therapy, but that the levels of elaboration exhibited differences between the two fields within individual categories.
Using a comparative case study, I demonstrated the differences between the professional approaches and methods of the two subjects, which are the result of the differences between the two professions, their characteristic professional ways of thinking and their terminologies.
As regards the limit of competency, I found that it is actually a wider margin, in which the personal enters into the relationship and then gets deeper, but establishing a personal connection in itself does not create a psychotherapeutic situation. In addition, the person in the role of teacher may be stopped short of doing personal work with the student by the limits of that role even if in fact she does have psychotherapeutic competencies as well. The boundaries of the role also depend on the understanding of the role. In artistic work, tasks that are personal in an indirect fashion, along with symbolic-level reflection, provide protection for the client, so this is the recommended approach in art pedagogy, and it is also of great utility in art therapy, indeed, necessary in some areas.
I found that in people who are members of both professions (art teachers and art therapists), the two roles can be separated or merged in various configurations in both the therapeutic and the educational framework.
A comparison of visual art pedagogy and art therapy in table format is provided at the end of the paper.
9 Discussion, further perspectives
The theoretical overview part of my research fills a gap in the Hungarian literature in both of the fields I surveyed. My findings, on the other hand, although they do concern some international phenomena as well, are strongly based on Hungarian approaches, with some specific local characteristics in both education and art therapy. Therefore the results of the research are primarily relevant to the situation in Hungary.
I have looked at visual art: there may be some similarities and some differences in comparison with other modalities. The differences may be the result of differently structured professions, but also of
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the inherently different character of the other modality or form of art concerned (i.e. temporal and/or spatial, mode of psychological effect, etc.).
My own competency as an art teacher and art therapist played a fundamental role as a foundation for my research. My own professional experience in both fields was important during the interviews. The effect of my presence as a researcher and my professional approach influenced the choice of interview subjects and my professional relationship to them (the way they see me) as well as the choice of questions I asked.
During the explication of my line of reasoning I repeatedly reached points where the possibility of further research was raised. I summarise those points below:
An examination of the art education movement within reform pedagogy
Research into the concept of art (e.g. based on the interviews already conducted)
Further interviews in the two fields in order to produce a (more) complete picture with the assistance of leading experts in both fields
Exploration, practical experience of art-based teaching and research, collecting art-based methods
A questionnaire study in order to obtain quantifiable results about the fields examined, including more accurate, measurable results with weighting and representativeness
A comparison of the output requirements of training courses in the fields examine.
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Table 2: A comparison of visual art education and art therapy in table format, based on my research
Considerations Visual art education Visual art therapy Category Concept of pedagogy of the
subjects
Method-specific psychotherapy like, sociotherapy, non-verbal
therapy Wider area than the school subject
and it can also be different (e.g. a leisure activity)
Affects deeper layers of personality, then sociotherapy
Target group All people All people
Emphasis on children Focus on problems and disorders
Objective Development
socialization, cultural transfer,
self-knowledge, learning
Development socialization, working through trauma, self-knowledge, self-empowering,
research Socialization
personalization
Psychotherapy, sociotherapy
Objects of inquiry The curriculum Therapeutic contract
Perception of contemporary art Client’s personal situation Pedagogical style Competence of the therapist
(artistic and therapeutic) The role of art Subject and also tool Tool, method, modality Overlapping effect It could have therapeutic impacts It can have an educational effect,
It could include teaching Trends According to the type of school:
Traditional school, Reform pedagogy, Alternative pedagogy,
Adaptive school
By schools of psychotherapy:
Psychoanalytically oriented, humanistic, Jungian (I am aware of these Hungarian
examples) Traditional teaching of drawing,
following examples Building on the freedom of self-
expression Based on the scene
Visual language Visual culture
Contemporary visual education
First pioneers classical contemporary
Designations (not all are synonymous)
Visual education Teaching drawing Visual art education,
Art education
Non-verbal therapy, creative therapy, drawing therapy visual art
therapy, art therapy Art teacher
Visual educator Art teacher Teaching artist
Visual art therapist, art therapist, art psychotherapist, artistic
therapist Modes of operation Performance oriented,
Subject oriented, Child oriented
Supportive, confrontational
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Models Education through art
Education for art
Art as therapy, art in therapy Art education therapy Art education therapy Typical institutions School (public education, art
schools, study groups)
Clinical (health) Museum of art Social institutions, educational
advisory services, child protection services
Public cultural institutions School (but not in the context of public education) Participation (dominantly) Compulsory (primary school) (More) voluntary
Atmosphere Competition No competition
Creative atmosphere Atmosphere of trust Rogers’ 3 requirements: empathy,
acceptance, congruence
Rogers’ 3 requirements: empathy, acceptance, congruence Protection Based on trust (no guarantee) Psychologically closed space:
confidentiality obligations, confined in space and time Typical modes of reflection Aesthetic Primarily not based on aesthetics
Assessing, rating No rating
Motivational purposes Personal meaning
Artwork Working with the arts
using visual problems, tasks
Working with the arts:
instruction, free or as-free-as- possible creation
Given aspects, criteria Principle of minimum intervention Development of visual skills Use of visual skills, advantages of
nonverbal expression over verbality
Teaching techniques Technical assistance, teaching techniques
Unlocking creativity Unlocking creativity Contemporary art context
prominent
Contemporary art context has minimal role
Reception: it’s more art history, analysis of art
reception:
Mainly own art piece or peers’ art Role of teacher/therapist
(dominantly)
Directing, managing, facilitative Facilitative, minimally invasive, supportive
In focus Container, holding
Giving Hosting, accompanying
Level of competence, based on qualification
Artist-teachers (qualification as an artist and teacher)
Artists and art therapists Visual educators (high-school
teachers, university degree)
Art teachers and art therapists Visual educators (primary school) Art therapists
Teachers, kindergarten teachers Psychotherapists who use art (not skilled artists)
Crafts instructors (not qualified teachers)
Artists in a therapeutic role (not skilled therapists) Special competencies required Reflected knowledge of artistic
discourse
Acceptance towards a specific target group, ability to reflect on
emotions
18 Publications of the author on the subject:
Virág Kiss (2010): Művészeti nevelés, művészettel nevelés, művészetterápia, In.: Iskolakultúra, 2010/10., pp. 18-31.
Virág Kiss (2010): Nevelés és terápia a művészet által; reflexió, értékelés In.: Új Kutatások a Neveléstudományokban, Törekvések és lehetőségek a XXI. század elején (ed.: Tamás Kozma, István Perjés), pp. 81-95.
An image takes more than thousands of words: The portrait of art therapy, rewiew about film of Judith A. Rubin: Art Therapy Has Many Faces (2004), In.: Confinia Psychopathologica, 2012/1
Kiss Virág (2013): ‘Reflections on drawings in art pedagogy and art therapy’, Visual Inquiry:
Learning & Teaching Art 2: 1,pp. 55–68.
Virág Kiss, Judit Bergmann (2011): ‘Projektív vizuális feladatok’, In.: A jövő´´ neveléstudománya, Budapest, ELTE Eötvös Kiadó (processing)
Virág Kiss (2014): A művészet,mint nevelés és a nevelés, mint művészet, In.: Neveléstudomány online folyóirat, 2014/1, pp. 69-81. Url: http://nevelestudomany.elte.hu/index.php/2014/03/a- muveszet-mint-neveles-a-neveles-mint-muveszet/
Selected perentations:
Virág Kiss - Anikó Illés: Education and Therapy through Art, elhangzott: 6th SIPE Colloquium, Budapest, 27 September, 2010.
Virág Kiss: Art Education, Education through Art, Art Therapy, The 10th National Conference on Education, Budapest, 4 November, 2010
Virág: Kiss Reflexion and evaluation 2. Education and therapy through art, 33rd InSEA World Congress, Budapest, 27-30 June, 2011
Virág Kiss: 1. Education and therapy through art 2. Virág Kiss - Katalin Benigna Balázs: The art conception of art therapy, Art Therapy Wolrd Congress, Budapest, 28-31 August, 2011
Virág: Kiss Education and therapy through art, ELTE - Tyler Art Education Seminar (Dr. Kárpáti Andrea, Dr. Lisa Kay, PhD students from ELTE University, Graduate School for Educational Research, Temple University, Tyler School of Arts students,) Budapest, 30 September, 2011
Virág Kiss - Csilla Szebényi: Possiblilities of supervision in Education, 5th Taní-tani conference, Miskolc, 3 february, 2012
Virág Kiss: 1. Supportive application of art in different professional fields, 2. Reflection style- practise on drawings (workshop), 6th SIPE Colloquium, Budapest, 24-26 October, 2013
Application of the visual language in art therapy, Emotion, Expression, Explanation 4th
International VLL Conference, VLL-Visual Learning Lab, BME, Budapest, 15-16 November, 2013
19 Literature:
Bodóczky István (1998): Vizuális nevelés 2. Feladatgyűjtemény és tanári kézikönyv a 7-12. évfolyamok számára, Helikon Kiadó, Budapest
Bodóczky István (2012): Kis könyv a vizuális művészeti nevelésről, VKFA, Budapest
Bush, J. (1997): The Handbook of School Art Therapy: Introducing Art Therapy into a School System.
Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas.
Csőregh Éva (1991) Rajzoktatásunk története. Eidos füzetek, Budapest
Gerő Zsuzsa (1974): A gyermekrajzok esztétikuma. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest
Gombocz János és Trencsényi László (2007): Változatok a pedagógiára. Okker Kiadó, Budapest
Illés Anikó (2009): Művészetterápia a közoktatásban: elméleti lehetőségek és etikai megfontolások, In:
Új Pedagógiai Szemle 2009/5-6. pp. 233-240.
Juhász Sándor (1991): Nonverbális pszichoterápiák, Magyar Pszichiátriai Társaság, Budapest Kárpáti Andrea (ed.1995): A vizuális képességek fejlődése, Nemzeti Tankönyvkiadó, Budapest Kay, Lisa (2008): Art education pedagogy and practice with adolescent students at-risk in alternative high scools, Northern Illinois University, doktori disszertáció
Klein Sándor (2000): Gyermekközpontú iskola. Edge , Budapest
Kramer, Edith (1971).: Art as Therapy with children, Schocken Books, New York
Naumburg, Margaret (1950): An Introduction to Art Therapy: Studies of the "Free" Art Expression of Behavior Problem Children and Adolescents As a Means of Diagnosis and Therapy, Teachers College Press, Techers College, Columbia University, New York, London
Löwenfeld, Viktor (1947): Creative and Menthal Growth, The Macmillan Company, New York Malchiodi, Cathy (1998): The Art Therapy Sourcebook, Lowell House, Los Angeles
Malchiody, Cathy (ed. 2003): Handbook of Art Therapy, The Guilford Press, New York, London Mihály Ottó (1998): Bevezetés a nevelésfilozófiába. Okker Kiadó, Budapest
Read, Herbert (1943/1970): Education through Art. Faber, London
Rogers,Carl R., Freiberg H. Jerome (2007): Atanulás szabadsága, Edge, Budapest.
Rubin, Judit A. (1998): Introduction to Art Therapy: Sources & Resources, Routlege, New York, London Rubin, Judith A .(1984/2011): Art of Art Therapy, Routlege, New York, London
Rubin, J. A. (2005): Child Art Therapy. 25th Anniversary Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Sándor Éva, Horváth Péter (1995): Képzőművészeti pedagógiai terápia, ELTE BGGyFK, Budapest
20
Schuster,Martin (1986),Kunsttherapie, Die heilende Kraft des Gestaltens, Taschenbuch, DuMont Buchverlag Verlag, Köln
Sehringer, W.- Vass Z. (ed. 2005): Lelki folyamatok dinamikája, a képi világ diagnosztikában és terápiában, Flaccus, Budapest
Székácsné Vida Mária (1980): A művészeti nevelés hatásrendszere. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest Trencsényi László (2000): Művészetpedagógia. Okker Kiadó, Budapest
Szabó Veronika (szerk. 2012): Az adaptáció művészete, Kézikönyv a bevándorlók beilleszkedését segítő művészeti módszerekről (szerk. Szabó Veronika), Ariadne Projekt, Artemisszió Alapítvány, Budapest Wadeson, Harriet (1976/2010): Art Psychotherapy. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hoboken, New Jersey Waller, Diana: Art therapy and children: A review of past and current practice, In.: Confinia Psychopathologica, 2011/1. pp. 46-67.
Waller, Diane (1984): A consideration of the similarities and differences between art teachin g and art therapy, In.: Thessa Dalley (ed.): Art as Therapy, An introduction to the use of art as a therapeutic technique, Routlege, New York, London, pp. 1-14.
