Introduction to Studies in Philosophical Realism in Art, Design and Education

Abstract

This chapter introduces the topic of Philosophical Realism in art education. It positions Philosophical Realism in relation to the threat of philosophical revisionism and the corrosive effects of pluralism in the latter half of the twentieth century, its conceptual development within the Occasional Seminar Series held at The University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, and its continuing application over twenty five years through the Visual Arts curriculum of the New South Wales (NSW) Board of Studies. The chapter goes on to provide brief descriptions of the chapters in the book that is divided into three parts. Part I (Chaps. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6), develops the concept of Philosophical Realism in art, design and education. Part II (Chaps. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16), focuses on the critical application of Philosophical Realism to concerns in the field of art, design and education. Part III (Chaps. 17, 18, 19, and 20), considers the implications of Philosophical Realism for practice in art, and education with a focus on design and innovation. The chapter makes reference to other papers that, whilst important to the development of Philosophical and Practical Realism, were omitted from this book. Selected examples of recent research that amplify the scope of Philosophical Realism are also identified for future publications.

There is an indelible relationship between [an] art teacher’s training, their vintage, their assumptions, their beliefs about art and movements in the artworld, and what goes on in art education (Brown 1992, p. 81).

But I know and will do nothing to conceal it, that in reality I discovered only little by little, even on the terrain of research, the principles that guided my practice (Bourdieu 2008, p. 2).

It was only slowly, and almost retrospectively, that I began… to spell out my ‘difference’ (Bourdieu 2008, p. 3).