THE ARTISTIC COMPETENCE OF VISUAL ARTS TEACHERS: CASE STUDY IN PONTA GROSSA (PARANÁ)

Abstract

This work analyses the relationship between the artistic competence and the didactic-methodological procedures of Visual Arts teachers from secondary schools (age 11 to 14) in the city of Ponta Grossa-PR, BR. The aim is to reflect, above all, how the artistic appropriation of teachers shapes the teaching of art in the basic education. In the manner of Bourdieu, it is assumed that the artistic competence of teachers results from the combination of social trajectory, academic training and professional socialisation. The case study is exploratory, with a qualitative approach, and seeks to triangulate bibliographic and documentary sources resulting from the application of a questionnaire, systematic observations and semi-structured interviews. The universe is composed of four peripheral and central schools and the participants are four teachers with a bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts working in classes from 6th to 9th grade. It is noted that the interpretation schemes available to teachers (what constitutes their culture) come from identity references with mass culture, but academic training is qualified by a Eurocentric figure that reinforces a hierarchical conception of art (attributed to the traditions of the great/high culture). The conclusions point out that, despite the guiding axes for the teaching of art in Brazil being multicultural, a model of cultural reproduction is reserved to didactic-methodological procedures (canonical dynamics with artists and movements of traditional European and North American iconographic expression) and practices globally valued by the education system (cult of content, textbook activities and tests aimed at direct application to college entrance examinations) contrary to the artistic essence itself.