The Arts and Critical Thinking in American Education. - Review - book review

Adolescence, Spring, 2000

OLSON, Ivan. The Arts and Critical Thinking in American Education. Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey, 2000. l6Opp. $59.95 (h).

The arts are truly "adventures of the mind." Yet, except for a fortunate but relatively small number, even the more educated and sophisticated segments of U.S. society are hardly able to relate to the arts. This book stresses that the arts are cognitive and affective essentials in human development. Of special interest are the treatments of examples of artwork in defining and explaining various forms of visual and auditory imagery. The author includes scholarly research from the disciplines of psychology, philosophy, medicine, music, linguistics, and visual arts to bring together theories and questions that will drive and nourish the continued search for understanding the human mind and humaneness. The text is a representative grouping of studies and ideas that help to define and clarify creativity, arts processes, critical thinking, and aesthetics in education. Chapters include: theoretical and philosophical overview; perceptual style; cognition and the arts--some necessary generalizations; the image is ever ything; arts, aesthetics, and the umbrella of critical thinking; and teaching approaches.