Teaching children design as part of extracurricular art education in China

Tsao Xinan Graduate Student, Department of Art History and Pedagogy of Art, Herzen State Pedagogical University 191186, Russia, Saint Petersburg, nab. Sinks, 48, room 6, room 51 caoxinan@rambler.ru

Design is a combination of technologies and methods aimed at making people's lives more convenient and comfortable. Design is a way of solving problems, which is based on the process of processing stones by primitive man, who created tools for hunting and obtaining fire. After the Industrial Revolution, design turned into a creative activity aimed at solving the problems of society: industrial design became a process of both creation and recreation ^[1]. A variety of vehicles have been developed and produced: spaceships, cars, cruise liners, passenger planes, trains, and also created books, images, music and videos. The diversity of modern architecture was the result of the fact that once distant ancestors converted caves for their needs, where their predecessors lived in ancient times. All this is the result of creative human activity. At the same time, some varieties of design are aimed at aesthetics, some at practicality, and some at both at the same time.

1. The importance of popularization of design training programs within the framework of children's art education

For children from 6 to 10 years of age, art education is a subgroup of basic education aimed at students without specialized training and aimed at developing aesthetic abilities, as well as intended to enrich the content of the curriculum ^[2]. Teaching children painting techniques is not the only goal of basic art education, which in addition is also focused on the development of aesthetic abilities of students and their ability to evaluate works of art. However, along with this skill, it is necessary to develop design thinking, since design and the ability to perceive art and evaluate it are inextricably linked: the basis of how the public evaluates an artistic work is often an assessment of the aesthetic abilities embodied in the author's design. The age of up to 12 years is a key period for the formation of creativity and the development of intelligence, when children's thinking is rapidly developing and the level of knowledge is increasing, as well as creativity begins to manifest itself, gradually penetrating into all types of child's activities ^[3]. The two main manifestations of creativity are curiosity and imagination. Driven by curiosity, children strive to explore the world around them, while at the same time revealing the unique power of their imagination and creativity. After a long period of pedagogical practice, it can be noticed that the implementation of proper educational activities helps to significantly improve the ability of children to design thinking. However, general education subjects occupy a central place in schools, and art lessons are given about 40 minutes a week, as a result of which there are no time and teaching resources of the proper level to ensure the development of design thinking in children. As a result, the formation of design thinking requires classes within the framework of extracurricular art education.

2.        Comparison of children's design training programs in China and other countries

In 1990, art and design education was introduced as a compulsory subject in primary and secondary schools in the UK – close attention was paid to developing students' ability to innovate from childhood. In addition, the statistics of passing courses in art and design in the process of growing up of students were strictly controlled. That is why many famous artists and designers have appeared in the UK: Philippe Malouin is an interior designer, James Dyson is an industrial designer in the field of household appliances, Thomas Heatherwick is a designer and architect.

In the USA, education in the field of design is considered equivalent to the study of general education subjects, while design itself is considered as a separate discipline. The United States is the most successful in combining original design solutions and high technology. In addition, educational programs in the USA include practical work and the development of creative abilities that reveal creative thinking. Americans consider art to be a part of life, and thanks to the openness of American society, manifestations of the uniqueness of each child are treated with respect, who must explore, develop and form their interests based on their own point of view, increasing the level of their competencies in art and design.

After World War II, Japan made efforts to develop its own education in the field of design. Together with the economic recovery and its rapid development, this has led to the fact that modern Japanese design is very influential and occupies an honorable place on a global scale. Back in 1950, educational events in the field of design were added to the basic art education in Japanese elementary and secondary schools, which allowed every student, regardless of age, to take part in practical design activities. In Japan, school education in the field of design is a process of deepening into visual design as students grow up and move from artistic education to the formation of basic ideas about design. Germany is also associated with many famous designers and can rightfully be considered one of the regions where the development of training in the field of design began. A number of other influential countries – for example, Sweden – also pay significant attention to teaching design to children.

At the same time, most of the younger schoolchildren in China have no idea what "design" is ^[4]. The curricula in the field of art education are quite similar and include only practical training in drawing techniques – as well as extracurricular activities. In this regard, children from affluent families living in large cities of the first and second level can study design and form their own design thinking from an early age. The state also does not focus on education in the field of design thinking, which is why many parents perceive design as a university or professional level discipline that has nothing to do with children. For this reason, extracurricular design training programs are quite rare, and their cost is usually high, which does not allow children from ordinary families to attend such classes. As a result, at the present stage in China, only a small part of additional art education organizations offer classes aimed at familiarizing children with design thinking. 

2.        Principles of teaching children design thinking in organizations of extracurricular art education

According to American educator John Dewey, children have four innate impulses (interests): a social impulse, an inquisitive or research impulse, a creative or constructive impulse and an impulse of artistic expression. Dewey considered such impulses or instincts to be capital formed without external investment ^[5]. If teaching other disciplines is based primarily on objective knowledge and techniques, then universal teaching of design to children is a form of education where more attention is paid to self-improvement and "human education", inspiration and motivation for "development", which in turn plays a guiding and enlightening role in relation to children. Therefore, the fundamental principles of popularization of children's design education include universality, stimulation of subjective initiative and passion. Universal design education for children is an education focused on children and society as a whole. When children are just beginning to learn about the world around them, design education plays an important role in shaping thinking – as a result, universal design education affects the broadest strata of society.

3.        Analysis and planning of design lessons for children in the framework of extracurricular art education

The fascinating presentation of the material promotes children's interest and involvement in independent research based on the development of imaginative thinking, and also acts as a driving force in the field of universal children's design education. When organizing educational activities, teachers can use such a technique as reproducing various situations, circumstances or scenes in order to effectively stimulate students' design thinking. Situational learning is a lively and flexible method that allows you to attract children to classes and involve them in active participation in the lesson, thus educating design thinking.

For example, in the Chinese Children's Educational and Preparatory Art Center Yubei, open experimental classes "Lots and lots of fish" are held, where students need to design a tool for catching fish. If, at the same time, the teacher tells the students about the design requirements and design methods, and also requires them to follow the proposed scheme in the design process, the children turn out to be passive participants in the process and do not understand the principles of work and the areas of application of the tools they create. This leads to design imperfections and uniformity of results, which signals a lack of space for independent creative thinking and significantly weakens the feeling of novelty from one's own creation, as a result, having an extremely negative impact on further creative development. Instead, the teacher, in accordance with the topic of the lesson, can use animated films to demonstrate the variety of tools for fishing. In addition, it is possible to give students the opportunity to really take part in what they are designing the instrument for, since children's amusement parks often have places for recreational fishing that many children like. As a result, students get a very direct idea of the subject through its study through video materials and through practical experience of being in an appropriate environment, realize the design goals and form specific design ideas aimed at achieving these goals. At the same time, children fully experience the joy and significance of the transition from design to the use of designed tools.

Based on the close relationship between art classes and real life, in the process of teaching, teachers should direct students to develop the ability to observe and analyze, as well as imagination. Teachers lead their students to observe a variety of objects and phenomena, as well as to analyze what they saw, which is especially important during painting. This is how children learn to notice the unusual in everyday life.

An example of such training is the Chinese "STEAM Club of Planet Creators", a modernization product offering innovative programs in which children from the most affluent families can participate. The club's educational programs are based on the study and development of the concepts of teaching design thinking at the Stanford d.school Institute: the first stage of training is self-knowledge, the second is familiarity with the materials used in design, research on how different shapes and textures can be used, after which students move on to design based on the topic of the lesson ^[6]. Self-awareness occupies the central place of most of the lessons: topics such as modeling oneself, depicting experiences, and one's own reflection often appear. From the point of view of practical conclusions, such lessons bring a certain educational effect, but they lack the scope and innovativeness of the content. Since the cost of attending educational programs is high, children from ordinary families do not have the opportunity to attend classes – as a result, teaching design thinking does not become universal. The most important skill developed in art lessons should be the ability to observe, since design is a discipline focused not only around self–knowledge. Self-awareness is an essential prerequisite for studying any discipline, but design gives rise to observation ^[7]. You can start by exploring everyday life and observing the most common and common things, then change them and create anew according to your aspirations and preferences. Art is based on life, but art itself is bigger than life – this is the meaning of teaching design.

4.        Analysis of children's design education in the framework of extracurricular art education through the prism of social and family education

In the work "Modern principles of aesthetics – the subject of the science of the aesthetic system", Professor Li Jianfu writes: "aesthetic consciousness is formed in the process of aesthetic self–awareness and the transition from the accumulation of aesthetic experience to a rapid movement forward, from chaos to orderly clarity" ^{[8, pp. 90-129]}. If we really strive to increase the level of universal children's aesthetic education, it is necessary to activate the positive role that the study of design can play, to increase the level of specialization of design. One of the most striking examples illustrating this thesis is the British television program “Art Attack”, which was released in 1989 on the CITV channel. During the releases, host Neil Buchanan rethought the objects around him and turned them into objects of creativity, discovering fresh ways of thinking and new angles of view that arouse children's interest in creativity. It was with this TV program that the author's passion for studying art began. As another example, we can mention the Japanese program “DESIGN-AH”, first shown in 2011 ^[9]. In China, where the rating of the program was 9.5, it was recognized as the most fascinating educational resource in the field of design for children. Famous designers and musicians take part in the releases, who answer three simple questions based on their own professional level and from the standpoint of art: "Which design are you most satisfied with?", "What, in your opinion, is most important during the creation of design?", "How to move design forward?" ^[9]. The guests of the program should tell about their own observations of the world around them and their ideas about design in words that are understandable to the child and arouse interest in the development of design thinking.

There are practically no outstanding children's TV shows about art in China, and many families simply do not watch them. At the same time, extracurricular education is not only classes in additional education organizations, but also social and family education, therefore, an integral part of the desire to popularize design thinking in children's art education is the development of social education ^[10]. However, it is equally important to form parents' awareness of the importance of popularization of education. Workers in the field of additional education in China know that in most families, the budget allocated for the extracurricular development of a child consists of three parts: the cost of language learning, the cost of sports clubs and the cost of art classes, which usually consist of music or painting lessons. Design is chosen very rarely, which once again confirms the lack of awareness of the broad strata of society in this area.

To popularize education, greater openness of all sites, a variety of platforms and technological development are necessary. At the present stage, China requires the formation of an effective roadmap for the development and dissemination of children's education in the field of design through the use of broad public resources. Therefore, museums, art galleries, and other cultural spaces open to the general public are becoming one of the most important platforms and platforms that allow children to participate in the development and research of joint educational activities in the field of design. Creative television programs, museums, galleries, creative clusters with their accessibility, openness, commercial or non-commercial basis, one way or another related to design as a discipline to study, are turning into a key space for the implementation of activities within the framework of universal education in the field of design.

The "Education" section of the "Children's Development Program (2021-2030)" published by the State Council of the People's Republic of China clearly states that the key goal is to improve the learning mechanism based on the interaction of school, family and society. In addition, it is proposed to stimulate the participation of children in practical artistic, cultural, scientific and technical activities, as well as in practice to increase the level of general cultural services provided to children ^[11]. Thus, in children's education in the field of design, an educational environment should be created that unites the family, school and society – this is how the guiding and educational function of the family and society can be most fully realized, the boundaries of design education can be expanded and the value and significance of design in primary children's education can be revealed.

Conclusion

Summing up, it can be noted that there are a number of problems in children's art education, manifested mainly in the following: a relatively weak ability of children to creative thinking; backwardness of teachers' pedagogical ideas; monotony of pedagogical methods; lack of attention to children's design thinking on the part of parents; insufficient contribution of the social environment to the development of design thinking in children. To solve these problems, teachers must constantly generate fresh ideas, improve and choose rational teaching methods based on the real level of students, effectively develop their design thinking. As for the family, parents need to realize that design has a certain impact on the creativity and aesthetic abilities of the child – this is the only way to support universal education in the field of design. In addition, parents need to pay attention to organizing and attending various public educational events, exhibitions in the field of design in order to involve children in the study of various problems and manifestations of design in life. From the point of view of the state and society, it is necessary to expand the relevant social activities in order to attract mass attention to design thinking in extracurricular art education.