Process Art vs. Product Art: The Teacher's Dilemma (Classroom Idea-Sparkers‪)‬

This Idea-Sparker was submitted by Linda K. McMillan and Kristen Bazley, Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA A theme commonly expressed throughout the educational literature is that quality art education produces positive learning outcomes and attitudes about learning, develops a greater sense of personal and cultural identity, and fosters creative and imaginative ways of thinking in early childhood age children. When approached as a "process," art education provides children with the opportunity to express themselves and demonstrate gained knowledge, ideas, and feelings in nonverbal ways (Alter, Hays, & O'Hara, 2009). Of course, this "process" leads to a "product" (e.g., something for parents to post on their refrigerator doors), with the latter often epitomizing parents' view of art education. While the product is an important outcome of art education, we contend that teaching the process to students deserves equal emphasis in the classroom. In fact, Kim, Park, and Lee (2001) argue for placing more importance on process than on the end product in early childhood education.