Making Pictures, Writing about Pictures, Discussing Pictures and Lecture-Discussion as Teaching Methods in Art History

Abstract

This article discusses making pictures, writing about pictures, discussing pictures, and lecture-discussion as methods of teaching art history in Finnish Upper Secondary Vocational Education and Training (Qualification in Visual Expression, Study Programmes in Visual and Media Art Photography). A total of 25 students majoring in Visual Expression participated in the research by studying art history using picture-basedvisual and verbalmethods and reflecting on their learning experiences. This article introduces the concept of contextual subject-related didactics,' by which conceptions of contemporary art history, together with the objectives and aims of the curriculum, guide the choice of teaching methods. The article argues that various picture-based teaching methods intertwine reason and emotion, generating profound learning experiences in the field of art history, and developing knowledge of art history and the skills requires to act on the basis of such knowledge.