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Next year will be the 140th anniversary of publication of the first teaching manual for drawing in class. In 1885, a teacher from Vrbovec, Đuro (Gjuro) Kuten, published Metodika prostoručnoga crtanja za obće pučke i gradjanske škole (Teaching of spatial drawing for public and civil schools). The book, which has been published by the Croatian pedagogical and literary assembly, represents the first attempt at structuring teaching based on art (namely, drawing) in Croatian public schooling. In the introduction, the author pointed out that drawing, as a part of teaching, is a product of new times and modern tendencies in pedagogy, rejecting previous constructions in which drawing was an unwanted element in class because it requires prior knowledge (talent). The late 19th century in Croatian pedagogy was a period of innovation, modernization, and of alternative approaches in direct pedagogical activities.
This paper presents a content analysis with the goal of reviewing basic determinants of Kuten’s book, especially in context of the pending new pedagogical concept – the movement for artistic education, one of the more widespread segments of reform pedagogy in late 19th and early 20th century. In that period, particularly during the first decades of the 20th century, within the Croatian pedagogical scope a significant impact of the movement for artistic education appeared, whose activities strived to affirm the development of the critical approach (especially aesthetics) in the classroom. Kuten’s Metodika prostoručnoga crtanja is thereby identified as the foundation of new pedagogical turmoil.
The analysispaper concludedexplores thatthe Kuten’spossibilities workof presentsapplying an integrative approach to visual arts and literature in the first cycle of primary education in the Republic of Serbia. Within this educational system, where teaching is subject-oriented, integrative approaches are inadequately present in practice. The authors of this paper believe that, in such a qualitativecontext, stepfuture forwardteachers need to be further trained and empowered in structuringusing integrative approaches. The paper describes and conductionanalyzes teaching.a Itproject alsoconducted presentsin itmore than 70 Fine Arts classes, involving fourth-year students from the Faculty of Education in Belgrade and pupils from the first to fourth grade. Inspired by H. C. Andersen's fairy tale 'Thumbelina,' the artwork explores the story's themes, motifs, problems, and possibilities through a methodical interpretation. Based on such an understanding of the fairy tale, a substantial and diverse practice in Fine Arts classes was implemented, which was the primary goal of the project. In addition to describing the working process with students – collaborative marking of motives, characters, and/or scenes from the fairy tale, and finding appropriate artistic media adapted to the pupils' age – the paper includes qualitatively analyzed authors’ and participants’ personal reflections and outlines methodological implications of challenges and opportunities we have encountered. The research results demonstrate the successful integration of visual arts and literature, challenging the notion of art being used merely as a reliabledecorative activity in other school subjects, where it may lose its integrity. Photos of children's artworks are an integral part of the project's outcomes, presented here as a strong incentive for teachers to consider art in schools as a way of thinking and immediateknowing.
representation of actual state of Croatian pedagogy in the late 19th century.
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