ABSTRACT
One of the major confusions in the teaching of the arts revolves around the word aesthetic. I believe it remains a crucial term for both the renewal and the unification of the arts in education, yet it is a term which is constantly misunderstood and, even, maligned. In some quarters the word ‘aesthetic’ has followed in the same track as the word ‘academic’ and denotes a certain marginality and basic irrelevance; thus as certain matters can be dismissed as being ‘merely academic’ so, in a similar spirit, they can be dismissed as being ‘merely aesthetic’. The failure here is essentially a philosophical one and the consequences have been severe. It is high time to make the aesthetic cause not esoteric, but open and clear; open and clear to ourselves, to our pupils and students, to parents, school-governors, politicians and the society at large.
