A re-interpretation of Kantian aesthetic theory to contemporary arts curriculum: The case of Hong Kong

This chapter proposes an extended Kantian model on arts education and presents results of verification through surveying the Hong Kong arts education curriculum as a case study. The aim of the proposed model is to resolve the incompatibilities of the Kantian model with contemporary theories on arts education and the demands of the modern world. A secondary aim is to examine the features of the Hong Kong arts education. The proposed model contains disinterestedness and subjectivity as the affective aspect, free-play of imagination with lawfulness, and purposiveness of form as the cognitive aspect, and finally public assent, morality, extension of arts education to skills that are transferable to other areas of life and future career development as the objective aspect. A case study was then made to verify the proposed model. Results of content analyses of curriculum documents of Hong Kong indicate that most components in the proposed model could be found in the Hong Kong arts education curriculum. However, some elements only receive indirect support and most elements identified are not coherently linked. The Hong Kong arts curricula, on the other hand, is characterized by an emphasis on subjectivity, creativity, imagination, critical thinking, training of arts forms, knowledge between art and technology, awareness of the world and different cultures. They also teat arts as a means for all round development of students and a means for equipping students with practical skills that can be transferred to other areas of their daily life, and is a means for further studies and preparing for careers. The Kantian elements of disinterestedness and morality only play a peripheral role. The results of preliminary verification indicate the plausibility of the proposed model, and further empirical validation of the model and theoretical refinements are recommended.