Page 45 - The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 11 and 12: The Arts, 2010

left out and that the reader or viewer must fill in), and silences in the text (e.g., voices of a person or group not heard).
In the arts, students who are critically literate are able, for example, to actively analyse art works and other texts and determine potential motives and underlying messages. They are able to determine what biases might be contained in an art work and why that might be, how the content of the art work was determined and by whom, and whose perspectives might have been left out and why. Students would then be equipped to produce their own interpretation of the work and their own opinion on its message or the issue it addresses. Opportunities should be provided for students to engage in a critical discussion of “texts”, which can include television programs, movies, web pages, advertising, music, gestures, oral texts, visual art works, media arts installations, and other means of expression. This discussion empowers students to understand the impact intended by the creator of the text on members of society. Language and communication are never neutral: they are used to inform, entertain, persuade, and manipulate.
THE ROLE OF THE SCHOOL LIBRARY IN THE ARTS PROGRAM
The school library program can help to build and transform students’ knowledge to support lifelong learning in our information- and knowledge-based society. The school library program supports student success across the arts curriculum by encouraging students to read widely, teaching them to examine and read many forms of text for understanding and enjoyment, and helping them to improve their research skills and to use information gathered through research effectively.
The school library program enables students to:
• develop a love of reading for learning and for pleasure;
• develop a critical appreciation of works of art;
• acquire an understanding of the richness and diversity of artistic and informa- tional texts produced in Canada and around the world;
• obtain access to programs, resources, and integrated technologies that support all curriculum areas;
• understand and value the role of public library systems as a resource for lifelong learning.
The school library program plays a key role in the development of information literacy and research skills. In collaboration with classroom or content-area teachers, teacher- librarians design, teach, and provide students with authentic information and research tasks that foster learning, including the ability to:
• access, select, gather, process, critically evaluate, create, and communicate information;
• use the information obtained to explore and investigate issues, solve problems, make decisions, build knowledge, create personal meaning, and enrich their lives;
• communicate their findings for different audiences, using a variety of formats and technologies;
• use information and research with understanding, responsibility, and imagination.
SOME CONSIDERATIONS FOR PROGRAM PLANNING IN THE ARTS
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