'Why study the arts at school?' This book offers a fresh perspective on this question. Informed by rigorous research, the book argues that the arts help young people to develop key skills, knowledge and practices that support them to become both critical appreciative audiences and socially engaged cultural producers. Drawing on a three-year study…

This book explores learning in the arts and highlights ways in which art and creativity can ignite learning in schools, informal learning spaces, and higher education. The focus is on learning in, with, and through the arts. Written from a range of international perspectives, "Multidisciplinary Approaches to Art Learning and Creativity"…

STEAM education can be described in two ways. One model emphasizes the arts and is not as concerned about the accuracy of the STEM fields. In the second model, STEM content is the prevailing force with a focus on accuracy, and the arts are used in limited and secondary resources for the teaching of the content. However, in order to promote…

When the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) describes best, first instruction, it is assumed that instruction is occurring in a traditional environment: teachers and students gathered together in a classroom, working in small groups, large groups, and individually, and that there are no safety risks posed by having people in close proximity of…

Art educators are concerned with exposing their students to contemporary art making practices. They aim to create fresh lessons that expand their understandings of art in today's world while highlighting the importance of imagination. With a personal interest in performance and street art (art forms that have gained popularity in recent years),…

These are the stories of four arts practitioners from Trinidad and Tobago--a lighting designer, a dancer, a jazz musician and a choreographer--who have made names for themselves internationally. The book centers on their role as educators in their fields; their unique and individual journeys exemplify the classic role artists have (always) played…

Research documents that the arts boost learning, build confidence, and motivate students to participate in class. How do we keep the performing arts alive in this era of increased accountability and decreased funding? Rekha S. Rajan sets the stage for a creative and practical solution with detailed, concrete examples of how to integrate the…

This article discusses Al Souza's "Orlando City Maps," which was created not by adding colored ink to paper, but by cutting the printed paper away. Seven layers of pages are stacked upon one another and, except for the intact bottom layer, oval-shaped holes are cut through each page to reveal the layers below. When designing "Orlando City Maps,"…

For over 40 years, Gavin Bolton has been a leading figure in Drama in Education. His publications cover all aspects of young people's educational drama and this selection of his key writings provides insight into the major areas of his theory and practice, namely: (1) modes of involvement in drama; (2) drama as an art form; (3) the role of…

This 21st Century Skills Map is the result of hundreds of hours of research, development and feedback from educators and business leaders across the nation. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has issued this map for the core subject of the Arts.

In this article, the authors describe the outcomes of a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) course that offered a pedagogical innovation called "Imagination Quest." This CPD course was a part of a 2-year project entitled Teaching to Reach Potential. Participants were all from Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools' (MCPS')…

This article proposes an approach to teaching and learning in the university arts sector that is able to accommodate and assess creative process alongside practice. In arguing thus, romanticized notions of "the spontaneous artist" are exposed to scrutiny, and the creative process itself is made subject to analysis. Notwithstanding its focus on the…

This project began when the Philadelphia Folklore Project (PFP) initiated a residency partnership with the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial in traditional Cambodian arts. The PFP anticipated raising issues that might help in the understanding of the cultural dynamics and elements that were likely to shape and effect the residency. The PFP imagined…

Maintains that artists seldom take an educated interest in any artistic discipline apart from their own. Suggests that students need to be allowed to confront each other with regard to the aesthetic quality of a work and suggests an interdisciplinary form like performance art could be a good starting point. (KM)

Proficiency in the arts describes the educational growth Indiana students are expected to achieve as they acquire skills and techniques in the arts. Three levels of proficiency statements are described: (1) foundation proficiency statements; (2) specific proficiency statements; and (3) proficiency indicators. Each discipline, music (general music,…