Very few studies have focused on learning about art through picture books. More importantly, teachers are trained as generalists and have minimal knowledge about supporting children to learn art, particularly through picture books. This project aimed to explore the aesthetic learning potential of picture books in kindergartens. The project was…

Although art classrooms are rich with demonstrations, discussions, and artmaking, the COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented challenges to art educators wanting to engage students in studio-rich practices. As one solution, Bitmoji classrooms emerged in response to emergency remote teaching (ERT). Bitmoji classrooms--containing an instructor's…

The author writes this article to remind art educators of the importance of crafts in art education. They have noticed that scant attention is given to crafts in contemporary art education in the United States. Through this article, the author would like to reflect on why crafts are essential in art education by considering their role in…

The recent popularity of science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) education has begun a new renaissance in education. STEAM education demolishes the silos, and from the wreckage it creates a learning environment that embraces multiple discipline areas within the curriculum and allows content to be fluid rather than rigid, enabling…

As part of a lengthy lower school (K-3) project, students investigated a vintage vending machine in their Art and Technology classes, created objects to vend, built their own vending machines, and discovered many wonderful things. The uniqueness of the vending machine captured students' imaginations and propelled the project's many steps, from…

In order for the model of a STEAM education to be successful, it must be embedded into a school that not only acknowledges the rigor in the arts, but also encourages creativity and innovation. Although claims for a causal link between art and student academic achievement have provided no evidence, further investigation is needed to determine what…

As we consider art education for future generations, we envision a change in focus from the "product," or artwork, to the artistic "process"--the thinking behind the artwork. How can we be so sure this shift of priorities is afoot? Indicators in general education point to thinking dispositions as the goal of learning (Costa…

This article examines how art fits into education, looking first at art as inquiry in a 3rd-grade classroom and then at a model of arts-based research rooted in contemporary art. From there, it discusses art integration and suggests that a focus on research in contemporary art provides a basis for integrating art across the curriculum. Ultimately,…

In this article, the author provides a brief synopsis of a study he conducted about the nature of children's drawing among first and second grade students. Laroche noticed that when first and second grade students sat at a table of four or had their individual desks grouped in fours, frequently the drawings from that group of students had similar…

Altruism is recognized as "a cultural behavior, well beyond instinctive behavior, and even beyond adaptive social behaviors with respect to evolutionary processes" (Wilson, 1998, p. 29) Yet, if artmaking is a cultural behavior it is one that does not appear at first "to contribute to the survival of the species" (Wilson, 1998,…