Recent educational initiatives have emphasised the importance of fostering critical thinking skills in today's students in order to provide strategies for becoming successful problem solvers throughout life. Other scholars advocate the use of critical thinking skills on the grounds that such tools can be used effectively when considering social…

Explores the sources of art criticism and reviews some extant pedagogical models. Outlines the content skills to be developed and the role of art criticism in a discipline-based teacher training curriculum. Recommends that art criticism should incorporate pedagogy and other disciplines of art. (KM)

Proposes a definition of art criticism and claims that art criticism can never be a neutral activity. Examines reasons and provides examples of value orientations. Suggests a method for criticizing art in an educational context. (CFR)

Defines aesthetics when framed as critical inquiry as the process of teaching students to use critical strategies of professional philosophers to develop aesthetic content. Addresses four major aesthetic issues: meaning and value in art, how to discuss art, aesthetic experience, and beauty. Presents a sequence of critical-inquiry activities. (CMK)

Argues that Western civilization's use of formalism in art criticism is hierarchical and eurocentric. Suggests a more anthropological approach in which production of art is considered in the context of its native culture. Recommends emphasizing the human meaning in art over consideration of form or design. (MJP)

Asserts that aesthetic questions and aesthetic understanding provide the framework for learning in art. Contrasts formalism (the belief that art exists for its own sake) with contextualism (the belief that art is part of a social communication system). Maintains that a balanced art program should incorporate both approaches. (MJP)