This paper was delivered as a response to a presentation by Jan Kronberg MLC, Chair of the Education and Training Committee, Parliament of Victoria that published a report of the "Inquiry into the Extent, Benefits and Potential of Music Education in Victorian Schools." Her presentation and this response were part of a forum conducted by…

This article presents an excerpt from a speech delivered by Dana Gioia, poet, critic, and chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, at the Stanford University commencement on June 17, 2007. In this speech, Gioia communicates his concerns about the diminished role of the arts in contemporary North American culture and the failure of school…

This paper considers the artistic and literary movement called "Postmodernism." Noting that postmodernism is intellectually grounded in the premise that its discourse must expose positions of privilege and power relations in society, the paper asks of art education, How much has the postmodern condition, a thesis of cultural relativism…

Based on over half a century's personal experience with the Australian community's poor understanding of art, this paper concludes that exposing thousands of secondary students to the subject "Art" over this period has had little or no effect on competency. Instances are documented. Possible reasons explored include: the common…

Arguing that the visual arts serve as the focus for potential aesthetic experience in the discipline of art education, this paper describes the influence of the sensory elements of aesthetic experience in nature and other art forms on the work of three artists--Kandinsky, Van Gogh, and Picasso--and suggests that teachers can enrich students'…

Noting that those objects and images currently accepted in the world of fine art might not contain those things posterity will consider significant, this paper offers a practical workshop activity that creates a culture from each individual's imagination. The activity explores images influenced by others or by individual values that reflect a…

The "new reality" of Australia's involvement with Asia has brought an added urgency to the call for curriculum inclusions that ensure appropriate and positive levels of Australian engagement with countries of the Asian region. This paper discusses the "Delors" report and considers its "Learning To Know, Learning To Do,…

The author maintains that art is a social product and that, in the teaching of or about the arts, the social setting in which the arts exist must be acknowledged. She discusses British developments in the sociology of art. (Paper presented at the Aesthetic Education Conference, London, September 1980.) (Editor/SJL)

For centuries societies have understood the importance of art in relationship to other disciplines. Many great artists were also writers and poets. Many artists were well educated in classical literature from which they drew inspiration for paintings and sculptures. The document argues that the obvious meeting place for the two disciplines of art…

Although aesthetic descriptions and critical judgments of works of art rely on the standard use of language (it is meaningless to invent some extended or special technical language), they nevertheless require informed perception and imaginative but precise application. Implications for art education are discussed. (RM)

The arts are an equal and essential part of the curriculum if understood as rigorous disciplines of the mind and necessary vehicles of thought, no less than the sciences. (Author/IRT)

This article focuses on the future of arts-based research in education. The author contends that there are several features that need to be taken into account if arts-based educational research is to have a future. First, arts-based educational research needs to have a cadre of scholars committed to its exploration--individuals who regard…

Highlighting many of the author's own experiences as an artist and an art instructor, this paper laments the problem of visual ignorance among contemporary children and proposes a course in basic visual literacy. Such a course would teach form and content as interactive and synergistic concepts rather than as separate attributes. Students could…

The author examines some of the major developments, issues and problems during his tenure as president of the National Art Education Association. He looks at the association itself, federal programs, and the cutbacks art education is suffering in the back-to-basics movement. (SJL)

A proposed model for adult art education focuses on helping adults learn and practice art throughout their lives. Emphasis is on enhancing self-direction or learner control of the learning process and continued learning. This new construct encourages art educators to recreate their classrooms based upon an appreciation of the varied and…