When the author stepped into the lead specials teacher role at a private elementary school in Charlotte, North Carolina, he was convinced that early childhood educational experiences could shape students' later cognition. He asked himself the question: What novel task might he set for the students that did not rely on rote learning, logic, or…

In this article, the author introduces a series of socially engaged practices conducted between April 2019 and August 2020. In this project, titled "Project Superhero," children made meaning and projected their wishes through pretend play as superheroes. Their superhero gadgets were semiotic resources helping to reveal the children's…

COVID-19 has shown a point of vulnerability in the education system and has reminded us how important stories and experiences are, especially from the perspective of marginalized students. A much harsher reality has shaped their lives and experiences, and educators need to rethink their educational practices and theories in the context of the…

This article presents a preservice art teacher training project completed in the fall of 2021 as part of an elementary practicum course. The project was designed to focus on cultivating resilience in elementary school students, especially those from economically disadvantaged situations, who may have accrued increased learning loss during the…

Scholars emphasize how exercising the ability to critically evaluate both sides of an issue can reveal false dichotomies and promote an awareness of common ground among differing perspectives (Journell, 2019; Noddings & Brooks, 2017; Zimmerman & Robertson, 2017). As an art education professor in higher education and former elementary art…

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2013), more than 29 million people fall under the UNHCR's mandate, which includes "all persons outside their country of origin for reasons of feared persecution, conflict, generalized violence, or other circumstances that have seriously disturbed public order and who, as a…

The United States has a visually stunning history of documenting its natural lands. In the late 1800s, Hudson River School painters captured national parks in the west (National Park Service, 2017). Ansel Adams is famously known for his rich black-and-white photographs of Yosemite and other national parks from the 1920s. In the 1930s, the Works…

This article describes how Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) art teacher SJ Hemmerich intentionally addresses social justice topics they see as problematic within Hemmerich's school community, and features artwork created by artists of color and queer artists from different religions, cultures, and backgrounds and with varying abilities…

As antiracist and antibias education becomes more popular, many educators are now teaching more "diverse" artists in their curriculum. However, educators who strive for conscientization and social justice through their pedagogy must go beyond merely diversifying the artists being taught (Acuff, 2018). Educators must put lesson planning,…

Despite new circumstances of teaching art on a cart, meaning the art teacher is moving from classroom to classroom to implement lessons from the position of guest, it was realized that the author could employ Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) as a method to deliver a choice-based curriculum that supports social-emotional growth. As pioneers of…

Amid a global pandemic, educators felt overwhelmed by the need to convert to new teaching and learning modalities. Students, too, had to adapt quickly to new ways of acquiring and processing information. The author relates how they needed to learn new technologies and rethink how to deliver content and create meaningful experiences for their…

Several preservice teachers are scattered on the floor, looking anxiously at parents and their babies as they come into the room. This is their first day at an urban community center in Ohio, where economically disadvantaged parents come to learn parenting skills while their babies are provided with care. Wide-eyed and reluctant, each student is…

This instructional resource presents contemporary works of art that illuminate and revel in the decadence, decay, and potential for regeneration imminent in organic matter decomposition. In so doing, these artists employ a range of strategies that might be drawn on in the art classroom: observing, illustrating, and reinterpreting decay;…

Sarah Mostow was hired to provide professional development to a group of 10 elementary art teachers who worked at a charter school network in New York City. Searching for what she could offer the charter school teachers, who possessed diverse backgrounds and teaching styles, she wanted to find a structure they could adapt. She decided to distill…

The Early Childhood Education program at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) prepares more than 600 students each year to be educators in early childhood (birth-Grade 2) classrooms as teaching assistants or to continue their education in 4-year institutions. In March 2020, as COVID-19 devastated urban neighborhoods, a journey was…