Focuses on making the distinction between aesthetics and pragmatics within the realm of design education, particularly architecture. States that aesthetics is typically associated with beauty, while pragmatics is a way to demonstrate that a frank approach has been utilized. (CMK)

This article explores the graphic development of a five-year-old girl with autism during Saturday morning art classes. It attempts to uncover what particular methods of consideration are useful in the examination of the art of such a child. Drawing systems and early mathematics are found to be of value in discussing Sung's art making since both…

An educator with a serious interest in incorporating critical thinking into a school curriculum might feel the need to be an expert in critical thinking simply to evaluate the many existing approaches which bear that name. Furthermore, this problem would seem to be compounded if critical thinking and the creation of art were asserted to be…

What are the moral limits of artistic license? A strong case can be made for the view that there are none; that in viewing works of art people should resist ethical criticism, and, "a fortiori," resist moral strictures on the artist's inventiveness. This view has recently been defended by Richard Posner, who argues that people should not expect…

Oddly enough, in the last half century the most battered and beaten notion in the lexicon of philosophical aesthetics has been its own central concept, aesthetic experience. On the one hand, there is something simple, obvious, and perfectly familiar about this notion. Any fair poll would surely show that citizens of the Western world in general…

The purpose of this essay is to introduce the concepts of self-authorship in graphic design education as part of an integrative pedagogy. The enhanced potential of harnessing graphic design's dual modalities--the integrative processes inherent in design thinking and doing, and the ability of graphic design to engage other disciplines by giving…

This is a brief look at the "value context" in which art programs operate. The author considers language encountered in discussions and policy statements, ideas about the relation of the individual and society, attitudes toward traditional and folk cultures, and toward cultural pluralism. (Author/RK)

Considers recognized examples of excellence in painting and the writing of contemporary authors concerning the definition of artistic excellence. Maintains that a clear definition is available and that schools' pursuit of excellence in art education benefits society. (JDH)

The notion of an "innocent eye," a naive direct view of visual reality, has a long history in art education. Faults and difficulties of this direct view are discussed, and new frames of references that have been adopted are examined. (RM)

The Navajo culture as seen through its art is discussed and cultural conflicts that Navajo students often encounter in American schools, especially in art classes, are examined. (RM)

Describes how being alone, physically and socially, and having personal autonomy can enhance creativity. By understanding the forms and functions of aloneness, art teachers can facilitate the creative process for students who believe that some form of aloneness is essential for their artmaking. (AM)

There are two potential dangers flowing from current educational criticism: deschooling and deprofessionalization. Whether these two dangers are imminent or remote so far as schooling in general is concerned, they are immediate and pressing for the profession of art and aesthetic education. (Author)

Many aspects of the current cultural situation bode well for undergraduate art education. Today's college students have had more experience of the visual arts, at least in their vernacular forms, than any generation in history. They have watched thousands of hours of television, watched hundreds of feature films, and often have mastered computer…

As people seek to educate their children in a multicultural society to understand and appreciate and to be able to interact with a culturally diverse and ever-shrinking world, they need to ask themselves whether Western forms of knowledge are appropriate for understanding non-Western forms of culture; in particular, whether Western aesthetics is…

No single traditional discipline can adequately supply answers to the many unresolved questions in African art history. Because of the aesthetic, cultural, historical, and, not infrequently, political biases, already built into the conception and development of Western art history, the discipline of art history as defined and practiced in the West…