Reviews the evolution of courses and degree programs designed to produce art education specialists. Devotes particular attention to the emergence of discipline-based art education (DBAE) ideas. Concludes that DBAE has clarified the question of what to teach; that the challenge now is to bridge the gap between DBAE theory and current teaching…

This paper focuses on the cognitive and social functions of art and the role that art plays in communicating social and personal values. It shows how art criticism can play an important part in the education of all students by fostering critical thinking related to art history, art production, and aesthetics. (Author/JDH)

Official policy in many developing nations includes making "national culture" the central force for unifying support for the government and getting rid of foreign influences in the arts. But qualitative criteria, not ideology, should be used in the formation of educational policy concerning what will be taught in the arts. (RM)

A cross-cultural, international perspective on art in education constitutes a humanistic activity that must allow for recognition of human commonalities and at the same time a respect for human differences. (RM)

Whether or not knowledge about the painter Picasso is helpful or indispensable in teaching appreciation of his art is discussed. Three studies by Denis Thomas, Mary M. Gedo, and Frank Elgar that argue that knowledge of Picasso the man helps students understand his paintings are examined. (RM)

A common misconception about the nature of art and of aesthetic appreciation is that these activities are essentially a question of "feeling," as if tuning in to the right feeling will automatically lead to a full understanding of the work of art. Another widespread misunderstanding essentially reduces art viewing to a simple question of…

The author considers a number of factors and phobias that he believes affect the development of art education at all educational levels in England. (RK)

Reviews various curriculum materials and approaches to art instruction considered to be the antecedents of discipline-based art education (DBAE). Focuses on the recent history of art education in the United States, reviewing the principal curriculum projects and ideas of influential art educators. Concludes with recommendations for furthering…

Educators must realize that identity should not be sought in culture and that people have to be weaned away from their cultures toward what is truly valuable in a transcendental, culture-free way. Instead of feeling narcissistic about culture, people should become involved with art, which also should be culture-free. (RM)

At present, art-educational research seems locked into a number of unexamined assumptions--largely derived from European Romantic ideology--about artistic productiveness as a desirable psychological trait. We need to know more about other cultural patterns of artistic behavior and the historic and social factors that influence them. (Author/SJL)

The author attempts to show that people's values and attitudes toward art and art education are influenced by the values of their economic system. Predicting that the American economy faces a radical transformation from uninterrupted growth to regulated stability, he indicates some expected changes in attitudes toward art. (SJL)

Describes the cross-cultural Harvard Project Zero that was designed to identify major issues in Chinese arts education and to clarify differences between the aesthetic and educational systems of the United States and China. Discusses the exchange of education specialists, the interviewing of artists, and the examination of philosophy. (KO)

Describes Chinese art education from the viewpoint of an exchange expert in a cross-cultural study. Provides insights into the context in which art is produced in China. Contrasts the Chinese emphasis upon teaching by imitation with the Western emphasis upon concepts and guidance. (KO)

Recent work examining and expanding traditional accounts of a virtue has been used as the foundation for a virtue-based approach to epistemology. A similar approach to aesthetics yields some striking features, which coincide with contemporary philosophical concerns about the nature and definition of art. Those writing on virtue-based epistemology…

A critique of the Arts, Americans, and Education Panel report, "Coming to Our Senses," for its study methods, its national policy recommendations, and its rhetorical styling. (SJL)