Discusses the potential impact of the recent call for cultural literacy on arts education. Describes current design approaches in the arts education curriculum. Suggests a number of ideas that are deemed important for curriculum reform. Cautions that curricular changes, although much needed, must be thoughtfully considered before implementation.…

Describes the Philosophy for Children program in critical thinking, its pedagogical approach involving the community of inquiry, and the sociocognitive learning theories upon which it is based. Suggests it can be used as a pedagogical model for developing collaborative learning approaches in art education, especially aesthetics. (KM)

Proposes a model for a comprehensive arts curriculum. Discusses the significant phases of the curriculum and relates them to each other. These phases include identification of values, conceptualization, systematizing, interpretation, operation, and experience. Lists five objectives that serve as criteria for judging the worth of curricula. (KO)

Proposes an art curriculum framework that reduces aesthetics to three theories of art: imitationalist, formalist, and emotionalist. Fits each theory into the curriculum at the appropriate developmental stage of the student. Applies these theories to art criticism, art history, and studio production. (LS)

Argues for the necessity of identifying and recruiting art education teachers who will empower their students. Stresses that persons of this sort will be teachers who know art not just artists who teach. Identifies systemic and personnel changes which are necessary for increased assimilation of the arts into schools. (KO)

Proposes how music educators and arts administrators can work together to improve arts education. Recommends development of lobbying groups, and suggests ways of forming community attitudes to increase support for arts education. (LS)

Discusses a National Endowment for the Arts report titled "Toward Civilization: A Report on Arts Education," in relation to its value to music educators' efforts to strengthen their music programs. Criticizes the report for defining arts education too broadly, but praises the report for supporting the basic beliefs of music educators.…

Three arts educators comment on the relationships among skills, knowledge, and creativity in the arts curriculum. Charles H. Ball states that these elements should be balanced in the curriculum. Eunice Boardman suggests that adequate statement of curricular goals does away with the need for balancing. Karen A. Hamblen notes that the three elements…

Addiss and Erickson's book should be useful to any art educator, whereas the work by Hooper-Greenhill should be useful to museum educators in any discipline. Both books work well as introductory texts or refresher courses, and the usefulness of each is enhanced through reference to the other. (SLD)

Provides classroom examples of appropriate methods for extending art understanding through discussion. Suggests that teachers can easily foster art appreciation through nondirective means; the children can then select what is important to them and thereby begin to build their own personal store of imagery, which can lead to enhanced learning in…

Investigates the relationship between contemporary art and public art education during the 1960s in Quebec, within the theoretical perspective of the social history of art. Analyzes the consolidation of modernism and the importance of the societal debate on education that questions the place and the role of art in society. (KM)

Investigates the nature of expertise in the interpretation of cultural artifacts, particularly the Concheros dance of Mexico. Tests CD-ROM-based multimedia software designed to teach expert evaluation strategies. Shows that, compared with a control group, students using the software exhibited a greater ability to interpret the Concheros dance.…

This article is adapted from "The Handbook of Research and Policy in Art Education," Elliot Eisner and Michael Day (Eds.) [c] Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates, Mahwah, NJ 2004. The author contends that two fundamental premises drive arts education advocacy as it is currently coined and circulated. The first premise is that all arts programming is…

Research into teachers' conceptions of teaching can be justified in that deep seated beliefs impact upon the way teachers teach and influence the learning approaches of their students. This study examined conceptions of teaching art, through interviews with 18 secondary school art teachers in Hong Kong. The analysis resulted in a two-level…

Can going to an art museum make elementary school students better learners? It can if they are participating in Thinking Through Art, an innovative partnership uniting the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), Boston Public Schools (BPS), and Visual Understanding in Education (VUE), a nonprofit educational research group committed to improving…