The arts, rather than being just a "frill," are essential to a public school curriculum, because music, painting, poetry, dance, drama, architecture, and the other arts are media of human communication, conceptualization, and innovation. This argument is developed through affirmative responses to five questions: (1) Should education provide the…

Issues concerning arts in higher education are considered in discussion papers, group reports, and recommendations from the fifth seminar of the Leverhulme Programme of the Study into the Future of Higher Education. In "The Issues," Peter Brinson and Ken Robinson suggest that the arts are vitally important for the quality of national…

The case for the inclusion of aesthetic education with the traditional basic courses of reading, writing, and arithmetic is examined. The following points are emphasized in regarding arts education as a basic: (1) Aesthetic experience is basic because it is a primary form of experience on which all cognition, judgment, and action depend. It is the…

This investigation identifies the goals in art education that high school teachers and college professors consider important in formulating a hierarchy of goals in terms of students' behavior, as guidelines for developing a ninth year general art course for disadvantaged youth in urban areas. Art goals to meet the special educational needs of the…

This document on course goals in art is one part of a critique series dealing with the development and evaluation of course goals in six subject matter areas for grades K-12. The series provides an initial pool of course-level goals that are expected to be of considerable value in assisting educators with goal definition related to curriculum…

This analysis of aesthetic appreciation provides a theoretical model to help teachers recognize the aesthetic level at which students are operating. The purpose of the study is to explain to art educators how to expand a student's capacity to appreciate works of art. The study is presented in two parts. Part I describes and evaluates theories of…

Analyzes the art criticism of nine university art education students writing about the work of Robert Rauschenberg. Identifies the students' use or nonuse of thematic unity, intertextuality, opposition, and description. These thinking strategies are primarily found in the works of three professional art critics. (MJP)

Describes how an elementary classroom teacher discovers and explores the power of aesthetic experience in an educational context. Discusses how the artwork of Vincent Van Gogh helps an exceptionally difficult class of 11-year-old female students in suburban Dublin, Ireland, become interested in their education. (KM)

Asserts that it is important to avoid bandwagon superficialities related to the interdisciplinary approach to arts education in the K-12 curriculum. Concludes that the overarching issue related to the National Standards implementation is how to keep content and process in a productive relationship. (CFR)

Maintains that the 1990s are witnessing a renewed interest in curriculum integration. Presents, defines, and discusses nine approaches to the cognitive and affective aspects to integrating the arts in the K-12 curriculum. Recommends the coequal style and asserts that it has the potential for intellectual stimulation. (CFR)

Discusses purposes of the arts in early childhood education. Examines some of the contemporary proposals for art in early childhood programs, including discipline-based art education. Suggests a framework for selecting art activities for early childhood programs and provides examples of appropriate activities for young children. (CFR)

A survey of home-schooling parents and staff associated with the Longreach School of Distance Education in a remote area of Queensland (Australia) examined attitudes about the importance of drama and visual arts education. The majority of parents valued their children's participation in the arts and would like to see more arts education included…

Explains how elementary students learned art criticism by acquiring a collection of miniature reproductions of artworks, which the students critiqued. Describes how the art specialist worked with the classroom teacher to direct writing activities. Comments on how the teacher managed to acquire the miniature reproduction of artwork. (KM)

Conveys how art history is taught to elementary school students through the Picture Presenter program. Trained volunteers present reproductions of important artworks and illustrate these to students by wearing clothes or using items similar to those in the painting. Describes learning activities and the fundraising that keeps the project…

Responds to Enid Zimmerman's article, "Questions about Multiculture and Art Education." Argues time and resource limitations dictate that teachers determine art curricula. Maintains that other examples of fabric art can teach what the NAMES project (AIDS Memorial Quilt) offers without the controversial perspective. (KM)