On the occasion of Dewey's sesquicentennial anniversary, Kazuyo Nakamura explores Dewey's aesthetics, which holds the plurality of art and culture in high regard. Nakamura develops a theoretical foundation for art education in the present age of globalization based on educational insights drawn from Dewey's aesthetics. The theme of this essay…

This article describes an integrated art and early literacy project entitled, Picture Partners". The main purpose of the project was to explore how young children create and express meaning through art. Children's responses, both written and spoken, were included because accompanying modes of expression expand the nature and content of their…

The current study examines how children develop multimodal narratives through the construction of quilt squares and I Am poetry. Creating visual narratives through the use of personal artifacts lays the foundation for this artistic multiple literacy experience. The study focuses on the process and growth that a diverse group of kindergarten…

Visual culture is a hot topic in art education right now as some teachers are dedicated to teaching it and others are adamant that it has no place in a traditional art class. Visual culture, the author asserts, can include just about anything that is visually represented. Although people often think of visual culture as contemporary visuals such…

One of the key tasks of the university in the 21st century is to nurture visually literate students in the information age. Given that we live in a very highly visualized world, it is increasingly important that students are educated as critical viewers who are able to respond to visual images in an analytical and selective manner. The education…

A walk down Main Street can be very much like a stroll through a museum gallery--visually rich, inviting unexpected choices, aesthetically rewarding. This article explores the concept of shop windows as visually ordered compositions, much like paintings and other art objects, and suggests some approaches to applying this concept in teaching a…

One way that people learn, remember and communicate is visually. We combine past experiences with new visual information to construct meaning. In this study, elementary teachers introduced their students to the peoples and places of the ancient silk routes using illustrations from two children's picture books, "Marco Polo," written by…

Art is visual literacy, some would say more basic than writing and speaking, because it is not hampered by the barrier of language. The process of creating a visual narrative and understanding visual literacy is multi-faceted. Because similar cognitive strategies are used in the practice of both visual and written literacy, incorporation of…

What kinds of programming should an art museum's education department offer to the K-12 school community? How can educators best contribute to students' current and future intellectual development? What type of programming best fits the needs of students and teachers, while also addressing the unique aspects of the museum setting? At the Isabella…

The Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) curriculum and teaching method uses art to help students think critically, listen attentively, communicate, and collaborate. VTS has been proven to enhance reading, writing, comprehension, and creative and analytical skills among students of all ages. The origins and procedures of the VTS curriculum are…

In a time when adolescents are continually inundated by provocative multimedia campaigns that coax them to buy more, think less, and do so in a passive environment that provides little to no opportunities for them to reflect on who they are in the world, the author of this article offers one way to engage adolescents and their teachers with a…

In interactive media, it is the spaces between the text that are as important to read as the text itself. Visual literacy is a vital form of reading in an increasingly pictorial world. This paper examines the grammar of visual literacy by analyzing the discourse of a group of adolescents and the way they interpret multi-layered, seriated, and…

Contends that everyone must learn to read images because our culture is increasingly represented and perceived in visual terms. (Author/RK)

Maintains that an anthropological perspective offers exciting possibilities for developing intercultural understanding in the visual arts. Examines the problems encountered when applying this perspective to the visual art of radically different cultures. (JDH)

Metaphoric interpretation of art serves different purposes in art education and psychotherapy. These differences are discussed in the context of categories of art criticism adapted from E. B. Feldman's work. Practical guidelines are presented to help art teachers use metaphoric interpretation and maintain the boundary between education and…