There are a variety reasons for teaching about Japan. Many students in the United States are of Japanese heritage; Japan is the second largest trading partner of the United States; and some healing still needs to occur between the United States and Japan because of the damage and pain of World War II. Further, the Unites States and Japan share the…

An essay on the relationship of the visual arts to learning, particularly general vs professional art education, the question of artistic activity-making art vs viewing art, and the content of the visual arts. (Author/SJL)

Art reflects the ideas, experiences, spirit, and hopes of those who create it. It is through art works that students can see a visual record of how men and women lived and thought throughout history and across cultures. This instructional resource includes 52 transparencies, accompanying teaching strategies, and student worksheets which are…

Likert-type rating scales were designed and used to help college students perceive, understand, and value the beauty and content of a piece of art. The subjects for the project were 100 college students enrolled in two art appreciation courses at Texas College. Their classification ranged from freshman to senior, with majors mainly in business,…

This research indicates that art education can help develop visual perceptual abilities which can be applied to all areas of learning. Skills in visual perception developed through the study of art will help integrate subject areas. The study organized research and information that emphasized the redefinition of art in the elementary school…

The essential task of sharpening students' sensitivities may be facilitated by the curriculum, instructional program, and personnel of the school. Aesthetic education is basic because it is founded on the creative integration of sensing, feeling, intuiting, and thinking. The arts curriculum may be used to sharpen students' awareness and…

Presents a review of emerging changes in developmental psychology drawn from the research and theoretical literature. Relates these changes to the goals and methods of discipline-based art education. (JDH)

Divides visual literacy into three categories: basic, artistic, and aesthetic. Maintains that this expanded conception of visual literacy contains the potential to significantly alter the content and methods of art education. (JDH)

There is no natural or genetically determined talent for aesthetic appreciation, but at most a widely distributed capacity that, fortified by interest, can be developed. The aesthetic experience should be cultivated but for its own sake. (RM)

An outreach program for gifted upper elementary students developed at the Hirshhorn Museum is described. Objectives are to teach visual literacy, to present the materials using the inquiry method, to use art history and criticism to develop students' looking skills, and to encourage parents to attend classes and museum visits. (RM)

This paper attempts to show how Bruner's views regarding discriminate decision-making could be applied to efforts to plan and sequence learning activities in which secondary students examine and respond to works of art. (MB)

Throughout European history, artists have celebrated the values of their patrons. Today, the schools are the largest employer of artists. To justify art education according to current Back-to-Basics values, art teachers should explain visual art as a language, which they can teach students to read and use. (SJL)

Argues for the value of postmodern picture books as a classroom resource for addressing contemporary challenges. Offers a discussion on what postmodern picture books are, a rationale for using postmodern picture books, and teaching postmodern aesthetics. Includes some examples of postmodern picture books. (CMK)

This theme issue presents art advocacy as a necessary means of bringing art and art education to an elevated status in the elementary secondary curriculum and educational system. Articles include: (1) "Editor's View" (Margaret Scarr); (2) "Art Education: Why Is It Important" (Arts Education Partnership Working Group); (3)…