This ERIC digest explores aspects of post-modernism in art and art education. The adoption of post-modern attitudes by art educators must result in the generation of different, but no less difficult questions about the nature of formal education. Support for this argument comes from recent art education publications supplemented by relevant, but…

The collected papers from three conferences about art education are documented in three volumes. The first conference addressed art education, aesthetics, and art criticism. Eighteen scholars representing classroom teachers, museum educators, and university faculty were invited to prepare papers on the general topic of aesthetics and art criticism…

This guide is designed to help teachers develop sequential and creative art education programs in elementary and secondary classrooms. Specific goals focus on enabling students to perceive, describe, and respond to the aesthetic qualities of the natural and man-made environment; to analyze, judge and value works of art; to acquire a knowledge of…

Describes a German course for archeologists and art historians, given in the Louvre by the Paris Goethe Institute. Reliance is placed on the students' visual memory, with schematic presentation of pronoun and article declension. This approach sometimes fosters errors and misunderstandings. The verb system is emphasized. (Text is in German.)…

Critiqued is the article, "Teacher as Shaman: An Educational Criticism," (Studies in Art Education, v25 n1), containing a case study of an art teacher who employs performance-based ritual to stimulate thinking about art's meaning and history. The problem that ethnographic researchers have conveying credibility when summarizing…

Explains how proper preparation, including giving students specific tasks to accomplish, helps focus a museum or sculpture garden visit. Outlines two basic ways that a teacher might organize a tour: (1) by showing a progression from figurative to abstract sculpture, and (2) by discussing design concepts. Includes pictures of four sculptures,…

Examines studies, especially those of Viktor Lowenfeld, which suggest that coloring books are harmful to the creative expression of children. Proposes an alternative hypothesis that views coloring books as useful teaching tools to help children understand and appreciate art. Calls for further research into the issue. (KM)

Argues that teaching methods usually associated with art history are not appropriate for the subject. Contends that the learning cycle method, based on active, exploratory learning, is much more conducive to student learning. Contends that students learn more and enjoy the course more with this approach. (CFR)

Educational institutions should be actively rethinking how they are accessing and using copyrighted visual arts images, and they should be exploring an approach that seeks to address copyright owners' interests, as well as users' needs, in an environment that encourages increased, shared access to these images for teaching and study. (Contains 23…

This document provides art information with a range of applications for Arizona preschool teachers, administrators, and parents to guide them in their development of an appropriate, preschool art curriculum. Three primary goals are endorsed: (1) making art; (2) looking at and talking about art; and (3) art in culture and history. Instruction in…

This paper explored how art history is taught in secondary schools. The author maintained that identifying the origins and evolution of ideas ensures that proposed models of teaching art history adhere to the philosophical base from which they derive. The paper is divided into five sections. In the first part, the author described four categories…

This publication, an outcome of a 2-day colloquium in 1981, contains information about using artifacts (material culture evidence) as a primary source for teaching history at the graduate or advanced student seminar level. A purpose of the colloquium was to gather and disseminate this information for the Historians/Artifacts/Learners (HAL)…

Discusses the contents of typical art education learning packages. Those of the Central Midwestern Regional Laboratories (CEMREL) are designed to heighten student involvement through use of media. Other packages focus on art history, art appreciation, and arts and crafts activity. A package has also been developed for special education students.…

Describes a relief printmaking unit for sixth graders with the objective of decorating the inside of a pyramid. Ancient Egyptian imagery was used to help students become familiar with the style. Students designed and printed linoleum prints in different colors. They then critiqued their work and made their selection for the pyramid. (KM)

Discusses problems in the teaching of art history to art students. Reports on a study in which student analysis and categorization of their own paintings and paintings of other artists became the primary activity of an art history course. Concludes that this approach enhances the use of art history as a source for students' own creative work. (CFR)