In this article Daniel Brodén explores the ambivalence in teaching about art and aesthetics in the humanities. By comparing and contrasting Gert J. J. Biesta's educational theory and Jacques Rancière's writing on aesthetics, he hopes to bring some of the particularities of aesthetic experiences into focus and to discuss a tension in educational…

This article describes the learning experiences of three pre-service teachers within a university-level course entitled "Aesthetics and Art Criticism for the Classroom." Discussion is focused on the nature of the meaning-making that emerges from aesthetic encounters and its educational value. Specifically, what can pre-service generalist teachers…

Can there be an aesthetic difference between an original painting and its forgery if they are visually indistinguishable? Answers of different philosophers are critically examined with the conclusion that none of them is satisfactory. Although their "solutions" stem from different views of the nature of art, they have one thing in common: They all…

John Dewey's aesthetic has been invoked in recent discussions because many have realized that it resists the pull toward conceptualism that characterizes a great deal of aesthetic theory. Further, Art as Experience--Dewey's chief work on the philosophy of art--is rich with ideas that call for development. Richard Shusterman's work does just this…

One of the most challenging concepts for preservice and experienced art teachers is to comprehend the difference between aesthetics and art criticism. In this article, the author discusses aesthetics from a historical perspective and reflects on how it can be defined and used in the art classroom. Gardner's (1983) intrapersonal and interpersonal…

We are presently witnessing a renewed interest in the aesthetics of philosopher and educator John Dewey. And it would seem that this interest marks a significant intellectual reorientation and not simply a passing fad. The publications Educational Theory, Studies in Philosophy and Education, The Journal of Aesthetic Education, The Journal of…

This article describes the foundations, development and some of the findings from a research project about how the use of the gaze, as a key idea from critical art history, might affect the understanding of art by art educators. It shows how the use of this key idea involved not just the disruption of a modernist model of art interpretation (based…

The art education literature has recently given a good deal of attention to the topic of Visual Culture in Art Education (VCAE). VCAE appears to some art educators as the next new emphasis in art education following Discipline-Based Art Education. At least four recent theme issues of Art Education have addressed the topic in various ways. All of…

In this article, the author presents two quotations from Walter Pater which suggest a provoking and demanding recipe by which to live one's aesthetic life and point out where all aesthetic education must begin. The author also exemplifies Walter Pater's ideas through two works by the painter James McNeill Whistler and the poet Algernon Swinburne…

The "Bulletin of the Caucus on Social Theory and Art Education" is an annual publication, with each issue devoted to a unified theme. The theme of this issue is aesthetic response. The following papers focus on the audience and the persons responding to art: "Attitudes of Three Urban Appalachian Teenagers Toward Selected Early Modern American…

The history of drama education can be read as a series of arguments over dichotomies: process and product, theatre and classroom, artist and teacher, and so forth. One of the more recent discussions has focused on technology versus live classroom drama. At the heart of these discussions is an attempt to define the aesthetic dimensions of the…

This publication includes descriptions of arts programs, units of study, lesson plans, and course outlines submitted by Illinois arts teachers who answered the invitation to document their successful approaches to art edication. This compilation was not designed to be prescriptive, but to be representative of activities in Illinois. The articles…

For over one hundred and fifty years practitioners, critics, and historians have continuously challenged and added dimensions to the meaning and uses of photography. Yet there has been little challenge to its highly disturbing linguistic conventions. By uncritically accepting and using these conventions, those involved in the culture of…

A common misconception about the nature of art and of aesthetic appreciation is that these activities are essentially a question of "feeling," as if tuning in to the right feeling will automatically lead to a full understanding of the work of art. Another widespread misunderstanding essentially reduces art viewing to a simple question of…

If visual art is to be taught as a substantive part of the public school curriculum, then it's content and structure need to be translated into a curriculum that provides continuous cognitive and psychological growth and development. While discipline based art education (DBAE) acknowledges the values of art production, the content of art should…