Different and competing conceptions of knowledge have recently been the focus of debate in education, especially art education. The cognitive science conception of knowledge as information processing and storage in long-term memory is especially prominent in educational policy. By contrast, within writing that is directly about art education,…

This article examines undergraduate students' experiences in creating open educational resources (OERs) in a contemporary art history course. The construction of OERs reflects an interest in feminist pedagogy and open educational practices, which aim to create a learner-centred classroom that values accessibility, equity, and cultural…

This study examines the key concepts of elements-and-principles art instruction, as defined in the publications by "Vorkurs" (preliminary course) instructors at the Bauhaus. Elements-and-principles instruction was for decades central to formalist art training, and continues to play a role, albeit limited, today. Preceding accounts of the…

This article investigates the ways in which drawing is taught and assessed in post-16 UK schools and colleges, with a particular focus on A Level art and design courses. Through an historical survey of the development of syllabi and assessment methods, it traces how the role of drawing in the curriculum has changed over the past sixty years. From…

With no possibility of teaching in prisons in person because of the pandemic, a group of social justice concerned art history graduate students offered a remote learning college course for people incarcerated in a detention facility in the United States. The culturally sustaining and trauma-sensitive course, delivered asynchronously via tablets,…

Contextual studies (CS), "theory", "visual culture" or "art history" (amongst other labels) refer to a regular and often compulsory feature in art and design education. However, this takes many forms and can sit in a variety of relationships with the practical elements of such courses. This article is based on mixed…

This is a personal reflection on an encounter with the works of the nineteenth-century painter J. M. W. Turner in London's Tate Britain exhibition "Late Turner: Painting Set Free". The article discusses the deeply subjective nature of engaging with artworks, and touches upon theories that might account for the ineffable but moving…

Traditionally, the learning of arts in the Estonian primary school has meant completion of practical assignments given by the teacher. The new national curriculum for basic school adopted in 2010 sets out new requirements for art education where the emphasis, in addition to practical assignments, is on discussion and understanding of art. The…

ARTEMIS (Art Educational Multiplayer Interactive Space) is an online multi-user virtual environment that is designed around the objects, artefacts, philosophies, personalities and critical discourses of the histories and theories of art and design. Conceived as a means of reinvigorating art history and theory education in the digital age, ARTEMIS…

Contemporary artists and art galleries have been more active than museums in representing gay and lesbian culture in public spaces in recent decades. However same-sex relationships have a long history that is reflected in the collections of museums that have material from the classical world. The culture of ancient Greece and Rome was less…

This article presents an analysis of the way art is conceptualised in the British primary school curriculum and provides an historical framework that maps an evolution of ideas that have shaped the way art is presented in the modern day primary curriculum. In order to achieve this a Foucauldian style genealogical analysis is utilised to trace the…

The aim of this article is to reconsider the (age old) problem of relating theory to practice in art education by placing it within the largely ignored context of improvisation. In so doing it is hoped that some of the well-known "difficulties" art practitioners have when confronted with the (usually mandatory) history and theory components of…

There is a perception in British universities and art colleges that art students are not very good at writing, that they don't want to write, and furthermore, that writing gets in the way of the real business of making art. These perceptions are reinforced in much of the literature that has been produced about, and in support of, undergraduate art…

This article examines how education could support the formation and establishment of identities. It focuses on museum education and in particular artist interrogations of museum narratives. These interventions into museum pedagogy are critical reworkings of the presentation of cultural histories in dominant narratives. The aim of this research is…

The history of art and design education in Botswana has evolved in a unique way and reflects its British colonial history and post-independence development. It has involved constant exchange and dialogue with other countries through the employment of teachers, teacher trainers and university lecturers from a variety of European, Asian and other…