The authors have a lot in common. They are white, cis women, former K-12 art teachers, and recent doctoral graduates. They both entered their first classrooms with good intentions to create lessons reflecting diverse students. Yet, after a few years of teaching, they developed a sinking feeling in the pit of their stomachs. They developed a…

This article discusses how the authors utilized Disney animations, including "Moana" (Musker, 2016), "Zootopia" (Howard et al., 2016), "Coco" (Unkrich & Molina, 2017), "Encanto" (Howard et al., 2021), and "Raya and the Last Dragon" (Hall et al., 2021), to discuss LGBTQIA2S+ representations and…

Educators have seen an increase in school-based programs focusing on students' social and emotional well-being. Research indicates that students who participate in such programs improve academically compared to their peers. This article focuses on the Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) programs that was designed with a dual focus on artistic and…

In this article, the author discusses how video games can be studied in the Media Arts/Arts classroom in terms of their educational potential through three steps of visual literacy to effectively deconstruct a video game for critical thinking. She first looks at how games demonstrate visual representation; second, how games teach visual…

While holding a lesser place in art education theory, many artists believe that craft education is important and should return to the school curriculum (Mason, 2005). Stereotypical views of handwork as domestic and purely functional can expand and align with 21st-century skills, while maintaining the craft traditions of working with one's hands.…

The 2015 passing of Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to replace No Child Left Behind was celebrated within the arts community (Arts Education Partnership, 2017; National Art Education Association, 2017; Walker, 2016) for embracing a "well-rounded education" that explicitly includes the arts in its definition (ESSA, 2015, p. 298). In…

Teaching visual literacy provides students with tools for questioning and understanding the world while creating meaning through visual art. Wanting to know how students make meaning together while making art, this article centers the convergence of collaboration and visual literacy in early childhood artistic practice. Approximately 200 students…

Years before the term "visual literacy" came to light in 1969 (Felten, 2008; Reis, 2013), British designer and art educator, Kurt Rowland, wrote, illustrated, and meticulously designed a series of art education textbooks called "Looking and Seeing." The intent was to teach visual awareness in a way that increased the capacity…

Both curators and educators craft ways for others to enter into relationships with objects and ideas, finding personal meaning therein. As university art educators of a teacher training program, the authors invited their preservice art educators to enter into curatorial acts that call on them to unpack their own teacher identities and…

To be awake means to have active attention, particularly the attention to carry a project into effect and execute a plan (Greene, 1977). Additionally, to be wide-awake requires a level of consciousness that provokes reflection and awareness in the quest for meaning, which can in turn contribute to the formation of self and ability to make sense of…

Although all things about hip-hop culture are not positive, indigenous hip-hop offers narratives of nationhood, pride, resurgence, and calls for Indigenous sovereignty. Through this art form, one gets to see traditional dance steps merged with b-boy/girl styles and graffiti that interrupts the urban landscape with images of history and hope.…

As we consider art education for future generations, we envision a change in focus from the "product," or artwork, to the artistic "process"--the thinking behind the artwork. How can we be so sure this shift of priorities is afoot? Indicators in general education point to thinking dispositions as the goal of learning (Costa…

As a fine art collection founded by a scientist with a passion for art and a vested interest in education, the Barnes Foundation is in an exciting and unique position to explore and develop educational programming around science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM). The education staff determined that using science and math in the…

According to Vande Zande (2007), understanding the Design Process can help students become stronger critical thinkers. With this in mind, Andrew Watson decided to undertake an observational case study in which he focused directly on Design Thinking and addressed it more intentionally in his teaching. The hope was to understand how students saw…

Altruism is recognized as "a cultural behavior, well beyond instinctive behavior, and even beyond adaptive social behaviors with respect to evolutionary processes" (Wilson, 1998, p. 29) Yet, if artmaking is a cultural behavior it is one that does not appear at first "to contribute to the survival of the species" (Wilson, 1998,…