In this article, the author shares a lesson taught to a sixth-grade art class. Using contemporary art, the students were encouraged to observe the art and have focused conversations about the work. When these discussions are integrated into the daily work of artmaking, they help students understand what it is they are learning. The author's goal…

School reform initiatives designed to improve school quality require strong leadership, strategic planning, data analysis, and systemized performance accountability. Utilizing school reforms includes rethinking curriculum and instruction to improve quality and promote equality, restructuring school operations with a focus on both the students and…

External assessments are pervasive in education, particularly with the testing environment created by the "No Child Left Behind" reform initiative. To solidify its position as a core subject within education, art needs to be accountable to its standards at both national and state levels. Art can be assessed for accountability purposes…

In this paper, the author discusses her use of a form of Discipline-Based Art Education (DBAE), a method that is based on the belief that art students of all ages can best learn about art by working with the same type of content that professional artists work with--important ideas that are related to their own lives and the lives of others. This…

Reviews the traditional approach to ceramics education that focuses on studio-based, formalist curriculum and Modernist concerns. Argues for a comprehensive, or contextual, ceramics education in high school classrooms that would include contextual information about ceramic objects. Discusses example ceramic objects by various artists. (CMK)

Discusses folk and outsider art and the relationship between the two art forms. Considers the inclusion of folk and outsider art in the curriculum, focusing on issues such as multiculturalism and social reconstructionism. Explores applications of folk and outsider art in the classroom. (CMK)

Discusses the genesis of the Rembrandt Teaching Project, a discipline-based arts curriculum focusing on art history, art production, art criticism, and aesthetics. Developed for a group of New York City middle school students, the goal of the curriculum focuses on critical thinking skills. (DAJ)

Describes the different types of graffiti: (1) private forms of graffiti (doodling and latrinalia); and (2 public forms (gang graffiti, tags, and pieces). Uses teenage psychology to interpret adolescents' involvement in graffiti. Examines graffiti art in relation to its educational implications for secondary art education. (CMK)

Considers neopragmatism's use-value for art educators as they inspect the magic words, images, and practices that influence curriculum and instruction. Explains that neopragmatism offers art educators three concepts (contingency, demystification, and recontextualization) as tools to interpret educational beliefs and classroom practices. (CMK)

Examines the impact of sequential learning on art education. Contends that it has reshaped and redefined art educators' perceptions of what is art learning. Concludes that, although sequential learning still seems to be a feasible and desirable teaching and learning approach, the paths and directions of the approach may be changing. (CFR)

Presents four lesson plans that use paintings, illustrations, and photographs that tell a story. The lessons consider the use and characteristics of narrative. Includes work from, "The Book of Deeds of Alexander the Great," as well as the works of Georges de La Tour, Eileen Cowin, and Henry Ossawa Tanner. (MJP)

Asserts the importance of incorporating art criticism into art instruction to achieve quality art education. Presents and discusses art criticism formats. Includes three figures illustrating a typical student's written art criticism, that same assignment after teacher evaluation, and an example of a student gradebook. (CFR)

Discusses the founding, development, and issues surrounding the Barnes Foundation and its art collection, specifically designed for art education. Also discusses myths about Albert C. Barnes, the Barnes Foundation, and its relationship to the ideas of John Dewey. (CFR)

Asserts that aesthetic questions and aesthetic understanding provide the framework for learning in art. Contrasts formalism (the belief that art exists for its own sake) with contextualism (the belief that art is part of a social communication system). Maintains that a balanced art program should incorporate both approaches. (MJP)

Asserts that neither of the two most popular models of art criticism lends itself to a postmodern understanding of the political role of visual art in the late 20th century. Concludes that the historical context model is rooted in historical understanding and that teachers must prepare for this type of instruction. (CFR)