The Lab School of Washington (LSW) uses a unique approach to teaching social studies and humanities content. As part of its arts-driven lower school program, each child spends 40 minutes a day in dedicated rooms that simulate a specific historical time and place. Called "academic clubs," teachers use these spaces to teach thematic, arts-based,…

The National Endowment for the Humanities funded the Rembrandt Project for the purpose of developing an online teaching resource that can provide a means for accessing Rembrandt's art and his world. The Web site for the project includes numerous links that direct teachers to American museums that hold paintings, etchings, or drawings by Rembrandt…

In painting and drawing classes, it is typical to ask students to work directly from a master. It is one way to study composition techniques, and to become familiar with classical style firsthand. In museums, easels are set up as artists work, not in an attempt to copy or plagiarize, but in an attempt to be part of history by participating in it.…

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…

Reminisces about challenges and events associated with setting up the Getty Institute for Educators on the Visual Arts, the purpose of which was to evaluate strategies for making visual arts an academic and required school subject. Discusses the genesis of the Institute, programs offered, and outcomes, including Discipline-Based Art Education.…

Provides a seven-step procedural guide for developing integrated art-social studies lessons using the discipline-based art education model. Explains each of the steps and includes helpful tips. Asserts that following the seven steps of the model assures meaningful teaching and learning of both art and social studies. (DSK)

This paper focuses on two questions: (1) Can visual arts be an effective way for students to express what they have learned in social studies?; and (2) Can creative activity improve motivation, participation, attitude, and enhance learning in social studies? The sample for study was drawn from 75 fifth-graders in 3 classes in a school located in a…

Presents a sample lesson plan using Discipline Based Art Education (DBAE), an approach that integrates social studies with related content from other disciplines. The lesson plan combines economics, art history, aesthetics, and art criticism in its "Analysis of a Fresco Depicting Production in an American City." Includes follow-up…

Details the setting and context of a college-level fine arts program at Aurora College in the Canadian Arctic that drew adult students from several indigenous cultures. Offers an account of how Discipline-Based Art Education shaped the design of the program, and how it worked in the teaching and learning process. (DSK)

Reviews some of the basic tenets of postmodernism's approach to art education and argues for a more tolerant and ubiquitous acceptance of these views. Postmodernists believe that art education should include cultural critique as well as aesthetic experience and that popular art measures culture in ways high art cannot. (MJP)

Describes the use of Socratic seminars for art education, in which art objects are used as "texts" to explore ideas, moral dilemmas, and cultural traditions. Suggests that seminars fulfill educational goals related to analytic, language, and communication skills. Discusses logistics of the seminar process. (12 citations) (AJL)

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)

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)

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)

Contends that the role of the arts in human education and development is essential. Describes an elementary curriculum project that integrates economics and art education to study visual images of U.S. business. Includes three descriptive figures, a table of subthemes and visual art images, and a sample lesson plan. (CFR)