Dewey (1934) defined reflection as "the kind of thinking that consists in turning a subject over in the mind and giving it serious and consecutive consideration" and argued that reflective thought should be an educational aim. Today the importance of reflective thought for students, teachers, and teacher candidates is recognized. Within…

The art classroom is abundant with opportunities to develop meaningful questions, including one that constantly drives the author's own teaching practice: How might she best engage middle school students in a generative process of inquiry when interpreting and producing creative visual culture? In 2009, Chris Grodowski began translating research…

This narrative inquiry describes how Arts-Based Research (ABR) allows for reflective visual journaling as a way to create unexpected understandings of one's self, students, and practice. Informal sketching is seen as an exploration of how drawing can generate and communicate unique insights. Using (ABR) allowed the author to experience the…

In this article, the author provides a brief synopsis of a study he conducted about the nature of children's drawing among first and second grade students. Laroche noticed that when first and second grade students sat at a table of four or had their individual desks grouped in fours, frequently the drawings from that group of students had similar…

It is said that "a picture is worth a thousand words" as visual images can express complex and multilayered ideas. Sometimes photographic imagery is so strong and resonant of certain success, struggles, or events that it becomes key to a community or generation. As historic records, photographs are uniquely able to present not only success and…

Photography is a powerful medium with which to explore social issues and concerns through the intersection of artistic form and concept. Through the discussions of images and suggested activities, students will understand various ways photographers have documented and addressed racism and discrimination. This Instructional Resource presents a…

Visual culture permeates women's everyday lives, affecting how they see themselves, the world, and their relationships with others. Increasing women's opportunities to recognize the power and problem of visual culture and subsequently to create new meanings through visual culture is an important teaching goal of the author. The author considered…

The author partially describes a few of the immanent qualities of dreaming imagery and metaphor. The concept of the ineluctable modality is introduced to illustrate the spontaneous synthesizing of cognitive and noncognitive elements. A short dream excerpt is shared to clarify the pervasive contrapuntallike depth of dreaming imagery. (Author/SJL)

Investigates the manner in which the drawings of young people are influenced by outside sources, the role imitation plays in the process of learning to draw, and how images are developed, modified, and adopted. (Author/RK)

Discusses five realms to explore when distinguishing the efficacy of images. Explores six ethical issues that the use of images raise, such as misconception and sensationalism. Proposes a strategy for analyzing controversial images and illustrates the use of this methodology by analyzing the use of "Joe Camel" in advertising. (CMK)

Examines the influence of cultural factors and cultural norms on self-imagery and their implications for art education. (Author/RK)

Visual images create desire. As artifacts from contemporary visual culture, visual images inform everyone about society, telling everyone who they are and what they value. They register subliminally within everyone's psyches and alter everyone's perceptions, sometimes without everyone's knowledge. Visual images seem to keep coming and often…

Focuses on a way of teaching that explores the connection between historical and cultural content in works of art, linking the present and past through reCognizing (understanding a previously known thing differently or viewing an unknown thing in multiple ways). Provides an example of reCognition using the Kwanzaa Playground in Columbus (Ohio).…

Examines the transformation of the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe as the foundation for proposing objectives teachers might use to guide students in borrowing traditional images from their own or others' cultures. Offers a series of six objectives to guide students in understanding and transforming traditional images. (CMK)

Considers the process through which a group of teachers enrolled in an art education course established friendships with selected works of art by regarding them as metaphors for their lives. Teachers connected with the art works through religious references, family bonds, formal contexts, and ties to nature. (MJP)