This study is a hermeneutic phenomenological investigation into the lived experiences of teachers implementing the National Core Art Standards alongside the California Visual Art Standards, with a specific lens on culturally responsive teaching practices. Utilizing Geneva Gay's theoretical framework for culturally responsive teaching, this study…

Schools and districts have long grappled with race- and disability-based exclusionary discipline inequities. Research on the topic has uncovered a variety of systems that maintain such disparities, including school policies and practices that exacerbate the problem. Researchers and practitioners have increasingly considered school context and…

This exploratory study was designed to expand the field's understanding of talented adolescent visual artists and creative writers and their conscious motivations for engaging in these creative activities. Accordingly, 233 talented high school visual arts (n = 151) and creative writing (n = 82) students were asked to rate the degree to which they…

Located in Napa, California, the Oxbow School is a 1-semester boarding program for visual arts, critical inquiry, self-discovery, and community. Oxbow's pandemic story concentrates on a series of assignments designed to help students cope with the transition to emergency online instruction amid isolation and uncertainty. The images illustrating…

Many educational leaders are unfamiliar with learning, teaching, and conveying information through 21st century visual culture and digital products. Insights from individuals who developed skills in a visual environment and experienced technological disruptions throughout their working life might be useful. The six participants in this narrative…

With young people increasingly learning and communicating through visual and social media, schools are looking for ways to tap into students' interest in digital media. In a school district in Southern California, a very promising approach to technology use has emerged that integrates digital storytelling into instruction. Findings from a…

Given the necessary attention required to ensure that every K-12 learner has access to quality Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA), equally important is the assurance that their teachers are effectively prepared to provide excellent art education experiences. Unfortunately, the literature indicates that many are unprepared in this area (Oreck, 2004;…

This article highlights the ways in which arts-based approaches to research can be used in teaching and learning about the qualitative research process. Specifically, in our qualitative research class graduate students used the arts as a form of reflexivity to highlight various aspects of their research process, including their positionality,…

The purpose of this qualitative research case study was to investigate leadership and funding decisions that determine key factors responsible for sustaining arts programs in public schools. While the educational climate, financial constraints, and standardized testing continue to impact arts programs in public education, Eastland High School, the…

In this article, we use a disability studies lens to examine ways in which the artworks of disabled people are bonded in a common sociopolitical experience. We analyze the history surrounding institutional art and the emergence of community art centers at the time of deinstitutionalization in the late 20th century. As a result of this…

Street artist Morley describes how his perspective on graffiti changed when more cosmopolitan art school peers introduced him to what at the time was being redefined from "vandalism" to "street art." Morley explains that, as fascinated as he was, his untrained suburban eyes couldn't make out the words or their meaning in…

Targeting students in grades K-8, Art in Action's program consists of 12 age-appropriate lessons per year led by parent and teacher volunteers. The curriculum is based on historically significant artists and their works of art. Through semi-structured discussions, students examine a variety of masterpieces, learning about the artist as well as…

"What's going on in this picture?" With this one question and a carefully chosen work of art, teachers can start their students down a path toward deeper learning and other skills now encouraged by the Common Core State Standards. The Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) teaching method has been successfully implemented in schools,…

In 2011, with ongoing concerns over state budget shortfalls and the increasing educational cost structure, California state legislators focused their attention on measures that could lead to access, added productivity, and value in order to sustain the current educational system. One of the recommendations provided by the Legislative Analyst's…

This study examines the reactions of veteran artists to some issues associated with the process of creating visual art that can cause fear, fear significant enough to derail many professional artists and cause them to quit making art altogether. Based on the writings of Bayles and Orland and enhanced by J. M. Erikson, this study provides insight…