Research in visual arts education is often focused on philosophical issues or broad concerns related to approaches to curriculum. In focusing on the everyday work of teaching, this article addresses a gap in the literature to report on collaborative research exploring the experiences of secondary visual arts teachers in regional New South Wales,…

This qualitative study explores how a community of enquiry pedagogy in combination with a social semiotic approach to visual analysis influenced the changing knowledge and concepts of knowledge experienced by students in an undergraduate teacher education course. The art of the Constitutional Court of South Africa was the focus of our study and…

This anthology places art at the center of meaningful urban education reform. Providing a fresh perspective on urban education, the contributors describe a positive, asset-based community development model designed to tap into the teaching/learning potential already available in urban cities. Rather than focusing on a lack of resources, this…

Argues that studying professional art critics can provide material for studying art criticism in the classroom. Focuses on the published work of Lawrence Alloway. Describes how his work covered a wide range of artists and movements and how he was politically proactive in promoting underrepresented populations of artists. (KM)

The four content areas of discipline based art education (aesthetics, art criticism, art history, and art production) should be addressed in every art education unit planned and taught to students. All four content areas are addressed in the process of formal art criticism therefore every unit/lesson that utilizes a formal art criticism also…

Explores the sources of art criticism and reviews some extant pedagogical models. Outlines the content skills to be developed and the role of art criticism in a discipline-based teacher training curriculum. Recommends that art criticism should incorporate pedagogy and other disciplines of art. (KM)

The collected papers from three conferences about art education are documented in three volumes. The first conference addressed art education, aesthetics, and art criticism. Eighteen scholars representing classroom teachers, museum educators, and university faculty were invited to prepare papers on the general topic of aesthetics and art criticism…

Identifies the essential features of critical inquiry and shows how it differs from the critical procedures often recommended by educators. Explains the implications of the inquiry process for teaching criticism. Provides a model of critical-inquiry instruction by suggesting three basic instructional strategies for teachers and describing an…

Maintains that philosophical aesthetics must be an integral part of art education. Examines existing methods and materials for teaching philosophy to children from the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children (New Jersey). Describes a sample unit showing philosophical aesthetics in action in a fifth grade class. (KM)

Presents a teaching approach developed by Edmund Feldman that encourages young children to talk about art through guided discussion. A dialogue with a small group of four- and five-year-olds about the painting, "The Countess of Sussex and Her Daughter," by Thomas Gainsborough, is included. (BB)

Presents a comparative review of art criticism strategies offered within the art education literature. Maintains that most strategies are characterized by three different structures: (1) sequential steps; (2) nonsequential groups of questions; and (3) lists of questions. Provides suggestions for further research. (CFR)

Seeks to introduce elementary and middle school students to cultural differences in artistic styles, and to develop students' critical skills by examining four different cultures' interpretations of a common subject, the fish. Provides several instructional strategies to strengthen students perception of works of art. (KM)

Describes a "critical pedagogy" that encourages reflective self-examination of attitudes, values, and beliefs within historical and cultural critique. Highlights an art lesson for preservice teachers that illustrates the use of a critical pedagogy of representation, focusing on self-portraits by Frida Kahlo and Leonora Carrington. Discusses the…

Presents classroom lessons based on four self-portraits found in the Art Institute of Chicago. Provides background information, discussion questions, and activities for each portrait. Includes full-page color reproductions of the paintings. (CFR)

Provides four sample activities and illustrations to develop students' perceptual skills. Seeks to help teach students that (1) understanding art takes time and effort; (2) personal reactions are important; (3) understanding the culture in which artworks are created is useful; and (4) many different approaches are available for understanding art.…