A Proper Function for Art Education in the Seventies

Abstract

This paper has been developed to provide a theoretical framework for curriculum design in art education. The impetus for the paper grows out of the author's classroom experiences both as a teacher and as a supervisor of student teachers. These experiences have led to the conclusion that many prospective and beginning teachers of art do not have either an adequate conception of curriculum or the training needed for designing curriculum. The realities of such inadequacies may not be apparent during the first weeks of student teaching or teaching. A few favorite lessons remembered and borrowed from a former teacher or some projects from art education books or magazines may see the novice through the first trying days. There comes a time, however, when such a hitor-miss approach, the lack of guidelines for selecting instructional materials, and the rapid vanishing of that ideal vision of art education lead to the conclusion that some logical means for structuring educational experiences, that is, a curriculum for art education, is needed. Curricula for art education are not nearly so abundant as might at first seem apparent. Most of the guides published by various city, county, and state school systems are not curriculum guides as their titles would imply. Instead, they are either instructional materials or teachers' how-to-do-it manuals.