Discipline-Based Art Education and Teacher Education

Abstract

In A Discipline-based View of Art Education, W. Dwaine Greer (1984) identifies an approach to visual arts education that incorporates learning experiences from four distinct domains of art study: art criticism, aesthetics, art history, and studio production. Although the term disciplinebased art education (DBAE) has appeared only recently in the literature of art education, the desire to expand studio art curricula to include integrated learning in art criticism, art history, or aesthetics has a lengthy history. One aspect of that history, and the focus of this inquiry, is the emergence of DBAE in teacher education programs. Teacher education in the visual arts takes on several forms: the preservice preparation of classroom teachers, the preservice education of art specialists, in-service courses and workshops for the experienced classroom teacher, and advanced graduate education for visual arts teachers. While each of these forms bears exploration, the primary focus of this report centers on the evolution of courses and degree programs related to the education of art specialists. To initiate this investigation a computer search of the literature related to teacher education in the visual arts was employed. The search yielded minimal historical documentation of teacher training methods in the visual arts, sparse conclusions relating art curriculum theory to teaching practices,