Discursive underground: Re-transcribing the history of art education using critical multicultural education

Abstract

Abstract This article proposes the application of three primary tenets of critical multicultural education to assist art educators in re-conceptualizing myopic histories of art education currently dominating the field. Traditionally, voices of those from non-dominant groups have rested on the outskirts of most American art education historical narratives. Critical multicultural education provides an alternative framework as it examines the subjugation of certain non-dominant cultural knowledge and voices. Critical multicultural education re-directs investigations of power as it relates to culture construction and maintenance, knowledge creation and culture fluidity. The objective of this article is to challenge art educators to re-evaluate firmly established historical ‘truths’, and encourage them to recognize a broader audience of voices in order to articulate the cultural complexity of the history of art education.