Art Educators Research Articles

Reimagining the English Language Arts canon: A case for inclusive and empowering instruction

AbstractThis paper explores the possible negative implications of teacher selected whole‐class reads rooted within the traditional canon of English Language Arts instruction and possible solutions for re‐engaging the disengaged adolescent reader through choice reading and the implementation of more culturally relevant texts. Historically, English Language Arts educators assign required readings to the entire class without taking into account the lens through which students view the texts. This paper identifies how texts deemed historically valuable and enabling by the educator can actually be disabling and disengaging to the learner. Additionally, this paper offers insights regarding the positive shifts that can stem from reimagining the traditional canon utilizing a whole‐class read scenario into a more democratic and culturally responsive English Language Arts canon. Assigned whole‐class reads are defined as selections of text chosen by the teacher with the understanding that every student is required to engage in the text. These are not chosen by students and they are not part of independent reading. The goal of this paper is to first, inform educators concerning the disabling effects of choosing whole‐class texts inside the traditional canon without viewing the texts through the varied interests, abilities, socio‐economic backgrounds, integration of students' cultural knowledge and experiences, and maturity levels of the students served. Furthermore, this paper will provide a basis for increasing educator knowledge regarding the traditional canon, disabling and enabling texts, and culturally responsive ELA practices along with particular scaffolds in hopes of re‐engaging the disengaged adolescent reader.

Culinary Arts Teachers Perceived on Readiness Towards Blended Learning Implementations

Blended learning is a technique that combines in-person instruction with online learning. As a result, the students' futures become a yardstick for the teachers' knowledge during a lesson. Thus, this study aims to investigate the perception of culinary arts educators' readiness to implement blended learning in teaching and learning processes. The research was conducted using a quantitative survey method, and the participants were 63 culinary arts educators from various institutions in Johor, Malaysia. This study's design is a descriptive survey that employs a quantitative strategy via a questionnaire as a research tool. Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS) version 25 was used to analyze the data in both a descriptive and inferential manner. The mean, standard deviations, and Paired Sample T-Test coefficient tests were used to report the study's findings. The survey instrument used in this study was adapted from previous research and was focused on four main dimensions of readiness to implement blended learning: technology, classroom, teaching personnel, and student. The findings of this study suggest that culinary arts educators have a positive perception of their readiness to implement blended learning in their teaching and learning processes and to use face-to-face and online blended learning. Additionally, the study found that there is a significant difference between the perception of the readiness of teaching staff in the field of culinary arts when implementing face-to-face and online blended learning. The implications of this study suggest that institutions should focus on providing more support and resources for educators to improve their organizational readiness for blended learning implementation. Moreover, institutions should consider providing professional development opportunities to help educators gain the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively implement blended learning in their teaching and learning processes. Overall, the study's findings can give an overview of how prepared culinary arts educators are to apply blended learning that combines face-to-face with online instruction.

Enhancing Sustainable Arts Education: Comparative Analysis of Creative Process Measurement Techniques

Contemporary research indicates that student creativity is crucial to the success of arts education. Self-regulated learning has become one of educational psychology’s most critical research areas. However, there is limited research on creativity in arts education in self-regulated learning. Therefore, this study aims to define the creativity characteristics that determine the quality of students’ work. This study implemented a creative competition in painting and composition for first-year undergraduates. It was conducted at a Chinese university with the participation of 178 first-year students aged 18 to 26. It evaluated the characteristics of creativity during the three main phases of the task: planning, execution, and completion. We investigated the subject by employing semi-open questionnaires (n = 178) and using the content analysis method and quantitative analysis. According to the competition results, the students with the highest scores in flow, inspiration, and idea generation in the performance phase had the best quality work. In the forethought phase, analogical thinking and idea generation worked best for most students, while in the performance phase, flow sense, idea generation, and idea manipulation worked best. Data on creativity characteristics at different work phases and final quality might adequately guide and organize educational procedures. These findings can serve as a theoretical foundation for quantifying the creativity phase in self-regulated learning and offer arts educators a reference for creativity instruction.

Recognizing Greatness in Our Own Time

Recognizing Greatness in Our Own Time

Making space for the rabbit hole: Art education and eLearning development post-pivot

The pivot to eLearning might have been a bitter pill to swallow for many at first — particularly art educators who find their pedagogy and andragogy steeped in the physical studio space. Soon educators came to notice the value online education was adding to learners’ experiences. Where some students were silent in class, they were vociferous in online forums. Their ability to attend to instructional content improved as they could watch and rewatch lessons and demonstrations. Art students began to view their artistic installations and studio practice from the metacognitive lens: how do I prepare my art for this physical space as well as how do I capture my art for the digital experience of that installation? In this case study, the authors describe their successes with social presence and engagement in art education eLearning, provide strategies for maximising art learner engagement online, share experiential evidence and preliminary survey data to support their observations around improved student engagement in class and beyond, and offer strategies art educators and administrators can immediately implement on campuses or in courses.

“If a Black Woman Had Done It”: The Beliefs and Attitudes of Black Women K–12 Art Educators’ Curricular Experiences

Abstract Although the curriculum drives an educational program and is essential to students’ learning, minimal research documents the impact of whiteness in the curriculum development process for Black women K–12 art educators. This narrative inquiry aimed to explore how Black women who teach art in elementary and secondary school feel about their curriculum. For many educators, the school district provides their curriculum without input or knowledge of the students’ cultural backgrounds. The promotion of whiteness deters a diverse and inclusive learning environment. Through a Black feminist perspective, I critically expose, analyze, and identify Black women K–12 art educator's curricular experiences. In their narratives, I reveal the reality of how race influences who writes the curriculum and who is the target audience of learners. I interviewed 21 Black women who expressed their lived experience as K–12 art educators. Based on the findings of this study, the participants identify their challenges to create a diversified curriculum that mirrors the students in their classroom. The study encourages administrators, curriculum developers, and the field of art education to address the influence of race and gender on Black women's experiences.

Art as Pedagogy: A Multiple Case Study of Participatory Socially Engaged Art

Abstract In recent decades, contemporary art practices have expanded into social processes as art, and even to educational experiments. Artists create participatory projects combining art with educational activities and goals. Despite the prevalence of these art works, contemporary art literature continues to focus primarily on the artist, thereby displacing the experiences of participants. Hence, from the stance of an art educator, I carried out qualitative multiple case studies to examine the learning experiences of the participants as well as the pedagogical frameworks of the artists. On-site observations and individual interviews were carried out with the artists, core group members who directly collaborated with the artists, and public audience members of three participatory, socially engaged art works. Through a cross-case thematic analysis, the findings demonstrate the value of intrinsically motivated learning enabled by a learning approach grounded in (art)making. In these works, a critical social consciousness was promoted among the participants by means of an enhanced social imagination provoked by the interplay between political content and artistic means. Essentially, the art works examined in this study serve as models of transdisciplinary art for learning and teaching social justice issues and civic engagement. Moreover, the results of this study encourage collaboration between artists and educators, as artists’ approaches diversify pedagogy and, conversely, educators play a critical role in enhancing the learning experience of participants.

HINDU CHARACTER EDUCATION AND ENTREPRENEURIAL ABILITY AS A CAPITAL OF INDEPENDENCE FOR ARTS AND CULTURE EDUCATION STUDENTS

The writing of the results of this study strengthens the understanding of the importance of Hindu character education and entrepreneurship for Hindu Religious Arts and Culture Education Study Program students. Art education students are formed into prospective educators, but more opportunities are needed for graduates to become educators. The lack of options, because the formation provided is sometimes lacking, so students must be able to read opportunities. Reading opportunities are part of financial literacy, so entrepreneurship needs to be integrated into lectures. Either through curriculum adaptation or entrepreneurial programs by universities. The assessment uses qualitative research, a type of literature study. Based on data analysis, Hindu character education is for students to develop prospective art educators who have attitudes and behaviours toward the teachings of Hinduism. The ability to be entrepreneurial, providing capital for art education students, to create the desire for entrepreneurship, as preparation for the future. This study aims to provide insightful reinforcement and benefits for art education students and can be a reference for relevant studies by academics and researchers.

“There’s a Pandemic Going On!”: Data Visualization as Critical Place-Based Education in Challenging Times

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsJoy G. BertlingJoy G. Bertling, Assistant Professor of Art Education, Department of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education, University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Email: jbertlin@utk.edu. Website: https://www.joybertling.comLynn HodgeLynn Hodge, Department Head and Professor of STEM Education, Department of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education, University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Email: lhodge4@utk.edu. Website: https://www.lynnliaohodge.comEricka RybaEricka Ryba, Art Educator, Coulter Grove Intermediate School, Maryville City Schools in Maryville, Tennessee. Email: https://ericka.ryba@maryville-schools.org. Website: https://www.providenceroadpottery.com

Lifting Stress from the Day: A Women's Well‐Being Online Community Art Project

AbstractThis article tells the story of a university community engagement project that began in the late spring of 2020 when the world went into lockdown. Increased concern over women's welfare and well‐being was brought into question in relation to those who are vulnerable with complex needs and had suffered societal‐induced hardships. In conjunction with an innovative women's community project, this study considered the value of art‐based online support as a platform from which to offer a non‐judgemental and mindful space with a focus on identity and empowerment. The study is based on weekly art drop‐in online workshops for vulnerable women and considers the value of hybrid ‘spaces’ as a pedagogical and practical model of communicative support and collective care. Findings from this community‐engaged project highlight the responses and shifts within subjectivities through situated art experiences. As art educators, it offers us an understanding of the potential for cumulative and affective artmaking to build communities of care as an inclusive and emancipatory learning tool.

"The Council," Artist Adelita Husni‐Bey and Young Adults Envision the Future Museum

Artmaking, when used as a form of pedagogy and approached in a socially‐conscious manner, has the potential to promote agency and create a democratic learning environment for students. This study examines one such project, "The Council," created by artist Adelita Husni‐Bey in collaboration with former Teen Program attendees of the Museum of Modern Art. The Council is a collection of large‐scale photographs created from a series of workshops in which 13 young adults imagined themselves reshaping the museum's societal role after a major global crisis. The final photographs were exhibited in the museum's main galleries, representing a participatory, socially‐engaged artwork produced from a pedagogical process. While there is a prevalence of these types of pedagogy‐based artworks, contemporary art literature tends to focus mainly on the artist, disregarding the participants. Therefore, from the stance of an art educator, I examined the learning experiences of the participants as well as the pedagogical framework of the artist. The reviews from the participants were overwhelmingly positive, with many noting a significant increase in their confidence and a greater sense of agency. A liberating experience of collaboration was also stated as a common experience. These outcomes were attributed to the artist's innovative use of multimodal learning and effective facilitation grounded in Francesc Ferrer's philosophy of anarcho‐collectivism and integral education, as well as critical pedagogy. This study suggests that creative methodologies can significantly enhance intrinsically motivated learning and emphasises the importance of nurturing the next generation as they envision a more equitable and just society.

Diversity in Leadership Among Arts Graduates: Aiming for an Inclusive Leadership

This research explores the multiplicity of diversity based on gender, ethnicity, and age, and how it is reflected among leaders with an arts degree. They include leaders who are managers, arts administrators, curators, arts educators, theatre producers, and stage directors. In this quantitative study, the aggregated data of arts alumni, nearly 65,000 respondents from three consecutive years (2015, 2016, and 2017) from the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP), are analyzed using a descriptive method. The study shows that 45.7% of art alumni are in management positions, of whom 78.5% are white, and the remaining 21.5% are fairly evenly distributed among other ethnicities. Therefore, there is a lack of diversity in the positions of leadership. This paper suggests the need for inclusive leadership, in which diversity is encouraged.

Skills training collaboration with social work and cinematic art educators to develop innovative practices among those impacted by PTSD

ABSTRACT The number of individuals who meet the criteria for PTSD diagnoses during the pandemic increased exponentially, creating the need for more effective teaching of treatment methods for PTSD. This paper provides educators with an interdisciplinary learning tool to conduct a thorough assessment of a unique movie character with PTSD. A collaborative effort that incorporates teaching practices of the cinematic arts with social work can possibly fill in gaps in knowledge about PTSD. Authors demonstrate how combining the skills training of social work educators with cinematic art educators can lead to the development of innovative solutions.

Antiracism Approaches Through an Outsider-Within Positionality: Making Black Women’s Lives Matter in Art Education

This study investigated the narratives and racial experiences of Black women K–12 art educators navigating the White field of art education. Drawing from a Black feminist outsider-within positionality framework, their shared stories reveal how Black women art educators are unprivileged insiders within their schools and outsiders to a social system that privileges White people as the dominant group in art education. Outsider-within positionality is foundational in providing a platform for revealing the exclusion of Black women’s identities in White spaces. A Black feminist approach to narrative inquiry is a crucial methodology in identifying why Black women matter in art education. Their interviews expose the experiences of racist obstacles that hinder their progress as art educators. As a result, approaches to implementing gender equity with antiracist strategies are presented for an inclusive and safe environment for Black women art educators and create a critical dialogue in art education at large.

“There Was Something Missing”: Using the Critical Response Protocol as Antiracist Practice in Arts Education

This article addresses antiracist arts education by examining key aspects of the critical response protocol (CRP) to disrupt notions of neutrality when responding to works of art. Building on a large urban district’s professional development work to support arts educators’ awareness of their racial identity, we examine how the CRP perpetuates whiteness in K–12 arts classrooms, ultimately maintaining racial inequality. Our research addresses the following question: How do markers of identity, like race, intersect with CRP in K–12 arts classrooms? Our findings contribute to literature on antiracist arts education.

Diverted Flight Path: The California Art Education Association’s Progress Toward Sustainable Runways

Art education associations across the United States have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the force of societal change has impacted all aspects of both the personal and professional lives of teachers. Leadership that is elected and currently serving during this point of inflection find themselves in turbulent positions that demand adaptation to stay relevant as well as “flight plans” that responsibly steward organizations toward sustainability and future succession. As COVID-19 moves into an endemic phase and art educators shift their practice toward embracing the principles of equity, diversity, inclusion, and access (EDIA), the California Art Education Association (CAEA) has taken bold action to confront contemporary challenges. In this article, I share a perspective on organizational change that both traces the evolution of EDIA work within CAEA and provides a preliminary flight plan that outlines current activities and potentialities for future sustainable initiatives.

Getting hands-on: Praxis-focused assessment to enhance online arts teacher education

Online learning has radically altered educational access; however, challenges emerge for learning domains relying on practical learning experiences, such as the creative arts. Research shows praxis is vital to effective arts teacher preparation. However, as Australian initial teacher educators, we noted the challenges of engaging online students in arts praxis and held concerns regarding preparing them adequately for the primary classroom. In exploring solutions, we developed an approach mandating hands-on learning through assessment, theorizing this as praxis-focused pedagogy. Through surveys and interviews, we sought to understand student perspectives regarding the assessment processes and whether this improved online engagement and self-efficacy as future arts educators. Findings confirm students supported a praxis-focused approach to assessment, and reveal beneficial attributes of this approach. The study affirms significant potential for praxis-focused assessment to enhance online arts learning; an approach that may be useful in other online education courses where hands-on experience is central to learning.

Art, sustainability and partnerships

Viewing sustainability as a process rather than a goal places artists, designers and art educators in a key position to contribute to sustainability. Following Anthony Giddens’s theories of structuration and socialization, we can see that established values, world-views, structures, rules and norms influence human behaviour. However, as individuals begin to recognize the potential of reflexivity and ask themselves how change is possible, they learn to modify their behaviour. Art education needs to promote reflexivity in order to contribute to a sustainable process of change. Artistic practices and art education stress the value of shaping the self and our relations with others, and can lead learners to transcend common boundaries through creative thinking and imagining alternative realities. Partnerships forged by art educators amongst themselves and with other stakeholders can create new spaces of experience and empower individuals to achieve change. This Special Issue explores how art educators, activists and artists engage with processes of educational, cultural and political change and embrace sustainability inside and outside school.

Visualizing climate change: Here we come to save the day!

Art educators teach visual literacy, criticism, multiple art media and technical skills representing many pupils’ only exposure to visual communication in school. Given curricular flexibility, art teachers redesign lessons to include important conceptual learning to accommodate department of education guidance addressing potentially controversial issues. Authentic art-integrative approaches provide opportunities for students and communities to interrogate serious issues like global warming and the impact of anthropogenic climate change. While not all teachers embrace this and other difficult conceptual learning, professional development and a supportive community of stakeholders are key for those who do. The following article presents a theoretical framework supporting a unit on an art-based inquiry into environmental justice from a recent course on social justice art education. Graduate student artist inspirations, art exemplars and learning activities are shared to inspire others towards art actionism.

A Study on the Misconception of Art by Epistemological View

본 연구의 목적은 미술 학문의 개념 변화(지식 습득)를 인식론적 관점에서 탐색해 보는 것이었다. 연구의 내용을 정리하면 다음과 같다. 첫째, 미술교육자들이 미술이라는 학문의 정체성과 가치에 대한 깊은 이해를 가지고 있어야 한다. 그래야 학생들에게 미술적 개념에 대하여 설득력 있게 설명할 수 있다. 둘째, 미술교육자들이 오개념에 대한 인식론적 이해가 필요하다. 학습자들이 가지고 있는 인식론적 장애도 지식이다. 또한 학생들이 인식론적 전환을 가지는 것 자체가 쉽지 않은 일이다. 그럼에도 그러한 장애를 알고 극복하는 것이 학습의 핵심(Cornu, 1991)이라는 사실을 학생들이 인지하고 극복하도록 고무해야 한다. 셋째, 인식론적 관점을 전환시킬 수 있는 방법들을 습득하고 있어야 한다. 구체적인 방법으로 ‘인식론적 프레이밍’, ‘인지 갈등 상황’, ‘전형적 인식 상황’과 ‘결정적 예’ 등이 있다. 학문적 사고의 습득 과정에서 인식론적 장애가 발생하며, 이는 불가피한 것이고, 필수적인 것이다(Bachelard, 1970/1991). 새로운 학문적 사고는 기존의 모순적 사고를 버리고, 새로운 무모순적 사고를 습득하는 것이 아니라, 새로운 사고가 기존의 사고를 포용하여 확장되는 것이다.The purpose of this study was to investigate the misconception of art by epistemological view. The result of this study are summarized as follows. First, art educators should have profound understanding on the identity, value of the discipline of art. Then, art educators teach and demonstrate what is art. why artistic thinking is different with other principles, and how does it help students development. Second, art educators should have epistemological understanding on the misconceptions. The change of epistemological view is not easy, because the change of misconceptions require the change the attributes of epistemology. However, art educators should encourage students to recognize that to know and overcome the epistemological obstacles is the essence of learning(Cornu, 1991). Third, art educators should know the methods of change for epistemological view. They are ‘Epistemological Frame’, ‘Typically Perceived Situation’ and ‘Critical Example’, and ‘Cognitive Conflict Strategy’. The epistemological obstacles are inevitable(Bachelard, 1970/1991). They are part of the natural learning process. Art educators must try to understand that learning in education is not to abandon the old knowledge and accept new one but to embrace the new knowledge.