This book examines how Massachusetts Normal Art School became the alma mater par excellence for generations of art educators, designers, and artists. The founding myth of American art education is the story of Walter Smith, the school’s first principal. This historical case study argues that Smith’s students formed the professional network to disperse art education across the United States, establishing college art departments and supervising school art for industrial cities. As administrative progressives they created institutions and set norms for the growing field of art education. Nineteenth-century artists argued that anyone could learn to draw; by the 1920s, every child was an artist whose creativity waited to be awakened. Arguments for systematic art instruction under careful direction gave way to charismatic artist-teachers who sought to release artistic spirits. The task for art education had been redefined in terms of living the good life within a consumer culture of work and leisure.

EDUCATION / Arts in Education

This report was developed from a task force of education, arts, business and foundation leaders to address the question: What knowledge can research create that will help schools and policy makers provide an appropriate arts education to American students? The report recommends that research be conducted on five aspects of student learning in the arts, including: (1) the effects of arts education on preschool children and how that relates student achievement in the arts and other academic areas; (2) the effects of arts education on preparing students for successful work and careers; (3) the effects of arts education on the academic performance of at-risk student populations; (4) the effects of arts education on student understanding and appreciation of the diversity of cultural traditions in America; and (5) identification of the best instructional practices in the arts along with the most effective methods of professional development for teachers throughout their careers to insure the highest caliber of arts instruction. The report also makes five recommendations for the development and dissemination of information to guide education policy makers in making decisions affecting arts education. (EH)

This booklet is designed to give teachers some of the latest ideas about how arts principles and concepts can best be understood, taught, and used in the classroom to improve instruction in the arts and other disciplines. Considering the stance of the U.S. Department of Education, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the Goals 2000 Arts Education Partnership, and the Coalition for Education in the Arts, and the increasing support from research about the value of the arts, the 1990's seems a time of real opportunity. While there are still issues being discussed, the state-of-the-art in arts education may soon properly reflect the importance of this aspect of education to civilization. The booklet's major ideas, organized into one page sections, include the following: (1) make certain all students have daily arts experiences; (2) the arts offer the opportunity to practice decision making; (3) students need to know the elements of the various arts and need to develop the vocabularies with which to discuss them; (4) experiences in the arts provide opportunities for students to learn as much about themselves as they do about the subject matter; (5) provide students with opportunities to develop a craft while exploring originality and analytical thinking; (6) lead students to new ways of solving problems through unique challenges in the arts, both mental and physical; (7) employ modern technology to encourage imaginative use of artistic material; (8) arts specialists are educators who are also skilled in at least one arts discipline; (9) enriching the experiences of all children as they study literature, history, geography, foreign languages, math, or science is a gift arts specialists offer the school; and (10) a major asset of the arts in education is to make schools a more engaging learning environment. In discussing the U.S. Department of Education's support for the arts, Secretary of Education, Richard W. Riley said, "The arts in all their distinct forms define, in many ways, those qualities that are at the heart of education reform in the 1990s--creativity, perseverance, a sense of standards, and above all, a striving for excellence." Contains 53 notes, an 11-item suggested reading list, and a 38-item selected resources list. (CB)

This resource examines professional development approaches from across the United States to help schools and allied arts groups integrate the arts into an already crowded K–12 curriculum. The authors document the purposes and structures of a broad spectrum of current efforts and programs. Several of these programs have been in place for decades, thus demonstrating their sustainability and effectiveness. Emphasizing the value of collaboration among teachers, artists, educational leaders, and community partners, the book draws on the broad range of experiences of the authors, who came together as a working group of the Arts Education Partnership. Readers will find strong, empirically tested models of arts integration to inform curriculum development and teacher professional learning. Book Features: The first critical reflection on arts-integration training programs and projects from across the United States. Promising practices for pre- and inservice teacher professional development programs in arts integration. A summary list of recommendations for actions based on the authors’ collaborative experiences.

An essay commissioned by the J. Paul Getty Center for Education in the Arts.