Author: National Art Education Association, Commission on Art Education

Publication Year: 1976

Media Type: Report

Summary:

Abstract:

The National Art Education Association president and the board of directors appointed a Commission to make a study of the present status and prospects for the art teaching profession. The task of the commission, as set by the board, was to prepare a comprehensive status report on such issues as fiscal resources, curriculum, staffing, and administration, and the influences of government, college entrance examinations, standardized testing, and high school graduation requirements in school art programs. Te commission was to be responsible for collating the results of several studies in the arts in five broad topic areas, gathering information and input at open hearings, and engaging qualified professionals in the art teaching field to contribute material to the study.

The commission's report is organized in three sections. Section I contains a summarization of the conclusions and recommendations made by the commission which may be quickly reviewed by those individuals who are primarily concerned with imperatives for change and who do not wish to examine in detail the didactic contained in the arguments presented in Section II. Section II presents in discursive form the basic normative and historical data and the philosophical arguments upon which the commission based its conclusions and recommendations. Section III, Appendix, presents rather explicit models for school practice illustrative of the various philosophical positions presented by various authors in the field of art education. This section attempts to describe how equally viable rationales for the teaching of art might be used in a typical middle school teaching situation. (p. 7 and 8)

CONTENTS
Introduction.

Section I. Art education today: recommendations of the Commission.

Section II. The working papers.

1. The current situation. 

The social status of the arts in American Society. 
The character of schooling today.

2. What we believe and why. 

Art education as a source of aesthetic experience. 
Art education as a source of human understanding. 
Art education as a means of developing creative and flexible forms of thinking. 
Art education as a means of helping students understand and appreciate art.

3. Criteria for practice in the visual arts.

Who should teach art at the elementary and secondary levels?
What should be taught in the art program and to whom?
What kind of fiscal support should art programs have?
Should art be elective or required?
How should the art program be administered.
What is our position regarding related arts?
How should art programs be evaluated?

4. An agenda for change.

A new structure for art education.
Interdisciplinary impact on art education.
Art education and technology.
The future of research in art education.
The future of Federal involvement in art education.

Section III. Appendix.

Selected models for practice developed for sixth grade. 

1. Curriculum planning in an age of diversity by 
    Albert Hurwitz.      
2. Relating the arts: two views. 
         The first view by Geraldine Dimondstein. 
         The second view by Jerilynn Changar and 
         Sharon Bocklage. 
3. Art and environment awareness by June King McFee. 
4. A comprehensive eclectic model for teaching art by 
    Ronald H. Silverman. 
5. Role playing the New art history and appreciation in the
    sixth grade by Robert J. Saunders. 
6. Observation and design: art as studio-based activity by 
    Frank Wachowiak.

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Arts Education