Contends that differences in child development and cultural backgrounds affect the way children represent their world through art. Describes an exhibit of children's art from Thailand and Australia. Discusses differences in content, media, and style and concludes that both cultures could benefit from adopting aspects of the other. (CFR)

Reviews the political controversy regarding the National Endowment for the Arts and the relationship of art to human existence. Argues that art is an essential aspect of the human spirit. Proposes a definition of art as human activity that illuminates the universal qualities of a particular action or experience. (CFR)

Contends that an integrated curriculum approach increases student motivation and makes learning easier because lessons have wider applications. Suggests that discipline-based art education promotes an interdisciplinary approach, particularly with social studies and language arts. Provides an example of an instructional unit combining social…

Contends that aesthetics can be be made understandable and relevant to students. Describes a classroom lesson in which middle school students learned about aesthetic theory through a hands-on activity. Includes instructional procedures and suggested art works for the activity. (CFR)

Presents classroom lessons based on four art works designed to change people's minds and behavior. Provides full-page color reproductions of each work of art. Includes information about the artist, questions to be asked about each art work, and suggested classroom activities. (CFR)

Presents an instructional unit containing five activities centered around paintings by Leon Golub. Helps students understand the processes of art criticism and the social context in which art works are analyzed and criticized. Provides guidelines and questions for a comparative analysis of three contemporary art critics. (CFR)

Argues that art education does not meet its objective of creativity and instead is replicative rather than original. Contends educational journals such as "Instructor" and "Good Apple" reduce fine art to its antithesis, popular art. Concludes that art educators must work diligently to protect fine art from becoming "dumb down" art in schools. (CFR)

Describes a collaborative project in which art educators and architects worked together to design a space for educational programs in a museum. Discusses differing views about the space as a classroom or an active studio. Concludes that the collaborative experience heightened creativity among the participants and produced a design for a museum…

Describes a five-year curriculum assessment and development program in a Pennsylvania school district. Uses the metaphor of a baseball game to describe the project's chronology and activities. Includes a year-by-year project synopsis and evaluative comments about group dynamics and related issues. (CFR)

Argues that art education programs must actively recruit minority students for training in visual arts education. Describes a cooperative effort between an independent art college and a metropolitan school system to identify, recruit, train, and employ minority teachers in art education. Outlines a three-year plan that includes curriculum…

Presents classroom lessons based on four self-portraits found in the Art Institute of Chicago. Provides background information, discussion questions, and activities for each portrait. Includes full-page color reproductions of the paintings. (CFR)

Argues that student creative writing is stimulated by painting and other visual art. Describes a seven-step process in which students view painting and other visual arts and then write poetry. Includes suggested artworks and excerpts of poetry written by students. (CFR)

Asserts art educators must increase public relations efforts to ensure parents and community understand importance of art education in the general curriculum. Describes a school community relations campaign for an elementary art education program. Includes suggestions for identifying goals for the campaign, meeting the interests of the audience,…

Reviews the place of creativity in the two major orientations of art education: (1) creative self-expression; and (2) discipline-based art education (DBAE). Asserts that critics of DBAE argue that it is dry and does not allow for creative expression. Rejects this notion and claims that properly implemented DBAE produces intellectual and emotional…

Contends that preservice art education should provide students with a balance between practices and the need for school reform. Describes an action research program in which preservice students add descriptions of effective instruction, summaries of classroom research, and case studies to a hypermedia program used by other students. (CFR)