Does the person become the name or does the name become the person? This question was asked by a participant of my culture jam entitled, "What's my name?" In this culture jam, I asked people to discern the name of a person based solely on their appearance and a list of possible names below their picture. This article aims to show how culture jams…

Facing the era of globalization, culturally responsive art teachers must recognize that students' home culture, including local artistic expression, is inevitably influenced by global forces. They should strive to engage with students systems and issues of globalization and its impact on their community culture and art. In this article, the author…

It is said that "a picture is worth a thousand words" as visual images can express complex and multilayered ideas. Sometimes photographic imagery is so strong and resonant of certain success, struggles, or events that it becomes key to a community or generation. As historic records, photographs are uniquely able to present not only success and…

Art museums and other institutions of informal learning can promote multicultural understanding by collaborating with community ethnic groups and designing exhibitions that richly characterize the cultures they represent. Through the lens of educational programming for the exhibition "30 Americans," this article describes how both the Corcoran…

The acronym STEM--the teaching of science, technology, engineering, and math--now a familiar term in education, is evolving into STEAM--STEM plus "A" for art. Educational researcher Martin Storksdieck's studies have shown that infusing art into STEM allows for "a different way of perceiving and knowing and dealing with the world, as a means to…

In the art classroom--where art, identity, and culture are inextricably linked--racially and culturally responsive teaching play a critical role in how teachers interact with students and ultimately how students themselves come to understand cultural diversity, social inclusion, and antiracist behaviors. It is important that teachers understand…

According to a report by the Congressional Research Service, the U.S. population is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse. This increasing change is reflected in every aspect of people's lives, including the classroom. Now more than ever it is necessary for art educators to address the needs of the steadily increasing numbers of culturally…

In this article, the author shares her kinesthetic-based art classroom unit. The kinesthetic-based art unit was originally designed to address disparities in learning styles present in her art classroom. In particular, students who were generally disruptive during teacher-centered art instruction often focused easily during lessons infused with…

Research conducted in nearly the last decade has drawn attention to the fact that adolescents often feel disconnected with schooling. Youth are described as bored, unmotivated, uninterested, not listening, and feeling averse to learning. In studies highlighting urban adolescents, feelings of disconnection, disaffection, and despair are noted.…

Diana Al-Hadid's sculptures reflect the many locations, cultures, histories, and mythologies that have shaped her as an artist. In large-scale works which have the appearance of architectural ruins, Al-Hadid employs imagery drawn from many diverse interests including science and technology, history, and literature. She also incorporates images and…

Paraprofessionals are among the 650,000 people supervised by certified professionals who support students with disabilities as determined by a student's Individual Education Plan (IEP). While there is a growing body of literature that examines the role of paraprofessionals in the general classroom, there is little information about the role of the…

In this article, the author describes ethical encounters in Room 13, a schoolroom where children made what they wanted, posed their own questions, and ran an art room like a small business. In Room 13 children had the responsibility to maintain all aspects of the art studio. Specific decisions fell to an annually elected management team, a small…

When students feel comfortable in the learning environment and are being given authority to make their own choices about what they want to create, they can create significant artworks with different personal expressions through the form of narratives. Students feel this freedom especially when they are not in the regular school environment where…

Making the visual arts program meaningful in public education can be a challenge when one considers how little instructional time is devoted to the visual arts. A challenge for art educators is to seek opportunities outside the classroom for real-life inquiry-based projects. This form of systematic inquiry done by teachers for themselves is called…

Louisiana is gearing up to open a new front in its push to expand educational choice, essentially creating a marketplace that lets students shop around for publicly funded courses--both online and face-to-face--beyond their schoolhouse doors. More than 30 providers already have stepped forward seeking state approval to take part in the Course…