This qualitative study investigates rural middle school students' perceptions of academic engagement. Participant-produced drawings (Kearney & Hyle, 2003), integrated with a series of semi-structured interviews (Patton, 2002), served as the primary data collection techniques. Twenty middle school students participated, stratified for socioeconomic…

This paper examines the progress of one state in implementing the middle school concept. Results of a survey distributed in 1990 were compared to results of a similar survey distributed in the spring of 2004. Progress or the lack thereof has been noted. Implications from this survey can serve to heighten awareness and continue to improve the…

This year-long case study examines how a struggling reader in a sixth-grade social studies class, a seventh grade mathematics class, and an eighth grade science class "transacted" with the reading task demands of her specific classroom. Through regular classroom observations and interviews, the researcher documents how each student responded to…

In this article, internationally renowned artist and educator Judy Chicago reflects on her teaching and on my own interpretation of her pedagogy in three projects: "Womanhouse" (1971-1972), "At Home" (2001-2002), and "Envisioning the Future" (2003-2004). From a comparison of pre- and post-open-ended questionnaire responses given by 62 participants…

Art and design practice-based PhDs have been developing in the United Kingdom for the past 15 years, yet there has been almost no research on how these degrees are experienced by students and their supervisors. This article sets out to remedy this lacuna by portraying some of the problems encountered by students in working toward such degrees and…

This research analyzes the attitudes of teachers, children, and parents toward artwork in Israeli kindergartens and the role this attitude plays in the reproduction theory of social status. This micro-ethnographic field research was carried out in two kindergartens. The teacher and the majority of parents of Kindergarten A concurred with the…

Narrative is a form of discourse that "encode[s] and encrypt[s] the norms, values, and ideologies of the social order" (Friedman, 1998, p. 8). These values may be represented in many ways, including culturally learned codes, myths, and stories which reveal popular attitudes about gender, race, ethnicity, or education. As a mirror of culture,…

This article addresses dimensions of contemporary policy that are influencing art teaching and learning. In the light of recent policy, and its challenges to creativity, art educators have been placed in the position where we need to make trouble through a re-definition and extension of professional responsibility. In response to negative impacts…

Music video is one of the most influential visual culture forms to hit youth culture since the advent of television. Although provocative, the value of studying such visual culture as the music video in art education is much more than providing mere spectacle or motivational tactic. As many teenagers know, music videos portray meaning. They…

This is a qualitative examination of how the presentation mode of Renaissance painting--original artwork, printed reproduction, or digital reproduction--influences the critical responses of adolescents. In contrast to prior experimental research in this area, the findings of this study provide insights into the experiential dimensions of student's…

Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (1857-1941), founder of the Boy Scout Movement in 1907, was a British military hero during the Boer War. Within an ethos and era of empire-building, athleticism, soldier-heroes and the pursuit of "manliness," Baden-Powell valued the arts and adapted his artistic skill to his wartime and Scouting activities. His…

This study examines a series of children's drawings ("Draw for Math" tasks) to determine the relationship of students' spatial understanding and mathematical problem solving. Level of spatial understanding was assessed by applying the framework of central conceptual structures suggested by Case (1996), a cognitive developmental researcher.…

This article describes a participatory action research study that examined participant's perceptions of community and of the West End neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, where the study took place. It is argued that oppressive situations have developed strong collective identities and social capital among residents, which can lead to the development…

This article presents a conversation between the authors, James Marriott and Suzi Gablik. Marriott is a founding member and co-director of PLATFORM, a London-based, award-winning organization focused on social and ecological justice. Gablik is the author of "The Reenchantment of Art," "Conversations Before the End of Time," and "Living the Magical…

This essay attempts to affectively politicize the visual art educator to the global condition of water in the larger context of designer capitalism. The ethical concerns of "designer water" are raised within the broader agenda of ecosophy as inspired by Giles Deleuze and by the last great essay by Felix Guattari. The essay takes an aesthetic line…