In this action research study, we investigated how art teachers demonstrate critical and creative thinking when engaging in collaborative reasoning exchanges about the meaning of contemporary Chinese artworks. The study was conducted in a professional learning program for art teachers in conjunction with a privately owned gallery housing a…

In this article, we tackle critical and socially engaged issues on Arctic visual culture (AVC) education in Finland, which are, in this article, considered culturally sensitive topics in Finnish art education. The article emerges from research interests in (1) place-specific issues in art teacher education, as they relate to the critical study of…

Although not new, participatory art practices are finding their way into art education theory; however, practices have yet to take hold in schools or teacher practicum. In this qualitative study, four teacher candidates' efforts to implement two socially engaged art projects in a middle school are examined to better understand how participatory…

This article describes secondary- and postsecondary-level students who might not be seriously interested in art but are required to take an introductory studio art course to fulfill a graduation requirement and those who enjoy artmaking as a pleasurable and socially engaging activity but are not enrolled in formal studio art courses. In the late…

This article examines arts participation as a context for youth to develop purpose. Two analyses were conducted of interviews with arts-involved youth to explore the relationship between their arts participation and purpose, which was defined as an "intention to accomplish something that is both meaningful to the self and contributes to the…

Frank McCourt's "Teacher Man" illustrates, among many things, one teacher's perception of the gap between educational theory and practice. A premise of this article is that McCourt's narrative of his 30 years as a high school English teacher is the record of a gifted reflective practitioner and, as such, has practical and…

This article is the report of a large-scale, international research project involving focus group interviews of adolescent and young adult members of a variety of self-initiated visual culture groups in five urban areas (Amsterdam, Budapest, Chicago, Helsinki, and Hong Kong). Each group was established by young people around their interests in the…

This article explores how student teaching experiences provoke preservice art teachers to rethink curriculum and pedagogy as an organic and living space that is connected to place, community, and local knowledge. Based on a larger qualitative study of urban preservice art education student teachers, the journeys of two student teachers are…

As art educators are asked to broaden their scope to include children with a variety of abilities, they are beginning to seek answers from sources that might traditionally be outside their field. In an era of hybridization, appropriation, and bricolage, the divide among fields has become anachronistic and unfruitful. A new form of scholarship in…

The decision to participate in visual arts studies in college and visual arts professions in adult life is the product of multiple factors, including the influences of family, community, peer group, mass culture, and K-12 schooling. Recognizing African American underrepresentation in visual arts studies and professions, this article explores how…

This article focuses on the future of arts-based research in education. The author contends that there are several features that need to be taken into account if arts-based educational research is to have a future. First, arts-based educational research needs to have a cadre of scholars committed to its exploration--individuals who regard…