This book reviews past practice and theory in critical studies and discusses various trends; some papers keenly advocate a re-conceptualisation of the whole subject area, while others describe aspects of current and past practice which exemplify the "symbiotic" relationship between practical studio work and critical engagement with visual form. Rod Taylor, who has done much to promote and develop critical studies in the UK, provides us with examples of classroom practice and gives us his more recent thoughts on fundamental issues "universal themes" in art and gives examples of how both primary and secondary schools might develop their teaching of art through attending to themes such as "identity," "myth," and "environments" to help "re-animate the practical curriculum." Although some of the discussion in this book centres on or arises from the English National curriculum, the issues are more global, and relevant to anyone involved in developing or delivering art curricula in schools. An American perspective is given in papers by George Geahigan and Paul Duncum. Geahigan outlines an approach to teaching about visual form which begins with students' personal responses and is developed through structured instruction. In Duncum s vision of visual culture art education sites such as theme parks and shopping malls are the focus of students' critical attention in schools; Nick Stanley gives a lucid account of just such an enterprise, giving practical examples of ways to engage students with this particular form of visual pleasure. This publication serves to highlight some of the more pressing issues of concern to art and design teachers in two aspects. Firstly it seeks to contextualise the development of critical studies, discussing its place in the general curriculum possibly as a discrete subject and secondly it examines different approaches to its teaching."

Integrating Critical and Contextual Studies in Art and Design examines the relationship between two aspects of art education that appear at times inseparable or even indistinguishable, and at others isolated and in conflict: Critical and Contextual Studies (CCS) and studio practice. Underpinned by international contexts, this book is rooted in British art and design education and draws upon contemporary case studies of teaching and learning in post-compulsory settings in order to analyse and illustrate identities and practices of CCS and its integration. The chapters in this book are divided into three sections that build on one another: ‘Discourse and debate’; ‘Models, types and tensions’; and ‘Proposals and recommendations’. Key issues include: knowledge hierarchies and subject histories and identities; constructions of ‘theory’ and the symbiotic relationship between theory and practice; models and practices of CCS within current post-compulsory British art and design education; the reification of ubiquitous terms in the fields of art and design and of education: intuition and integration; approaches to curriculum integration, including design and management; and suggestions for integrating CCS in art and design courses, including implications for pedagogy and assessment. Integrating Critical and Contextual Studies in Art and Design offers a comprehensive analysis of the current drive towards integration within art education, and elucidates what we understand by the theory and practice of integration. It explores the history, theory, teaching and student experience of CCS, and will be of interest to lecturers, teachers and pedagogues involved in art and design as well as researchers and students of art education.

Although educators are increasingly interested in art education research, there are few anthologies tackling the subject. Research in Art and Design Education answers this call, summarizing important issues in the field such as non-text based approaches and interdisciplinary work. Contributions from internationally renowned researchers explore a broad range of topics in art education, highlighting particular problems and strengths in the literature. An indispensable and engaging resource, this volume provides a long-awaited aid for students and teachers alike. "Research in Art & Design Education confirms Picasso's claim that artists do not seek, but find; thus capturing the real meaning of art's doing and how in doing art, we learn. From their respective positions, this book's contributors converge in making a strong case for art and design research as a horizon of specificities; as a wide and ever-expanding ground of autonomous plurality; and as a discipline that is neither restricted to the empire of fact and measure, nor to generalist platitudes. Under Richard Hickman's careful editorship, this book boldly makes the case that research in art and design education is not a subject-in-waiting and less so an affair restricted to arcane practices. Rather, it is a discipline invested in the exciting prospects of art's humanity and the design by which humans work together for a better world."--John Baldacchino, Columbia University

Arguing for a critical approach to art and design curriculum, this volume draws together a range of ethical and pedagogical issues for trainee and newly qualified teachers of art and design, in both primary and secondary schools.

Debates in Art and Design Education encourages student and practising teachers to engage with contemporary issues and developments in learning and teaching. This fully updated second edition introduces key issues, concepts and tensions in order to help art educators develop a critical approach to their practice in response to the changing fields of education and visual culture. Accessible, comprehensive chapters are designed to stimulate thinking and understanding in relation to theory and practice, and help art educators to make informed judgements by arguing from a position based on theoretical knowledge and understanding. Contributing artists, lecturers and teachers debate a wide range of issues including: the latest policy and initiatives in secondary art education the concepts, skills and dispositions that can be developed through art education tensions inherent in developing the inclusive Art and Design classroom citizenship education within Art and Design teaching new practices in community arts education examining ‘whiteness’ in the sector Debates in Art and Design Education is for all student and practising teachers interested in furthering their understanding of an exciting, ever-changing field, and supports art educators in articulating how the subject is a vital, engaging and necessary part of the twenty-first century curriculum.