ART 354 (Section 001  4 credits)
Tues & Thurs: 10:20 – 12:30
Arts/Communication Building
Room S 211
Instructor: Dr. Mary Hoefferle
A/C 525  Phone: 424-7055
email: hoefferm@uwosh.edu
Office Hrs: Th 1:00 – 4:00
ART 354 Art Education Elementary Methods begins your preparation for a career as an
art specialist who teaches art to children in k-5 school and community settings. This course and
corresponding clinical experience will help you understand that 1) teaching is a creative, contextual
process that requires continual research, revisions and honest self-critique, 2) art plays an essential,
unique role in a child’s cognitive, social, emotional, and psychomotor development, and 3)
contemporary developments in elementary art education stem from its historical antecedents and
complex changes in our society’s cultural composition and its technological, educational, and artistic
innovations. This course will center your attention on the following interconnected objectives:
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Identify, track, and articulate your developing identity as an artist-teacher,
contemplating questions such as: Why have I chosen art education as my profession? What
important lessons have I learned from my own art experiences? What are my strengths,
weaknesses, and knowledge gaps as an artist and art teacher? You’ll explore these and other related
questions through artist journals, identity mapping, group discussions, presentation of personal artwork, and
writing a teaching philosophy.
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Research art’s role in children’s lives, exploring questions such as: Are there predictable
“stages” of artistic development that I can use to help plan and scaffold student learning in
art? How does art contribute to human development and relate to children’s lived
experience? How can I, as the art teacher, best support a child’s artistic development? You’ll
respond to these questions by conducting research regarding children’s drawing processes, working with children
in the schools, and reading related literature to help contextualize your experiences.
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Develop substantive, engaging k-5 art curriculum, and in the process respond to
questions like: What resources, research, and creative and critical thinking skills do I need in
order to invent excellent elementary art curriculum? What process do I follow to develop a
unit of study or a yearlong elementary art course? How will I know if an art lesson is of high
quality? What philosophies and traditions in art education will inform my curricular choices?
When and how should I integrate other disciplines with art education? You’ll develop responses
to these questions through readings, group discussion, and writing lesson plans, a unit plan, and a semesterlong grade level plan.
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Identify and utilize a variety of effective teaching methods, addressing questions like:
When and how should I use technology as a teaching tool and/or as an artistic media? How
do I effectively manage time, classroom supplies, resources, and student projects? What
routines and procedures will I need to establish to ensure a healthy learning environment
(classroom management)? How will I know if and what children are learning in the art room
(effective assessment strategies)? How do I differentiate instruction to ensure inclusivity in a
diverse classroom? You’ll examine these questions by observing and interviewing professional art teachers,
discussing or writing reflections about your clinical experiences, and actually teaching three or more of your
lessons to elementary children.
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Examine and discuss elements of art education’s “big story” related to school, cultural,
and historical contexts of elementary art education such as: What is art? What is art for?
What role does art play in school, the community and in society? Why is art often cut from
the elementary curriculum? How do art teachers communicate the value and purpose of art
in the elementary school to school staff, parents, and other community stakeholders (art
advocacy)? You’ll ponder these questions through discussion, attending the WAEA 2012 Conference, and
visiting the Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan, WI.
Wisconsin DPI Teaching Standards:
This course and its assignments carefully align with Wisconsin’s ten teaching standards. Each project
highlights specific standards and can be used as artifacts for your student teaching portfolio. Your
instructor will be happy to score and sign the corresponding portfolio rubrics – just ask.
Required Text and Materials:
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Buy the text Rethinking Curriculum in Art by Marilyn Stewart and Sydney Walker at the Reeve
bookstore or order through Davis Publications on-line (list price on-line is $25.95). Other
course readings/resources will be posted to e-reserves and D2L.
If you have not already done so, please purchase a year-long membership to the National Art
Education Association / Wisconsin Art Education Association at ($40):
http://www.arteducators.org/community/membership
A $5 lab fee for expendable materials is automatically charged to your account for this class,
which includes art supplies, travel to local schools, and guest speaker fees.
Purchase a three-ring binder for course handouts, readings, lesson plans, and projects OR
begin a blog, file on Artsonia or LiveBinder to organize your work on-line.
Although not required, a laptop and a digital camera will be very useful tools in our course
Graded Components of the Course (underlined):
Role of Art in Child Development ……………………………………….………......15%
To see artistic development stage theory in action, you will observe children as they draw, speak with
them about their artwork, analyze their drawings, use course readings to help you respond to the
child’s process, discuss your findings with your classmates, and write an analysis paper synthesizing
your understanding of children’s visual language development.
Curriculum Development and Teaching Methods ……………….……………......50%
In a group, you and classmates will work with Traeger Elementary teacher Teresa Moucha to develop
and teach an art lesson incorporating new technology (smartboard) and appropriate assessment
strategies. Then, you will individually develop a unit plan (3 – 4 sequential lessons) for a selected age
group and teach two of the lessons in your clinical placement. Finally, you and partner/s will map out
an entire semester course plan (18 weeks), appropriate for one elementary grade level.
Clinical Experience/Independent Study………………………………….....……...20%
In conjunction with this class, you are registered for a one-credit clinical course. This involves
independent observations, interviews, and actual teaching experiences with art educators and children
outside of class time. The clinical includes conducting observations and interviews in local schools,
writing/drawing reflections of your observations, teaching a lesson OR giving a demonstration
modeled after your cooperating teacher, and teaching two lessons from your unit plan.
Class Participation……………………………………...……………………..……...15%
You will use an artist journal to experiment with art media, collect lesson ideas, create visual
documentations of your clinical observations, write or draw reflections on a variety of topics, track
your developing artist-teacher identity and evolving ideas about children and art. You will also
present your personal artwork to your classmates as a way of introduction and by the end of the
semester, develop a one-page teaching philosophy that represents your beliefs about elementary art
education.
Throughout the course, you will also search for and share good art teaching/learning websites or
blogs, complete course readings with reading responses, participate in and conduct class discussions,
work with a partner/s on two assignments, post your final work to D2L as resources for your
classmates, and participate in field trips to schools, art centers, and the WAEA Conference.
Course Expectations:
Success:
Both in this course and in becoming a teacher who confidently teaches elementary art is ultimately up
to you. It will require an open, inquisitive, humble disposition and a commitment to engage
wholeheartedly with the ideas and experiences offered in this course.
Attendance:
Two absences regardless of reason will not affect your grade as long as you make up the missed
work. Your grade will drop 5% for each unexcused absence thereafter.
Written Work:
Your written papers and lesson plans should be of professional quality – meaning, they meet class
requirements and are suitable for a job interview or use in your future classroom. When necessary,
follow APA methods to properly cite references for both text and images. Inform yourself about the
university’s policy on plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious academic offence – anyone caught
plagiarizing will be subject to the university’s procedures regarding the offense.
Community Involvement:
Although not a required component of the course, I strongly suggest that you get involved in art,
education, or working with children in campus and community settings. SOFA, the Student Art Ed
Chapter, the Paine Art Center, Girls and Cub Scout art merit badges, parks and recreation
department, art-centered daycares, help at community events with art activities for kids, North High
Art Club, present at WAEA, and after school tutoring are just some ideas. Document your
involvement for WI Teaching Standard 10 in your teaching portfolio.
Grading:
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Rubrics for major assignments will be provided on the first day of the project, detailing
expectations, evaluation criteria, corresponding teaching standards, and due date.
If you are absent the day an assignment is due, bring your completed work to the next class
period. Work turned in any later will not be accepted. If you email work to the instructor, a
confirmation email will be sent in return.
Grades will be regularly posted to D2L. Check your grades periodically to track your
progress.
If you have any questions about your grade, please meet with the instructor in person to
discuss.
Scale:
A
AB+
B
BC+
95 -100% (285 – 300 pts)
90 – 94 (270 – 284)
87 – 89 (261 - 269)
83 – 86 (249 – 260)
80 – 82 (240 – 248)
77 – 79 (231 – 239)
C
CD+
D
DF
73 – 76 (219 – 230)
70 – 72 (210 – 218)
67 – 69 (201 – 209)
63 – 66 (189 – 200)
60 – 62 (180 – 188)
0 – 59 (0 – 179)
Respect for Diversity:
“I intend that students from all backgrounds will be well served by this course and that all class
members will view student diversity as a resource, strength, and benefit. Please, let me know of ways
to improve the learning experience for you through any accommodations that may be necessary for
your full participation in class.” ~ Dr. Mary Hoefferle