Roadmap for preparing teacher of Arts Education
"The teaching of art is about more than the teaching of art" (Eisner: 2001, p.10). This
statement by Eisner opens up opportunities for Art educators to consider a range of
alternative aims for art education as well as teachers' roles in his book (2002) entitled
‘The Arts and the Creation of Mind’, Eisner also shows the various ways in which
making and appreciating Art are cognitive endeavours. Eisner describes some of the
approaches that direct the aims and content of Art Education today. He describes them
separately to make each approach vivid; in practice however, he emphasises that they
are likely to be integrated as one unit in any programme. These approaches are:
Discipline-Based Art Education, Visual Culture, Creative Problem-Solving,
Creative Self-Expression, Art Education as Preparation for the world of work,
the Arts and Cognitive Development, using the arts to promote academic
performance, and integrated arts. As Eisner (2002:41) says "Today these and other
functions of arts education are put forward as reasons to include arts in school
programs". These aims go further than simply focusing upon teaching students
specific skills, practices, and bodies of knowledge.
Current studies also suggest that prospective Art Education teachers should learn
much more than studio competency (Eisner 2001). Therefore, Art Education
programmes should move away from the heavy emphasis on Art studio toward a
broader teacher preparation programme. Current studies, such as Villeneuve (2003),
Duncum (2003), Freedman (2003) and Kelfer-Boyd et al. (2003) show the importance
of including visual culture in the Education, and consequently increasing attention is
being given to the idea of teaching Visual Culture Art Education (VCAE) not only at
school levels but also in pre-service and in-service Art teacher education.
Art educators, policy makers, administrators and students should understand also that
good schools alone will never be good enough, they need to make a good
partnership with a wide range of individuals and organisations in the
community. Activities such as visiting Art Museums and Galleries, Artists in School
(AIS), and Environmental Education through Art Education are essential for Art
teachers in pre-service as well as in-service education. Moreover, studies by Osborne
(2000), Levi (2000), and Vallance (2000) discuss a range of topics related to Art
teacher education and show the importance of Art museums in educating learners in
schools, as well as the importance of these museums in developing Art studentteachers in pre-service and in-service Art Education.
Furthermore, there is a growing interest in examining pre-service art teachers’ beliefs
about teaching Art as well as their views about the programmes, on which they
studied. Example of doctoral studies, which include the views and opinions of this
group, are Obiokor (2002), Cohen Evron (2001), Sahin (2001), Frenzel (2001). These
studies attempt to include Art teachers’ views on the implementation of major Art
Education reform initiatives with implications for art teachers.
In addition, they focused on understanding the complexity of the way teacher’s beliefs
are constructed and they suggest that becoming a teacher, and being one, is more than
learning to fulfil a function through possessing pedagogical skills, gaining experience
in the classroom, or learning updated theories. Frenzel (2001) recommends that the
teachers should make a balance in their own personal growth and in their
teaching, which requires that they learn about themselves. In this way, they can
transform their relations with students by striking a balance in their pedagogic
activities. Kowalchuk (2000) also argues for a reflective, ‘in their own words’
approach to developing Art training programmes in Art Education. He says "By
keeping these reflections and recommendations in mind, supervisors may help
beginning teachers make the transition between preservic training and successful
practice more effectively. And, beginning art teachers can recognize common features
of their own teaching learning experiences" (p.23). Sahin (2001) also emphasises that
"student teaching provides an opportunity for those in charge of art teacher training
programs to evaluate their preparation of future art teachers" (p.2). As a result for her
study, she points out that students' feedback was a very positive experience because
this provides with the ability and the support that they needed in the programme
preparation.
These studies and others suggest insights into what Art teacher needs to know to
become a good teachers. In the researcher’s opinion this consideration of teachers’
beliefs about themselves and their knowledge in practising Art Education, must go
hand in hand with the programme reforms at the college and the university level in
order to teacher’s beliefs and views to be translated into improved Art teacher
preparation. From the researcher's point of view, it can be said that these studies
confirm that in order for teacher preparation programmes to more effectively serve
student teachers in the transition between their prior knowledge, life experiences,
and their future roles as teachers, Art educators need to understand what these roles
are and how students negotiate these roles during their Art teacher training
programmes. This transition changes the emphasis from what teachers need to know
and how they can be trained, to a focus on what they actually know or how that
knowledge is acquired.
Other studies by Li-Fen (2001) and Clark (2000) focus on new technology such as
Computer-Generated Art Images (CGAI), World Wide Web (WWW) and online
teaching in relation to preparing teachers of Art Education. These studies confirmed
that the use of new technologies has expanded the role of Art Education and
provides new roles for Art teachers in the twenty-first century. Today, computer
Art has become accepted as an Art form and a legitimate form of Art production, as
well as a method of teaching Art. For example, Li-Fen (2001) found that the preservice Art teachers were highly motivated to teach computer Art in their classrooms;
however, they lacked experience, pedagogical training, and resources concerning
CGAI. Hemmerla’s study (2000) has highlighted that the level of the Art educators
training or mastery of the technology is one factor, which is related to the level of
instructional use of computer-based technology by Art teachers. Hemmeral concludes
that "the majority of secondary art teachers would support action by professional art
education organizations and institutions to push for increased access and training in
computer technologies" (p. iv).
At the same time there is also growing interest in establishing standards for Art
teacher preparation in pre-service education. Various sets of standards have been
developed, such as: Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood /Art standards by
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) (2001), Standards for
Art Teacher Preparation (1999a), Purposes, Principles, and Standards for School Art
Programs (1999b), and The National Visual Arts Standards (1994a), all these
standards help to define what a good education in the arts should provide. These
standards also help to ensure the quality of Art Education teachers. Design Standards
for School Art Facilities (1994b) is another set of standards, which focuses on the
design the educational requirements for planning Art facilities environments.
In general, Art teachers should have:
Knowledge of how to produce or perform works of art.
Knowledge of how to analyse, interpret, and evaluate works of art;
Knowledge of works of art of other periods and cultures.
Knowledge of how to plan to teach arts education.
Knowledge of how to implement teaching arts education.
Knowledge of how to evaluate teaching arts education.
In the fowling some approaches which might help to define what a good-practices
education in the arts should provide in terms of preparing teacher of arts education:
 Teacher Preparation in terms of integrating knowledge of arts-related fields
within Arts Education. (Art history, Art Criticism, Aesthetics and Art
production with each field in Arts Education)
 Teacher Preparation in Art Museums/Galleries, theatre and so on…
 Teacher Preparation in Multi-Cultural Art Education (M-CAE).
 Teacher Preparation in Visual Culture Art Education (VCAE).
 Art Teacher Preparation and New Technologies.
 Standards for Art Teacher Preparation .
 Standards for the Art Education Programme.
 Standards for Art Education Faculty.
 Standards and Skills for Art Teacher Candidates.
Long-terms roadmap for preparing teacher of Arts Education
Prospective Arts Education Teacher
University Study in Arts Education (Film, Media, and Photography, Dance,
Drama, Music, Fine Arts, Digital Arts, Craft and Design)
4 or 5 years preparation programme
Arts Education foundation programme
Secondary Education
GCSE in Arts Education (optional)
Grades 11-12
Basic Education System
Arts Education as Core courses
Grades 1-10
Specific Roadmap for preparing teacher of Arts Education
Knowledge of how to evaluate
teaching arts education
Knowledge of how to implement
teaching arts education
Knowledge of how to plan to
teach arts education
Knowledge of how to analyse, interpret, and
evaluate works of art
(Art history, Art Criticism, Aesthetics and
Philosophy of Arts)
Knowledge of how to produce or perform works of art
(Film, Media, and Photography, Dance, Drama, Music, Fine Arts,
Digital Arts, Craft and Design)