Art to empower: designing and implementing a contemporary visual culture art education for urban elementary institutions with implications for classroom practice

The following paper offers a comprehensive historiography of the curricular trends and approaches for the teaching of elementary visual arts within the discourse of Art Education. The exploration begins with an overview of the modernist, Discipline Based Art Education curriculum, including its origins and implementation within the U.S., public K-8 school system. In this section I offer an assessment of DBAE’s curricular strengths and weaknesses. Next, the text moves into an examination of post-modern, contemporary curricular approaches to teaching visual arts, more specifically, the visual culture theory. With this, I introduce a discussion about the current reality of arts education within the urban, public school system of Chicago, Illinois. This section offers insight into current art education trends and exposes the discrepancy of resources for visual arts education among Chicago’s elementary institutions. Finally, I offer a sample visual arts curriculum designed to empower students to take responsibility for their learning and success.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Art Education

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2010

Author dc:creator

• Pleszkiewicz, Tamara C.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Campbell, Laurel H.

• Elementary Art Education
• Visual Culture
• Urban Institutions
• Chicago Public Schools
• Curriculum Sample

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2009 Tamara C. Pleszkiewicz

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/14717

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/14717