Abstract: As I sit to write my first editorial as Senior Editor of Studies in Art Education, first of Maine's summer storms approaches. The sky Is darkening, trees move in disturbing ways, and rain falls in sheets. But I know storm won't last; world is in a state of constant motion, always in process of becoming. Maine's variable weather is one of forces that challenge and invigorate those who live here. Whether it is lush green beauty of summer or stark cold of winter, changing weather contextualizes much of what it means to live in Maine.While it may be tempting at times to shun change and variability, they are, as Kristin Congdon has said, inevitable and necessary (2009, p. 3). When she took over as Senior Editor two years ago, she challenged art educators to see change as a constituent part of our field, especially in these times of social, political, and economic uncertainty and possibility. I too approach field of art education with change and variability in mind. How will art education continue to change to incorporate growing concerns with environment, issues of justice and diversity, and nature of our students' experiences? How will art education change to better serve needs of all students, especially those who continue to be underserved by current systems? How will declining economic resources affect art teachers in schools? How can art education diversify its institutional base by developing greater opportunities in other venues such as museums, prisons, and retirement and community centers? What new strategies and techniques will we develop to work with emerging technologies and students who use them as primary forms of communication and engagement? Change and variability are at heart of art education research; promoting and articulating that research is at heart of mission of Studies in Art Education.The articles included in this issue of Studies in Art Education reflect authors' attempts to embrace possibilities of change, to consider existing knowledge, raise new questions, and pose new ways of understanding nature of ourfield. Shin discusses role that informal orunplanned. unsystematic, and unofficial learning plays in our students' ability to come to terms with and find reassurance in their own identities, as well as cultural, ethnic, and racial identities of others. Wexler recounts experiences of preservice teachers as they make art with children with developmental disabilities and learn how embodied narratives of their students challenged their assumptions not only about disability, but also purpose and meaning of teaching art... Through discussion of experiences of student teachers, Powell and LaJevic analyze importance of emergent and responsive curricula in teachers' efforts to integrate art, materiality, and place in meaningful and organic ways. Schulte explores and expands upon nature of drawing as a constructive force in social and cognitive processes of children, highlighting role of verbalization in a child's capacity to consume, interpret, accentuate, and produce visual/cultural forms and meanings. And finally, describing artwork of two of his students, Richardson and Walker use Deleuze and Guattari to understand artmaking as a process-event where concept of becoming guides us to focus on the things that [art]making affects, from what was learned to what is being learned.In many ways, issues addressed by these authors reflect melange of concerns that constitute ongoing and emerging spheres of art education today. They deal with issues of diversity and justice, with nature of our lived experiences, with questions of how we learn and expand our understanding of world, and changing notions of art and, more specifically, art education. …
Publication Year: 2011
Publication Date: 2011-10-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 1
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