Nine essays collected from a conference titled "The Teaching Process and the Arts and Aesthetics" examine the relationship between research and teaching in the arts and in aesthetic education. Issues which guided presentations and discussions were: the relationship between general research in education and the teaching process in the arts and aesthetics; whether methodologies and research results can be useful to the teacher in the arts; methods for linking the teacher and researcher to improve instruction in the arts; expectations of the teacher in the arts regarding research; and contributions of the arts to the teaching process. The first two essays present a comprehensive review of research with an emphasis on arts and aesthetic education. The role of art and music with reference to the talented and general student is also explored. The third and fourth papers describe how classroom teachers can collaborate in conducting research. Both authors emphasize the need for congruity between the researcher's agenda (purposes and method of work) and the teacher's agenda (instructional goals and student needs). The fifth essay focuses on the role of all teachers who influence the arts and maintains that human experience and the quality of life should be conceived as aesthetic and artistic dimensions of schooling. The sixth essay examines the interrelationships among teaching traditions, theories of aesthetics, and psychological orientations. The seventh paper is concerned with how the teacher's belief system influences the rationale for teaching art and the eighth essay examines evaluation criteria and reviews relevant research. The final essay summarizes participants' conflicts and congruences during the conference. (Author/KC)