Strength-based approaches, originating in juvenile justice as early as the late 1800s, situate the work of juvenile correctional facilities as assisting youth in utilizing their strengths and competencies to understand how they can be applied their lives to affect change and growth. While strengths-based approaches might have originated…

In the Old Adobe Union School District in Petaluma, California, the school staff's goal is to assure that all teachers make the fundamental shift from teacher-centric to learner-centric thinking. For them, this is what distinguishes great teachers from good teachers. They believe this level of expertise takes years to develop and that schools play…

The premise of this article is that the visual arts can provide a valuable tool for social transformation. The application of this role of the arts in community-engaged research has revealed specific challenges for developing broader assessment criteria for evaluation. This article will explore a case study of a Fine Art Masters student's…

This essay draws on Chicanalo cultural studies and art history to interpret the way three artworks by Chicana artists address the relationship between spirit and flesh through the indigenous inflected iconography of la Virgen de Guadalupe. Recognizing the significance of the transcultural link between Tonantzin (the Nahua mother "goddess") and…

The National Endowment for the Humanities funded the Rembrandt Project for the purpose of developing an online teaching resource that can provide a means for accessing Rembrandt's art and his world. The Web site for the project includes numerous links that direct teachers to American museums that hold paintings, etchings, or drawings by Rembrandt…

To help librarians answer patrons' questions about art works, especially paintings, the procedures followed by the reference division of the Suffolk Cooperative Library System are outlined, and a list of reference materials is suggested. Topics covered include biographical information about artists, identification of paintings, location of…

Uses Marsden Hartley's "Indian Fantasy" to explore with students in grades 7-9 the variety of expressive qualities of an early twentieth-century U.S. artist working abroad. Presents lesson objectives, instructional strategies, evaluation criteria, and background information about the artist and painting. (GEA)

Reviews the problem of defending expressive arts education within a rationalistic, reductionist, outcome-oriented educational milieu. Maintains that until expressive arts are seen as being mainly concerned with the development of mind, in the broad sense, the status of expressive arts in curriculum theory and educational practice will remain…

A functional approach involving collage, two-dimensional design, three-dimensional construction, and elements of Cubism, is used to teach abstract design in elementary and junior high school art classes. (DS)

Suggests the use of Sumi-e painting with its emphasis upon simplicity as a means of motivating students to explore a new and interesting form of visual expression. Describes an activity which involves a demonstration of this art form. Includes a chart showing the seven basic Japanese Sumi-e strokes. (KO)

Discusses an exploration of depth in landscape painting using Vincent van Gogh's "Starry Night" as an example. Used computer drawing software for children to allow students to create their own interpretations of "Starry Night" while exploring means of portraying depth in two-dimensional art. (DSK)

In past years, teachers without professional training in the arts have often been able to avail themselves of summer institutes that introduced them to specific works of art and followed up with artists in the classroom, performance, or trips to an art museum. But what happens when such support is no longer available and teachers have to function…

Narrative construction is an approach to social research in which data are configured into any of a variety of diachronic, or storied, formats. Having recently gained popularity, this approach is now in danger of marginalization (along with other qualitative and quantitative forms of social research) as a result of politically charged attempts to…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the stages in the development of creative activity considering the distinctive features of all stages and the modes of dynamics of the development of a creative person. Design/methodology/approach: The paper analyses scientific investigations and pedagogical experiences in order to develop the…

When displayed in museums and classrooms, Renaissance-era (1420-1600) painting, architecture, and drawing masterworks are often decontextualized from the social reality of the Academy system under which they were produced. For centuries, the artworks of the Italian Renaissance have seduced viewers with technical mastery, exquisite pigments, and…