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Arts Education

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The Palgrave Encyclopedia of the Possible

Abstract

Arts education may be loosely understood as teaching and learning in or through the arts within a variety of formal and informal environments including Pre–K-12 schools, colleges and universities, community organizations, libraries and museums, cultural centers, or within one’s home or community. This entry explores the historical background, definitions, multiple purposes, critical perspectives, and connections to the now and the possible for arts education.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This approach to defining the arts from the perspective of the disciplines is not to be confused with Discipline-based Arts Education (Eisner, 1987).

  2. 2.

    Indeed, many of the historical accounts of arts education are grounded in an understanding of education in the arts as being an education in techniques associated with the visual arts.

  3. 3.

    For a broader discussion of the multiple purposes of arts education, see Seidel et al. (2009), as referenced above.

  4. 4.

    Quotations excerpted from National Art Education Association. (n.d.). The ten lessons the arts teach by Elliot Eisner. Retrieved from https://www.arteducators.org/advocacy-policy/articles/116-10-lessons-the-arts-teach

  5. 5.

    See https://www.studiothinking.org/the-framework.html for an overview of the Studio Thinking Framework.

  6. 6.

    See http://pzartfulthinking.org/ for more information about the Artful Thinking Palette and associated thinking routines.

  7. 7.

    While this is largely true, some have noted that science labs, sports equipment, and other such materials are just as likely to be cut from the budget in under-resourced schools and communities.

  8. 8.

    For a critique of the STEAM agenda, see Clapp, Solis, Ho, and Sachdeva (2019). Complicating STEAM: A Critical View of the Arts in the STEAM Agenda. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-981-13-2262-4_54-1

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Correspondence to Edward P. Clapp .

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Clapp, E.P., Ho, C.K.N. (2022). Arts Education. In: Glăveanu, V.P. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of the Possible. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90913-0_56

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