http://www.ijea.org/ A open-access journal of research and scholarship available online at http://www.ijea.org/ en-us Mon, 30 Jun 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/dingsmall.gif http://www.ijea.org/ IJEA graphic 56 25 alex.ruthmann@gmail.com (Alex Ruthmann) http://www.ijea.org/v11n9/ G. R. Greher, A. Hillier, M. Dougherty, & N. Poto Service provision for adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is lacking, particularly post high school. We report on a music intervention program, outline our program model, and report some initial pilot data evaluating the program outcomes. We also discuss implications for undergraduate and graduate students who were involved in the project. Overall, outcomes were positive and highlighted the need for such interventions among the ASD community. We hope our observations focused on the strengths and weaknesses of the program will be helpful to others who may be considering implementing a similar intervention. Tue, 17 Aug 2010 10:11:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v11n9/ http://www.ijea.org/v11n8/ S. Garvis & D. Pendergast This paper examines and reports on beginning generalist teacher self-efficacy, which Bandura (1997) suggests plays an important part in student outcomes. In 2008, 201 beginning generalist teachers throughout the state of Queensland, Australia, participated in a study that aimed to provide a snapshot of current perceptions towards support in schools for the arts. Beginning teachers were asked to rank their school support for a number of different subjects in the school curriculum and provide written justification for these rankings. Results suggest that beginning teachers perceived a general lack of support for the teaching of the arts in their classroom, compared to English and maths. They reported that schools provided greater financial support, assistance and professional development for the teaching of literacy and numeracy with a view to increase school performance in national testing. Findings provide key insights for school administrators and policy makers for the adequate delivery of arts education in Queensland schools, particularly when this task falls to generalist teachers with little or no subject expertise in the arts. Wed, 30 Jun 2010 10:11:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v11n8/ http://www.ijea.org/v11n7/ B. Atkinson & R. Mitchell In this paper we suggest that narrative representations that seemingly fail to reach an audience as intended may engage the audience in more meaningful ways. We use reader response theory to explore how an audience's responses to a conference narrative presentation made available a multiplicity of interpretive frameworks and narratives to the readers/listeners. We assert that when various interpretive frameworks are made visible across the context of a narrative text by the readers' or listeners' responses to it, they can be examined for how they collude, collide, exclude, and compete for meaning. At the same time, conversations evoked by narrative texts and through other arts can generate greater understanding across and through cultural differences. This offers dynamic pedagogical possibilities through appealing to our horticultural approach of seeking out knowledge gained from conversations across divergent interpretive communities. Our point here is that the intentional creation of instances where students are challenged to recognize the taken for granted notions that ground their worldviews through the arts in education and education in the arts affords indispensable opportunities to engage students in a richer type of teaching and learning. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 10:11:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v11n7/ http://www.ijea.org/v11n6/ D. Risner & S. W. Stinson This essay explores social justice commitments in dance pedagogy and dance education teacher preparation in the USA as developed through a series of conversations between two dance educators and former administrators in higher education. The authors examine the history of multiculturalism, multicultural practices in postsecondary dance, their influences on dance teacher education, and the limitations of the multiculturalism movement that emerge from misperceptions about, or disregard for differences in culture, gender, ability, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background. Dominant arguments for maintaining status quo perspectives such as scarcity of resources, accreditation standards, and tenured faculty compositions are examined in conversation with a number of prophetic voices for social justice teaching and learning. Examples of pedagogical approaches and project assignments that aim to bring social justice learning to the dance education classroom in concrete ways are presented. Sat, 10 Apr 2010 21:11:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v11n6/ http://www.ijea.org/v11p2/ R. Hickman This paper is concerned primarily with the issue of the relationship between personal and professional identity with reference to the role of artist and that of teacher. In particular, the development of artistic identity and how it might inform professional identity and pedagogy is examined. This issue is considered through a self-portrait - an autobiographical, largely episodic, account of the author's formative years. Some consideration is given to exploring the value of selfportraiture (and similar approaches) as a method for eliciting data about identity, including social identity. An area identified as an issue for future research in education was the relationship between social class, art, and identity. Sat, 10 Apr 2010 21:10:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v11p2/ http://www.ijea.org/v11r4/ S. A. Gradle Landscapes of Aesthetic Education is a strong compilation of previously published essays by artist/educators Stuart Richmond and Celeste Snowber. The authors express a desire to cultivate a non-linear progression of ideas, therefore their chapters alternate voices while also encompassing the complexity of scholarship in the arts: philosophy, poetry, visual art, dance, spiritual concerns, architecture, mentoring, photography and ethics, to name a few. They employ the metaphor of "landscapes" in their title to suggest there is an expansive vista ahead of the reader where one might grapple with essential issues of what it means to be human, and to do so artfully. Sat, 10 Apr 2010 21:09:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v11r4/ http://www.ijea.org/v11r3/ J. Davidson This is a rich, provocative, and reflective volume of 11 articles exploring the concerns of collaboration in qualitative research. Each individual piece brings a new and different angle on the topic, and, as a whole, they create a jagged composite like some kind of newly mined ore. The approach the authors bring to the topic of collaboration in qualitative research is fresh and often startling. This work takes us beyond initial tentative questions about collaboration and qualitative research and into the next stage of working through the possibilities. Sat, 10 Apr 2010 21:08:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v11r3/ http://www.ijea.org/v11r2/ L. Laor In this review essay, I shall follow Steve Dillon's journey in his quest to "examine what interests and motivates children about music and what they find meaningful." (p.2). In his introduction to his Music, Meaning and Transformation (2007, Cambridge Scholars Publishing), Dillon mentions its main objectives. He attempts to examine "how curriculum and experience might be designed so that it provides access to meaningful music making". In addition he aims to define the "dimensions of good practice" and their relation to the meaning of music to young people and to music teaching. Sun, 14 Feb 2010 21:08:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v11r2/ http://www.ijea.org/v11p1/ B. Bickel A/r/tography and mindful inquiry were engaged as primary approaches to assist self and group reflection within a group of fourteen women committed to multi-faith education and leadership in their communities. In a world of increasing religious/political tensions and conflicts this study asks, what is the transformative significance of an arts and ritual-based approach to developing and encouraging women's spiritual and multi-faith leadership? To counter destructive worldviews and practices that have divided people historically, politically, personally and sacredly, the study reinforces the political and spiritual value of women spiritual and multi-faith leaders creating and holding sacred space for truth making and world making. This study led to a renewal of compassionate leadership within many of the women. This study posits that engaging performative pedagogy within a sacred and creative ritual sanctuary, can assist women to lead integrated spiritual and political lives, while building communities that are respectful, embracing of diversity and capable of learning through diversity. Sun, 14 Feb 2010 14:08:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v11p1/ http://www.ijea.org/v11r1/ D. V. Blair The research in this volume is drawn from the first Narrative in Music Education (NIME) conference that took place in 2005. This visionary conference offered a generous space for dialogue about music education practice and research as narrative inquiry. Leading qualitative research scholars provided keynote presentations, including Wayne Bowman and Jean Clandinin who also contributed concluding chapters in this text. Margaret Barrett and Sandra Stauffer, organizers of the NIME conference, edit this book. Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:08:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v11r1/ http://www.ijea.org/v11n5/ B. W. Leung E. & C. K. Leung This study aims to examine how and why students transform in terms of learning motivation in learning the Cantonese opera with a teacher-artist partnership approach in Hong Kong schools. An artist and seven teachers from four schools collaborated to teach the genre for eight weeks. Students' learning motivation changes in Cantonese opera was measured by a set of pre- and post-learning questionnaires. Qualitative data were drawn from class observations and focus group interviews with teachers and students. Results indicate that students' motivation in learning the genre has been changed. The statistical analysis suggests that, while primary students had significantly increased their motivation in learning Cantonese opera, the secondary students' motivation had not increased. Attributions include age differences, self-consciousness, intrinsic value and socio-cultural impact. However, the partnership was found to be an appropriate and effective approach in teaching the ethnic genre for its "role supplementation" between the teacher and the artist. Sat, 06 Feb 2010 13:08:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v11n5/ http://www.ijea.org/v11n4/ K. Maniaci & K Chandler-Ott Conducted collaboratively by an art educator and a literacy educator, this qualitative study focused on pre-service art educators' perspectives on integrating literacy in their teaching of art as they took a required course on literacy across the curriculum. Data included interviews, questionnaires, course assignments, and field notes from class sessions. Our analysis identified three patterns related to participants' perspectives while taking the course: their conceptions of literacy expanded, they reconceptualized familiar art education practices with a literacy-focused lens, and they considered new practices. Findings suggest that literacy courses are valuable for art educators but that they must be designed to maximize disciplinespecific concerns and literacies. Implications for further research and practice are outlined. Sat, 06 Feb 2010 13:08:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v11n4/ http://www.ijea.org/v11n3/ C. M. Morawski To help underscore the importance of giving the arts an integral place in the literacy continuum of secondary school language arts, I immersed myself in a careful reading of twenty teacher candidates' transactions in the art of body biography for novel study for intermediate students (grades 7-10). Coming together in groups of five, the teacher candidates used life-size body outlines drawn on oversized paper, along with a myriad of found and stocked materials, such as fabric, pens, and paint, to experience and express the transformation of the main character in the young adult novel, True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. Informed by their transactions in the body biography compositions, the teacher candidates reported that they were able to reach a more holistic portrait of Charlotte, while enriching their own instructional repertoires. Sat, 06 Feb 2010 13:08:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v11n3/ http://www.ijea.org/v11n2/ S. Weinstein This article places youth spoken word (YSW) poetry programming within the larger framework of arts education. Drawing primarily on transcripts of interviews with teen poets and adult teaching artists and program administrators, the article identifies specific benefits that participants ascribe to youth spoken word, including the development of literate identities, therapeutic experiences, overcoming of shyness, and increased self-confidence and self-esteem. The author describes the writing workshop format common to many YSW programs and analyzes the specific contribution of performance to the benefits that participants identify from YSW. This article draws on James Gee's (1991) concept of discourses to explain the strong identification that many YSW poets feel toward their chosen genre. Sat, 06 Feb 2010 13:08:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v11n2/ http://www.ijea.org/v11n1/ P. D. Carter The use of psychodramatic action methods in academic supervision is examined through the detailed description of a session between a supervisor and a supervisee working on a PhD in the field of Information Systems. The psychodramatic emphasis on spontaneity, reciprocity, and the use of dramatic production have various advantages for post-graduate supervision, namely: the involvement of affect, action and cognition in meaning making; the generation of self-authority in the supervisee; and the building of a cooperative working relationship between supervisor and supervisee. Action methods do not need to be seen as the sole domain of the action method expert. Supervisors will be able to take up individual techniques and approaches outlined here and integrate them into their own practice. Sat, 06 Feb 2010 13:08:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v11n1/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n29/ K. H. Kan Juxtaposing visual images with stories, this work addresses the formation of my transnational identity and my experience in the "betwixt-and-between," illustrating my struggles as artist, scholar, and international faculty member at an Anglo American university. I exacerbate tensions between my professional and attributed identities tocomplicate and problematize my other identity--neatly constructed as a faculty member of color by the corporate management of U.S. higher education. Recontextualizing within colonialized discourse as inquiry mode, my visual narrative conveyed as photocollage-cum-essay shows how I came to accept rootlessness as a form of empowerment. The substantive findings include strategies to maintain integrity in such an existence: cherishing the vitality of the senses, preserving the vernacular in the voice, and summoning volition from my Asianity. Drawn from the visual narrative that helped me come to terms with my "out-of-placeness," some suggestions to expand the scholarship of teaching learning by combining it with personal creative works and research interest are offered. Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:08:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10n29/ http://www.ijea.org/v10p3/ K. Heid, M. Estabrook, & C. Nostrant This qualitative study examines an art lesson in a multiage inquiry-based charter school. The arts curriculum focused on democratic process, dialogical interaction, aesthetic and imaginative understanding, and visual culture art education. Questions considered in the research were: Within an inquiry-based setting what might an art lesson look like? How does creating a dialogical/democratic art classroom support inquiry-based learning? How does an inquiry-based art classroom support and extend creativity and imagination? How might an inquiry-based elementary art curriculum incorporate visual culture? The inquiry process gave students the latitude to practice individual creativity. Imaginative processes were engaged as students planned their own lesson, created their own problems, and expressed their answers through a performance. Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:08:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10p3/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n28/ D. Russell-Bowie In a time when schools are focussing on increasing their numeracy and literacy scores, teachers are often required to spend the majority of their time teaching Mathematics and English and have little time left for the arts and other subjects. This has led to some teachers developing integrated programs in order to cover all the required learning experiences. However, practitioners and researchers have found that in many cases, integration results in superficial learning with few subject-specific outcomes being achieved. This paper presents three models or levels of integration (service connections, symmetric correlations and syntegration) where curriculum subjects can work together to achieve subjectspecific as well as generic outcomes, then gives examples of how these models can be used within the primary school curriculum. It concludes with a real-life example of a syntegrated learning project. Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:08:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10n28/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n27/ J. Davidson, J. W. Dottin, Jr., S. L. Penna, & S. P. Robertson Until recently, qualitative research has made limited use of visual sources, particularly visual texts (drawing, painting or photographs), but also including multimodal data (video and web-based) and visual data (tables, graphs, charts, etc.). Thus, discussions of ethics and evidence in this area have lagged behind those related to textual data, such as written fieldnotes. This is particularly true for qualitative research dissertations, where graduate students are caught in the tension between established and emerging standards of ethics and evidence. This trend holds true across most institutions of higher education, but it is especially pronounced in those schools that are smaller and more regionally focused where innovations may take more time to become firmly established. This paper examines issues of ethics, evidence, and academic politics in the use of visual sources within the genre of the dissertation, with a special focus on the ways these innovative practices move into the higher education institutions that are at a distance from the center of change. We begin with the viewpoint of a dissertation advisor who has experience in the use of visual sources in the instruction of qualitative research at the doctoral level and its use in the conduct of qualitative research dissertations. Three case examples drawn from three doctoral students in a Graduate School of Education provide a view of the issues involved in researcher generated data, participant generated data, and the ways emerging technologies offer new visualizing possibilities. We conclude with a cross-cutting discussion of issues related to the functions visual sources serve in these dissertations, followed by recommendations for the future use of these materials in the qualitative research dissertation process. Study participants are located in a small, regional institution of higher education, a context that figures importantly in the story. Our goal is to promote discussion and advance understanding of the ways visual sources, and by extension, the ways other innovative research processes can be used by qualitative researchers (particularly doctoral students), despite academia's reluctance in the face of change. Thu, 5 Nov 2009 16:08:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10n27/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n26/ R. Upitis This study describes the experiences of nine school-based artists who took part in a six-day professional development course on ecology and the arts at an off-grid wilderness facility. The course was designed to increase artist-educators' awareness of issues surrounding energy use and consumption as well as to provide them with direction for approaching these topics through arts-based learning in schools. Analyzing participants' views regarding renewable and non-renewable energy use, as well as documenting anticipated changes in personal and professional practices, were two important aspects of the research. Data were collected through observations and field notes over the six-day period, and through semi-standardized interviews which were conducted at the end of the course. Participants also completed an on-line survey regarding various energy conservation and consumption issues before arriving for the course. In the interviews, the artist- educators detailed what they learned about thermal mass, solar power, and consumer purchasing patterns. Most participants anticipated making changes in their home lives, such as cooking with locally available produce. Participants also described anticipated interactions with teachers and students upon returning to their local schools, both in terms of content related to energy conservation and ways that they would approach this topic through their respective art forms. Some participants also indicated how they anticipated changing their own artistic practices in their studio settings, such as switching to less toxic materials and using fewer consumable items. Having the opportunity to live at an off-grid wilderness facility was a key feature of the course for all of the artist-educators who took part in the experience. Sun, 1 Nov 2009 16:08:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10n26/ http://www.ijea.org/v10p2/ K. Riddett-Moore This paper demonstrates how aesthetic engagement can encourage empathy and caring in the art classroom. As artful inquiry, this hybrid form of arts-based educational research and teacher research examines my own classroom practice and pedagogy exploring how aesthetics can become a philosophy of care. Part 1 outlines the Living Compositions Exercise, an introductory activity students play to introduce the concepts of space, relationship, and care, and a discussion on how this is an aesthetic experience that encourages empathy. Part 2, Inquiry into Piazza, addresses how student inquiry, artistic critique, and dialogue can lead to self-formation through art. The outcome of aesthetic engagement here is to promote empathetic response and action, which is manifested through the living inquiry of the students. Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:08:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10p2/ http://www.ijea.org/v10r9/ L. Lindström Studio Thinking addresses two issues of vital importance to the arts: a) students' ability to transfer knowledge and skills learned in one situation to other situations where they may be relevant, and b) the role of studio art as compared to other more academic approaches to the visual arts. Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:08:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10r9/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n25/ V. Caine & P. Steeves Our personal and professional lives draw us to a shared interest in 'identity' and 'relationships', and our understanding is shaped by our lives as narrative inquirers. As we struggle to name this complexity we begin to play with metaphors; the metaphor of 'kites', and thus string, kite and kite flyer provide us with a way to think about imagining and playfulness in relationships and in narrative inquiry. As we play with these metaphors we see how much our understanding of relationships shape our being and engagement with others and that imagination is inextricably intertwined within our lives and our relationships. By attending to this playfulness, our spaces of knowing enlarge and spaces of possibility are never ending; yet embedded in these possibilities is also a recognition of how difficult it is to stay in relation, to remain wakeful to the tensions and boulders of the landscapes and stories we live within. Sun, 27 Sep 2009 16:08:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10n25/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n24/ M. Dixon & K. Senior Pre-service teacher education is marked by linear and sequential programming which offers a plethora of strategies and methods (Cochran-Smith & Zeichner, 2005; Darling Hammond & Bransford, 2005; Grant & Zeichner, 1997). This paper emerges from a three year study within a core education subject in preservice teacher education in Australia. This 'practitioner' research (Zeichner, 1999) engaged the problematics of authentic and meaningful learner-centred teaching and learning through an arts-based curriculum. Over the period of the study, two hundred and eighty pre-service teachers participated in a 'dialogical performance'(Conquergood, 2003) of pedagogy about curriculum and assessment through the construction of art about curriculum and assessment. The possibilities of an arts-based pedagogy in pre-service education were affirmed by the research. An enacted epistemological move by the teachereducators led to similar shifts by the students. This opened a space for the reappearance of learner through engagements with identities, positionings and agency. This was an act of 'putting theory to work' (Lather, 2006, 2007) and invoked transgressive practices of academic discourses. Sun, 27 Sep 2009 16:08:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10n24/ http://www.ijea.org/v10r8/ C. Leggo Our Terry Hermsen's Poetry of Place: Helping Students Write Their Worlds is a remarkable book--one of the most engaging and hopeful books about teaching poetry that I know. Hermsen offers: thoughtful discussions of practice informed by theory as well as theory informed by practice; a well-conceived and carefully conducted research project; creative lessons for enthusing lively encounters in classrooms; and, engaging poetry by both well-known writers and student writers. He offers an abundance of gifts, all in one book. Sun, 27 Sep 2009 16:08:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10r8/ http://www.ijea.org/v10p1/ J. Moser Arts resources available on the Internet and DVDs provide a flexible, richly resonant, student-friendly framework for a coordinated study of the connections between the style and structure of Proust's novel and the social and cultural worlds he depicts. In Search of Lost Time, a product of an artistic revolution as well as a critical and historical contemplation of the question of how this revolution came about, looks back towards the arts of previous generations, compelling its readers to adopt a multitude of approaches in order to move forward into the Proustian world. A deeper, more intimate understanding of the world of the Search can be achieved in any classroom anywhere by integrating carefully selected electronic resources for film, architecture, painting, music, costume, decor and dance with the teaching of the written text. In particular, perspective in contemporary painting as a model for Proust's innovations in narrative plays an important role in this study. Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:08:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10p1/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n23/ J. You This qualitative case study examines the exemplary teaching approaches of an expert Korean dance educator who has been teaching beginning dance classes in higher education. The expert dance educator, possesses 28 years of teaching experience in higher education, is the recipient of a national award, is actively involved in professional activities, and facilitates outstanding student achievements. Data were collected using a variety of sources: interviews with the dance teacher and college students, class observations, videotaped lessons, stimulated recall techniques, and document analyses. Data analysis followed the conventions indicated by Glaser & Strauss (1967) and Glaser (1998). Four teaching characteristics of the expert dance educator were, through these means, discovered and emphasized: (1) reflecting and expressing students' lives through dance movements, (2) teaching beyond dance technique, (3) employing diverse teaching techniques in order to achieve diverse learning experiences, and (4) designing and implementing dance festivals and similar occasions for evaluating students' learning. Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:08:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10n23/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n22/ M. Reisberg & S. Han Our study critically examines social and environmental messages in a range of visual sites educating about rainforest environments. We focus primarily on the Rainforest Cafe, an international series of rainforest-themed edutainment restaurant/stores, whose inherent contradictions between consumption and conservation are quite disturbing when viewed as part of the null curriculum (Hollins, 1996). We then propose an alternate approach to teaching and learning about rainforest environments. This approach teaches students how to deconstruct visual culture environmental messages, such as those in the Rainforest Cafe, fine art, popular films, and children's picturebooks to learn from both accurate and inaccurate images while promoting environmental caring for the rainforest and students' own environments through art. Sun, 13 Sep 2009 18:08:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10n22/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n21/ G. Johnson, P. McKee, & P. Ragouzis Images of extreme and ever more graphic violence are a part of contemporary culture. Since students cannot avoid them, such images should be addressed by aesthetic educators. But this will require a theory for the analysis and evaluation of the aesthetic properties of violent imagery. The main thesis of this essay is that depiction of violence in certain recent art works can be understood as aiming at aesthetic perception of the sublime. We develop a model for interpreting works in this way by first presenting and then drawing on Kant's analysis of aesthetic perception of the sublime. Our thesis is important for both aesthetic and moral education. According to Kant's remarkably sensitive analysis, aesthetic perception of the sublime plays a large role in developing moral and social awareness. Using Kant's theory as our main source, and drawing on some recent artworks for illustrative purposes, we offer an analysis of how artistic depiction of violence may promote moral and social awareness. We nevertheless consider images of extreme violence morally problematic, and outline a model for educating reflection on the morality of using them. Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:08:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10n21/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n20/ J. P. Udo & D. Fels In this paper, we discuss our experience of facilitating the development, creation and execution of audio description for an elementary school production of Fiddler on the Roof by three grade eight students. The students were supervised by the production's director, their drama teacher, and assisted by the authors. An actor with experience describing a live theatre event provided some feedback for the students. Qualitative insight is gained through a thematic analysis of the describer's student learning journal and an interview with their drama teacher. The strengths and weaknesses of the project as perceived by the students and their drama teacher are discussed. Participant suggestions and solutions are also highlighted. Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:07:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10n20/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n19/ D. V. Blair In a music education graduate class addressing teaching and learning strategies for learners with special needs, teachers were invited to consider the experience of the children in their music classrooms. Using narrative to enter into the learner's experience of school, teachers confronted their own perspectives and reconsidered those of their students. In this article, I seek to connect notions of wakefulness and empathy as I, too, make meaning of the story of one teacher and her encounter with Tyler, a learner with special needs in her classroom. Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:06:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10n19/ http://www.ijea.org/v10r7/ J-H. Kim This review essay is a personal reflection on Method Meets Art written by Patricia Leavy. It describes how the book helps the author come to terms with an artist/researcher identity and how it leads to the understanding of a text as Thou, expanding on Buber's "I-Thou" relationship. Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:06:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10r7/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n18/ R. J. Beck The purpose of Picturing Peace, a digital photography program conducted in 4th and 5th grade classrooms in the U. S. and Northern Ireland, was to enhance students' photographic skills to create visual metaphors of the concept of peace. Two principal research questions were addressed: (a) Could 9-10 year-old students create apt and imaginative photographic metaphors of peace? (b) Would students in diverse cultures produce comparable photographs of peace? A model of peace, metaphoric imagination, and metaphoric interpretation was researched to test the effectiveness of metaphors in promoting visual understanding of peace. Barthes' (1981) critical framework of connotative procedures and linguistic metaphors were used to judge the aptness and imaginativeness of student photographs. Analysis of an archive of approximately 2500 photographs revealed several typical images of peace common to the following three settings: nature, sun/light, community, diversity, place, peace signs, children play, children care, spirituality, and body/hands as subjects. Implications were drawn for the status of the student photographs as metaphors, pictorial concepts, and/or allegories. Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:06:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10n18/ http://www.ijea.org/v10r6/ C-H. Lum Johanella Tafuri's research study on infant musical development presents a series of findings that speak to the diversity and variation in infants' musical growth within a detailed context in which their musical skills (particularly the ability to sing in tune) develop. It points to the importance of providing parents with sustained opportunities for interactions in singing and subsequently sustained musical engagement between parents, particularly mothers, and their children throughout the early years. The research study is significant in that it is the first longitudinal study, after Moog's 1961 study, that gives focus to this very young age group (0 to 3 years), dealing with "the systematic study of the development of several musical abilities through observation of the skills gradually learned by the same group of children, stimulated by an appropriate programme of activities (inCanto project) and accompanied by the support of family members" (p. 3). The book should be of interest to parents, educators and researchers in providing a sound theoretical foundation for early childhood music education while providing useful practical music activities for parents and educators to consider in their interaction with children at home and in school. Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:06:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10r6/ http://www.ijea.org/v10r5/ J. H. White A review of R. Sennett. (2008). The craftsman. New Haven: Yale University. The incident depicted, US Air flight 1549, which was piloted to safety by Stephen Sullenberger on January 15, 2009, and that image, wings bobbing, floatation pontoons outstretched, and passengers walking on water seemed a prophetic apparition. The result was so un-Katrina, with its culture of meritocracy, so un-Wall Street, with its leveraging, and so unpost- structural, with its free-floating signifiers. Here community worked together to produce stunning results: not heroics; not criticality; and not creativity. This, rather, was a soft landing, enacted through craft. Fri, 29 May 2009 13:06:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10r5/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n17/ D. Bennett, D. Wright and D. Blom Despite the recent focus on creativity and innovation as the backbone of Western knowledge economies, the presence of the creative arts within universities remains problematic. Australian artist academics who seek a balance between their artistic and academic lives work within a government-directed research environment that is unable to quantify; therefore, to recognize the value of creative research, yet which accepts the funded outcomes of post-graduate practice-based students. This study sought to unravel how artist academics from a variety of non-written creative disciplines perceive the relationships between their roles as artists, researchers and tertiary educators. Three themes were generated from interviews with the artist-academics: (a) creative research and the academy, (b) practice, research, and teaching nexus, and (c) identity. Central to the discussions was the question of whether and how creative work constitutes legitimate research. Thu, 21 May 2009 23:06:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10n17/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n16/ C. de Bézenac & R. Swindells This paper explores the issue of motivation in music learning in higher education by contextualising data collected as part of the Investigating-Musical-Performance research project (Welch, et al., 2006-2008). The discussion begins with findings which suggest that popular, jazz and folk musicians experience more pleasure in musical activities than their classical counterparts. Also significant are results indicating that the latter are more influenced by parents and teachers, with the former primarily motivated by intrinsic factors. In examining these findings, three interrelated themes are considered: the quality of musicians' motivation, genre-specific learning practices, and the competencies demanded by particular music systems. Critiquing the sociocultural assumptions inherent in Western music pedagogy, and the role of external regulation in formal education systems, a case is made for the importance of autonomy. Questions are raised about the purpose of music education and consequences of formalising musics traditionally learnt through direct engagement with communities of practice. Wed, 13 May 2009 23:06:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10n16/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n15/ C. S. Jeffers This paper re/considers empathy and its implications for learning in the art classroom, particularly in light of relevant neuroscientific investigations of the mirror neuron system recently discovered in the human brain. These investigations reinterpret the meaning of perception, resonance, and connection, and point to the fundamental importance of the resonant body in understanding the world of objects (including objects of art and material culture), and the world of others (including an intersubjectivity of interdependence). Presenting research results and classroom experiences, this paper ultimately advocates a move toward an art education of empathy that integrates caring, cognitive growth, and sociocultural awareness. This art education would strive to promote a connectedness in the classroom community--an authentic and resonant kind of harmony--between self, object, and other, through which the worlds of objects and others are experienced and made meaningful. Wed, 13 May 2009 23:05:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10n15/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n14/ R. Bernard This study explores the relationship between flow, transcendent music making experiences, transcendent religious experiences, and music education. As a teacher-researcher, I studied my graduate students' autobiographical accounts of their experiences making music. Across these narrative writings produced over the past four years, a pattern emerged: many of the texts describe transcendent experiences. Transcendent music making experiences are distinguished by two main qualities: (a) that the performer is functioning at the height of his or her abilities; and (b) that the performer has a sense of being a part of something larger than him or herself in some way. The concept of transcendent music making experiences provides powerful insights into a unique feature of musical engagement. Music educators at all levels can relate to and learn from a more nuanced understanding of the unique qualities of musical engagement. Tue, 21 Apr 2009 23:05:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10n14/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n13/ K. Vaughan "What does it mean to 'find home'?" and "How might an experience and understanding of 'home' be represented and enhanced by the art form of collage?" These are the two questions that have been guiding my work and life for several years, in ways this article describes. I outline some basics of my initial formal engagement via my award-winning multi-modal PhD dissertation, Finding Home: Knowledge, Collage and the Local Environments, describing the theories and approaches I propose as a result of this work. I then discuss my first implementation of these ideas in Toronto high school art classes and conclude with an elaboration of the questions' continuing relevance and viability in my own life and for the young people in my community. Tue, 21 Apr 2009 23:04:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10n13/ http://www.ijea.org/v10r4/ E. C. Warburton The idea that a process of globalization is underway - bringing about basic changes in human arts and affairs - is not new. Marx and Engels recognized it in 1848, when they wrote in The Communist Manifesto about a "constantly expanding market ... [that] must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, establish connections everywhere." Marx and Engels knew that they were witnessing the emergence of a global marketplace: a worldwide system of production and consumption that disregarded national and cultural boundaries. Like Marx and Engels, the early 20th century Russian-born ballet impresario, Sergei Diaghilev, welcomed the move toward internationalism, not only for the increasing wealth it produced but also because he recognized it could offer artists unparalleled opportunities to create, collaborate, and gain worldwide acclaim and influence. For twenty years, his "Ballet Russes" toured the world, creating a sensation everywhere and invigorating the arts of dance, music and scenic design in its wake. Diaghilev brought his extravagant ballets to large and small venues: he did not try to understand the diverse audiences or simplify the productions for them. It was elitist education by elite example and, by all accounts, the local elites loved him for it. Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:05:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10r4/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n12/ K. Smith & K. S. McKnight In an effort to push back against contextual factors that have constrained arts instruction and integration while recognizing that schools have limited resources, The Second City Training Center in Chicago has developed several educational programs that bring the art of improvisation to teachers and students. This article specifically focuses on the outreach program called The Second City Educational Program (TSCEP). Initial data analysis suggests that the strategies that The Second City artists-in-residence used with teachers and their students contributed to individual students' self-efficacy and strengthened classroom community, making possible the opportunity for students who had previously been marginalized to take on more positive roles in their classrooms and creating inclusive spaces for children with special needs. The young people's increased engagement led to confidence with expression, helping them to extend their authoring abilities in both spoken and written forms and to take on the identity of "author." Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:05:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10n12/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n11/ S. K. Chung An autobiographical portrait is an artistic representation that shows not only a person's physical characteristics, but also his or her personality, knowledge, history, and/or lived experiences. Understanding student autobiographical portraits not only helps art teachers gain insight into their students' prior knowledge of and experiences with art, but also allows them to use such insight for relevant instruction. Based on constructivist learning theory and with attention to the future implementation of visual culture art education, this study analyzes visual and verbal autobiographical artifacts produced by four adolescent female students to gain insight into their personal interests, knowledge and experiences with art, and artistic development. Conclusions address implications for teaching critical visual culture. Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:55:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10n11/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n10/ J. Ryman, T. Porter, & C. Galbraith Business schools frequently emphasize the importance of thinking "outside-the-box," and yet very few business students are actually challenged to do so in practice. This paper presents a pedagogical technique designed to foster creativity and imagination, while providing a deeper understanding of the concepts taught in a capstone business management course. The technique requires students to create and interpret an original work of art (visual, musical, or poetry) that symbolizes an important course concept. The metaphors utilized by students are examined using Morgan's (1986) metaphors of organizations as a framework. At the end of the project, students involved provided feedback by completing a survey of student attitudes and responding to a questionnaire. We conclude that using art and metaphor enriched the educational experience by both challenging students and promoting a deeper understanding of course material. Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:28:00 EST http://www.ijea.org/v10n10/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n9/ F. Alter, T. Hays, & R. O'Hara This paper details aspects of a research project that explored nineteen Australian primary (elementary) school teachers' perspectives of Creative Arts education. The study investigated the participants' personal Arts experiences and training, as well as their views of Arts pedagogy. In depth interviews with the participants highlighted the important influence that participants' own interactions with the various Arts disciplines had upon their role as facilitators of Creative Arts education. The findings of this study also identify multiple ways of approaching and facilitating teaching and learning activities. The research not only revealed insights into the educational value each of the teachers ascribed to individual Arts disciplines, but also the level of confidence and preparedness they felt to teach these disciplines. The generalist primary teachers participating in this research study identified a number of issues that they believed compromised their ability to teach the Creative Arts effectively. Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:28:00 EST http://www.ijea.org/v10n9/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n8/ F. Blaikie Through arts-informed research (Cole & Knowles, 2007) I explore visual identity and scholarship. I conversed with and photographed Lisette, Edward, Kris, Todd, William and Theresa, asking "How are your clothing choices determined by your work as a scholar?" The photographs and transcripts inspired drawings, paintings and poetry. The study confirms that clothes are negotiated expressions of self and visual identity with the body as mediator (Braziel & LeBesco, 2001; Butler, 1993; Davis, 1997; Holliday & Hassard 2001; Shilling, 1993); scholars' clothing choices are gendered (Butler, 1999; Kirkham, 1996; Sanders, 1996), and female scholars strategize through dress (Kaiser, Chandler & Hammidi, 2001; Green, 2001). The poems and artworks speak of triumph and pain. They provide opportunities to reflect on arts-informed research, the aesthetics of the clothed body, the body and social theory, and the semiotics of clothing. Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:28:00 EST http://www.ijea.org/v10n8/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n7/ V. Grube "I'm trying the least of anything to control this drawing ... in fact I want it to run away with me." says Billy, a fifth grader who reads at 13th grade level. He clears his throat and begins to sketch and his stories flood the page. This qualitative research paper looks at what free sketchbook drawing does for a group of boys ages 8-14 who participate in an after-school drawing club. The writing blends critical pedagogy with the influence of the adult media culture (e.g, war, television, movies, video games, and the internet) and my perceptions as researcher/teacher. Sun, 1 Feb 2009 22:28:00 EST http://www.ijea.org/v10n7/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n6/ J. Ballantyne, M. Barrett, N. Temmerman, S. Harrison, & E. Meissner This paper provides a description and critical analysis of student perceptions of a nationally funded university teaching development project that aimed to bridge gaps between research, teaching and academic development in music teacher education. Based on research recommendations the project utilised collaboration between schools and universities to develop and implement an innovative online curriculum model. Responses to student evaluation questionnaires and focus group discussions were analysed in order to establish the extent to which this project was contextualised and integrated within the university course. Findings show that students valued the experience of being engaged with authentic online case studies. Through this engagement, students were able to see the interrelationships between school experience and their university studies. The modelled collaboration between schools, universities and the community was perceived as effective by the majority of students and believed to be helpful in future field placements. Recommendations for further research and implications for music teacher education in Australia and beyond are discussed. Sun, 1 Feb 2009 22:28:00 EST http://www.ijea.org/v10n6/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n5/ E.M. Delacruz This paper is intended as a broad, conceptual and theoretical treatise on the aims of teaching art in the age of global digital media. To contextualize a set of general recommendations for art education technology pedagogy, I first provide an overview of the meteoric rise of on-line social networks, and consider questions about the nature and status of these networks as virtual communities, looking at both recent studies of Internet users and at contemporary discussions about what actually constitutes a community. Ideas about community are then connected to a discussion of the public sphere, the commons, and participatory democracy as each of these lead to calls for global civil society in cyberspace. Drawing from this thinking, recommendations for art education technology pedagogy are offered, focusing on approaches that give prominence to making time for inquiry and discourse with students about things that matter, the development of a culture of caring in the art classroom, and public engagement. A recommendation for a partnership model between university and K-12 art educators concludes the paper. Sun, 1 Feb 2009 22:28:00 EST http://www.ijea.org/v10n5/ http://www.ijea.org/v10r3/ J. Baldacchino A review essay of Knowles, J.G., & Cole, A.L. (2008). Handbook of the arts in qualitative research.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN: 978-1-4129-0531-2. Sun, 1 Feb 2009 22:28:00 EST http://www.ijea.org/v10r3/ http://www.ijea.org/v10r2/ A. Christiansen A review essay of Witz, K. (2007). Spiritual aspirations connected with mathematics: The experience of American mathematics students. Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press. ISBN: 978-0-7734-5210-7. Sat, 24 Jan 2009 11:28:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10r2/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n4/ H. Côté Several governments throughout the world promote cultural partnership programs as a means of enriching the school curriculum. How do such programs affect teachers and artists? What meaning do they give to the presence of the cultural dimension in schools? To answer these questions, I examined the content of twelve semi-structured interviews (n=12) conducted with teachers and artists within a sociology of justification theoretical framework. The findings suggest that cultural partnerships between teachers and artists enabled them to experience happiness and satisfaction as well as to learn from each other. Cultural partnerships seem to produce these effects when they involve a dialogue between teachers and artists in order to reach mutual understanding and respect. I conclude this paper by addressing the factors to consider when implementing cultural partnerships and the limitations of my study. Sun, 11 Jan 2009 11:29:00 EST http://www.ijea.org/v10n4/ http://www.ijea.org/v10r1/ P. Duncum A review essay of Mason, R., & Eca, T. (Eds.). (2008). International dialogues about visual culture, education, and art. Bristol, UK. Intellect. ISBN: 978-1-84150-167-3. Sun, 11 Jan 2009 11:28:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v10r1/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n3/ L. Buys & E. Miller This exploratory pilot study investigates the extent to which participating in a community cultural development (CCD) initiative builds social capital among children. An independent youth arts organisation implemented two cultural activities, developing a compact disc of original music and designing mosaic artworks for a library courtyard, in two schools located in a socio-economically disadvantaged area of South-East Queensland, Australia. After participation in the project, 39 primary school children aged 9 to 13 years completed a generic Social Capital in Children Questionnaire  designed specifically for evaluating arts projects. Findings support the role of CCD within schools for enhancing social capital in young people, identifying a range of positive impacts regarding self-concept, reciprocity, feelings of obligation, extended networks and trust. The results suggest that program components, such as facilitating 'friendship' connections between children and designing activities that incorporate the sharing of materials, equipment and tools to facilitate reciprocity, should be an important focus for developing arts programs within a social capital framework. Sun, 11 Jan 2009 11:27:00 EST http://www.ijea.org/v10n3/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n2/ P. Bachar & V. Ofri The purpose of this research was to understand how student art teachers perceive the contribution to their training of community service in various frameworks, such as a prison and a drug rehabilitation center. The research was conducted in 2006-2007 in the School of Art at Beit Berl College, Israel, in two stages. In the first stage, six open-ended interviews were held with students who had taken part in community service, transcriptions of which were subjected to content analysis, yielding four main themes, each comprised of several items. These items were later formulated into a questionnaire, which was administered in the second stage to 120 students of the college. The questionnaire results demonstrate that students felt that community service had contributed meaningfully to their training as art teachers and also helped them to define and develop their emotional world, but the respondents were divided regarding the contributions of community service to their creative work as artists. Sun, 11 Jan 2009 11:26:00 EST http://www.ijea.org/v10n2/ http://www.ijea.org/v10n1/ S. A. Gradle In his forward to Curriculum in Abundance  (2006), curriculum theorist William Pinar suggests that education should offer opportunities for self-formation   which include the cultivation of our capacity to surrender, begin again, and dwell in possibility. This paper examines the theory and art education practices of a forgotten and often undervalued art educator, Henry Schaefer-Simmern, whose methodology seems congruent with some of the goals of holistic education today. Substantial insights were gleaned through interviews with one of his former students, Professor Emeritus of Art Education, Roy Abrahamson. Dr. Abrahamson's collection of published and unpublished papers on Schaefer-Simmern, his art work done under Schaefer-Simmern's direction, and his collection of student work extended my understanding of an alternative, yet viable, holistic approach to teaching and learning. Another look at this kind of art instruction is valuable as a part of a contemporary holistic practice. Sun, 11 Jan 2009 11:25:00 EST http://www.ijea.org/v10n1/ http://www.ijea.org/v9i2/ A. M. Kindler The terms embedded in the title of my paper: Art, Creativity, Art Education and Civil Society ; seem intrinsically linked. In art history, theory and education literature there are abundant references describing art as a powerful manifestation of the human creative potential. The role and value of art in a society have traditionally been emphasized with the power of art to both cater to as well as nurture desires and aspirations relevant to the wellbeing of a collective and promoting civility and peace in human interactions. The field of Art Education has long argued the merits of its existence using the rationale of both the intrinsic value of art as well as the extrinsic benefits to a broader realm of human condition through its contribution to quality of life of individuals and societies. Claims that art has the capacity to uplift the spirit, support civility, and provide impetus for moral conduct through its probing appeal to the human psyche have become commonplace. Wed, 31 Dec 2008 11:28:00 EST http://www.ijea.org/v9i2/ http://www.ijea.org/v9n12/ R. A. Wiggins & J. Wiggins Many schools worldwide rely exclusively on generalist teachers for music instruction at the primary level yet we know little about these teachers, their preparation for the task, and what they actually do in the classroom when teaching music. The extant literature in this area has focused primarily on boosting generalist teachers' confidence to teach music. Little attention has been given to their musical knowledge base and thus their competence for teaching music. This paper reports the results of an investigation of music teaching in one national school system that has almost no specialist teachers at the primary level. Drawing from questionnaire data augmented by classroom observations and interviews, the authors describe the nature and quality of music teaching in this system highlighting the issues that arose for these teachers. Mon, 3 Nov 2008 11:28:00 EST http://www.ijea.org/v9n12/ http://www.ijea.org/v9r2/ L. Beudert A review essay of Garoian, C. M. & Gaudelius, Y. M. (2008). Spectacle pedagogy: Art, poltics, and visual culture. New York: State University of New York Press. Mon, 3 Nov 2008 11:28:00 EST http://www.ijea.org/v9r2/ http://www.ijea.org/v9r1/ D. Barber A review essay of Shusterman, Richard. (2008). Body consciousness: A philsophy of mindfulness and somaesthetics. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. Sat, 20 Sep 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v9r1/ http://www.ijea.org/v9n11/ B. W. Andrews Canada's national cultural institutions and its largest bilingual university entered into a partnership to offer an integrated arts summer program for classroom teachers which featured artists collaborating with teachers to enhance their arts learning and improve their instructional expertise. This inquiry focused on a description of those dimensions of an arts partnership which foster teachers' personal arts learning. Findings indicate that an emerging group culture within the class, characterized by a sense of community, comfort and mutual support, fosters trust, emotional openness and personal risk-taking. These dimensions of the program enabled teachers to explore their own creativity, examine their thoughts and feelings, acknowledge each other's views, understand different perspectives, and engage successfully in artistic activities. Sat, 20 Sep 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v9n11/ http://www.ijea.org/v9n10/ S. Pitts This article uses contemporary and retrospective accounts of extra-curricular music-making in schools to evaluate the extent to which performance opportunities in the teenage years can shape lifelong engagement in music. Empirical evidence is presented from a two phase study: the first looking at a high school musical production through questionnaires and audio diaries; the second using written life history accounts to gather memories of school music and its lasting impact. The experiences of participants and non-participants are considered, and the benefits and costs of the large-scale performance events which characterise British secondary school music are evaluated in a discussion of the future of extra-curricular music in changing musical and educational times. Sat, 20 Sep 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v9n10/ http://www.ijea.org/v9n9/ A. P. Bell As a support worker for adolescents with special needs, I have found that they have few opportunities to play music. While previous research emphasizes that students with special needs can enjoy music in multiple capacities, little has been written about their ability to play, improvise, or compose. I employed a qualitative approach for this case study in which a 17-year-old male with Down syndrome attended two 40-minute music sessions a week over the course of three months with me as the researcher and musical accompanist. Video was used to document the teacher-learner experience as the participant explored collaborative improvising and computer-based recording. General suggestions are made for supporting adolescents with special needs in music. Mon, 30 Jun 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v9n9/ http://www.ijea.org/v9n8/ R. Upitis, K. Smithrim, J. Garbati & H. Ogden Beginning in the summer of 2002, a Queen's University arts education research team has met weekly for art-making sessions. This research paper describes how this long-term art-making practice has influenced the personal and professional lives of the team, based on semi-standardized interviews with six participants and one observer of the art-making group. Several key themes arose from the analysis, including the growth and deepening of relationships amongst participants, the sense of losing track of time while engaged in art-making, and the importance of art-making sessions bringing a temporary reprive from work-related demands. These themes resonate strongly with the scholarly literature and empirical work on embodied knowing, creativity, and non-formal adult learning. Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v9n8/ http://www.ijea.org/v9n7/ J. H. Rolling, Jr. In this paper, the author explores the concept of childhood as a social category that impedes the perception of youngsters as critical thinkers in a visual culture. The author interrogates regularities within contemporary public schooling that work to represent the intellectual and cultural development of youngsters as the project of adult industry. Contrary to this representation, the author recounts the critical awareness and personal agency exercised by a group of 4th graders who engaged in a political cartooning exercise while examining the theme of social justice. The article includes an examination of the social construction of the concept of childhood as it intersects the discourse of Western socio-cultural superiority and the opening of sites of contention as a pedagogical strategy. Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v9n7/ http://www.ijea.org/v9n6/ Y-T. Chen & D. J. Walsh Drawing on Bruner's notion of folk pedagogy, this research explores how Chinese aesthetic education is perceived and valued at two elementary schools in Taiwan. Using qualitative methods, the research explores how arts teachers guide children to experience arts through the arts curricula in school and the local culture. The study reveals that the two schools share a respect for nature and a concern for local culture. The seven arts teachers' folk pedagogy includes the desire to connect beauty and arts learning, develop children's aesthetic feelings, cultivate children's character, and integrate arts into everyday life. The teachers' shared views provide a broad picture of these folk beliefs in Taiwan as well as a cultural lens for examining aesthetic education in Taiwan and the larger Asian culture. Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v9n6/ http://www.ijea.org/v9n5/ R. D. Quinn & J. A. Calkin Over ten years ago, Tom Barone and Elliot Eisner (1997) described seven features of existing artistic approaches to educational inquiry. Their chapter dealt primarily with written, prosaic forms of Arts-Based Educational Research, or ABER, particularly educational criticism and narrative storytelling. In their concluding section, Barone and Eisner recognize the limitless possibilities of utilizing non-linguistic forms of representation to conduct ABER. It is the thesis of our paper that such forms might be considered Research-Based Art (RBA), given the shift in emphasis from linguistic to non-linguistic ways of representing what it is that we come to know about our world. While ABER is considerably broad, we seek to apply as specifically as possible Barone and Eisner's categorical structure to our own RBA. We do so by defining RBA, reconceptualizing Barone and Eisner's seven features as they pertain to RBA, and providing excerpts of our own dialog in applying the seven features to a specific aspect of Jamie's doctoral dissertation. Specifically, we discuss how our understanding and use of RBA compares and contrasts with Barone and Eisner's seven features of ABER. Mon, 09 Jun 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v9n5/ http://www.ijea.org/v9n4/ S. R. Ogunduyile, F. Kayode & B. Ojo Despite interest in the arts, art and design practice in Nigeria continues to witness a downward trend. A new orientation and redirection of priorities, skills development, and patterns of practice that are not contradictory to the code of professional conduct and ethical procedures is contemplated. This paper groups the professionally trained artists and designers into two categories: the academic and the roadside artists. The various art and design schools are responsible for training of graduates in the various disciplines of Fine Art and Industrial Design such as in graphics, textiles and ceramics designs, interior decoration, printmaking, sculpture, painting, art history, and art education. It is expected that graduates in these options keep the professional banner flying and earn the profession very high societal repute through practice and ethics. It appears the reverse is presently the case, as most trained artists, designers, and craftsmen are jettisoning art practice for other jobs like banking, salesmanship, trading, general contractorship, or politics. Although factors impeding professional practices in Nigeria are intended to be highlighted, the paper also intends to promote the practice of Art and Design in Nigeria. Interactions between authors and dropout artists were analyzed in this paper. Craftsmen and industrial designers are encouraged to seek patronage in order to bring the profession to an enviable standard. Mon, 09 Jun 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v9n4/ http://www.ijea.org/v9n3/ A-M. EdstrÖm This article concerns artistic development within the context of a Master of Fine Arts program in visual arts in Sweden, and presents an empirical study based on repeated interviews with a group of art students. The aim is to contribute to our present understanding of artistic development by focusing on changes in the relation between the student and his/her artistic work as part of their artistic development. The study describes and analyzes the character of these changes, within the theoretical frame of phenomenographic research on learning. The notion of 'resting assured' is used to describe the main characteristic of the qualitative change found in the relation between the student and his/her artistic work. To 'rest assured' refers to a state of trust in their own ability that the students develop. Findings are discussed from an educational theoretical perspective, emphasizing the connection between self-direction and resting assured. Sun, 11 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v9n3/ http://www.ijea.org/v9i1/ J. H. Rolling, Jr. This article addresses the advocacy of organizations like the National Art Education Association who seek greater legislative support, funding and time allocations to be devoted to arts instruction and the development of arts practices in the arena of public education. The author argues the timeliness of a reconceived paradigm for understanding and advocating the relevancy of arts practices in the wake of the Information Age. This article seeks to rethink the semiotics defining art in an era of shifting paradigms and as contextualized in contemporary educational policy. Sun, 11 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.ijea.org/v9i1/ http://www.ijea.org/v9n2/ M. Prendergast This survey paper explores the interdisciplinary literature of performance theory and critical performative pedagogy in an attempt to consider metaphorical applications of performance to pedagogy. This exploration involves looking at teaching as performance in the broadest cultural sense of the word - interested more in efficacy of communication and mutual empathetic understanding - than in the more commonly-held economic, technological and political senses of performance which are more interested in setting, raising, and maintaining standards of efficiency and effectiveness (see McKenzie, 2001). In examining these issues in both performance studies and education, the conclusions are that educational researchers and teacher educators can benefit significantly from a critical awareness of the proliferation of metaphors for teaching as performance that highlight both aesthetic and socio-political challenges inherent in a life in the classroom. Sun, 17 Feb 2008 08:00:00 EST http://www.ijea.org/v9n2/ http://www.ijea.org/v9n1/ K. K. Cuero Based on Elliot Eisner's notions of multiple forms of representation and Rosenblatt's aesthetic/efferent responses to reading, a teacher educator/researcher had her undergraduate students explore their connections, using aesthetic representations, to a course entitled Reading Comprehension. Each aesthetic representation revealed the complexities of Reading Comprehension in unique ways through a variety of media including: interior classroom design, culinary arts, quilting, music, and martial arts. The teacher educator invited five of the students from the course to participate in monthly collaborative inquiry sessions during the subsequent semester (lasting five months) where students articulated the aesthetic process they underwent. Benefits and applicability of using aesthetic representations in the university classroom are explored in the final section of the article. Sat, 02 Feb 2008 08:00:00 EST http://www.ijea.org/v9n1/