Art and Current Educational Practices

I came across an article that expressed the link between many current educational initiatives and the pedagogy of art education. Below you will find a quick overview of the major points of the essay.

• Substantial evidence points to a correlation between student achievement and fine arts education.
• Most art curricula are "student centered", personally relevant, and utilize formative assessment; all major topics in educational reform today.
• "Project-Based Learning" is used daily in the art classroom with students working toward a specific performance goal.
• "Visual Literacy" has been a mainstay of art education from the onset, teaching students to look beyond text for meaning through purposeful interpretations and evaluation exercises.
• "Portfolio Assessment" is a large part of determining growth and deciding what channels the artist should explore next based on thier current work.

 

Gifted and Talented Program at Dominican University

5th-8th graders attending the Dominican University Summer Gifted and Talented Program created these unique clay pieces during a week long full day camp.

Dedicated artists taking summer classes through School Daze

I Can Draw: Tips and Techniques was a great success this summer through the district School Daze Program. The class learned and expirimented with a variety of technical exercises to better develop thier understanding of proportion, value, and color.

Social Justice Minded Future Middle Schoolers

Fifth graders took on the task of created hand made art objects to auction at Ten Thousand Villages here in Oak Park. There efforts were covered by the local newspaper Oak Park and River Forest Patch and highlighted on the district web page. The proceeds of the auction directly benefit Horizon of Hope, a Haitian children's home that is sponsored by some of the faculty in the district.

Second graders created these hi-tec robots using geometric shapes and printmaking methods. Each robot serves a specific purpose designated by their designer. Can you spot the cook-bot and animal vet bot?

A Brush with Claude Monet by First Grade