Showing papers in "Arts Education Policy Review in 2009"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the effects of NCLB on nontested subjects, specifically music and arts in the general curriculum, and the major effects on scheduling and funding policies have forced educators to reconsider how advocacy for the arts should be approached.
Abstract: Since the Bush administration enacted the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2002, lawmakers and school administrators have questioned what changes, if any, the Obama administration will make. This article discusses the effects of NCLB on nontested subjects, specifically music and arts in the general curriculum. Major effects on scheduling and funding policies have forced educators to reconsider how advocacy for the arts should be approached.
97 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of the arts in children's social emotional development is explored through interviews with inner-city elementary teachers who participated in an artist-in-residence program.
Abstract: Although there is widespread recognition that arts experiences enhance children’s socialemotional development, the mechanisms through which this process takes place are little understood. This article provides insight into the role of the arts in development, through a review of recent research on child development and interviews with inner-city elementary teachers who have participated in an artist-in-residence program. The author presents evidence thatartsexperiences—anddramaactivitiesinparticular—helpchildrentodevelopanenhanced understanding of the responses, emotional expressions, and actions of other people, as well as a comprehension of what to expect from others and what social scripts should be used in different situations.
69 citations
TL;DR: A historical vantage point and review of literature reveals the current status of pending arts language revisions to the NCLB Act, as well as a pressing need to examine the key recommendations and to consider a blend of the proposals from the National Education Task Force, the Study Group on the Lost Curriculum, and the Arts Education Working Group as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: From bipartisan origins and a laudable intent, the No Child Left Behind (Act) of 2001 has profoundly altered the condition of art education. A historical vantage point and review of literature reveals the current status of pending arts language revisions to the NCLB Act, as well as a pressing need to examine the key recommendations and to consider a blend of the proposals from the National Education Task Force, the Study Group on the Lost Curriculum, and the Arts Education Working Group. This current research possesses significant implications for NCLB arts language and provides the opportunity for a unified message for revisions, leaving no child behind in art education.
44 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose a way to expand the study of arts education within new contexts of technology and globalization, and suggest new applications for these ideas to ensure that arts education sustains its significance in twenty-first-century society.
Abstract: This article proposes a way to expand the study of arts education within new contexts of technology and globalization. Drawing upon theories that have informed arts and aesthetic education in the past, the authors suggest new applications for these ideas to ensure that arts education sustains its significance in twenty-first-century society. The article makes suggestions about how to redirect arts education policy to keep pace with rapid global and technological changes and developments in new media learning as students presently experience them. As an example of this change, a digital humanities project that uses Rembrandt's art as a teaching resource is highlighted, and suggestions are made on how the program may be used to advance arts education and arts policy.
36 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that the practice of contesting and creating representations of knowledge structures and learning based on deliberative skills is at the center of policy formation and development, as well as the centre of teaching.
Abstract: If policy is the most significant gatekeeping element for access to and development of community goods and services, and if music educators have historically lived at the margins of policy, then who procures access for the field? How are visions for musical and educational development articulated and what are the resulting implications? This article suggests sphericity as a metaphorical point of entry in discussing the need for the music education field to consider policy and policy studies differently. The article argues for connections between policy and teacher education, contending that the practice of contesting and creating representations of knowledge structures and learning based on deliberative skills is at the center of policy formation and development, as well as the center of teaching.
31 citations
TL;DR: In this article, Nye's concepts of "hard" and "soft" power are adapted and used as a paradigm for categorization and analysis of policy to illustrate the situation.
Abstract: Music education exists within a web of policies. Those most often identified by music teachers and professional associations are the policies imposed on the profession by governmental and regulatory bodies. Advocacy efforts to change policy are mostly directed toward these bodies. However, the practice of music education is perhaps more influenced by subtle policies that affect teachers' values, expectations, and practices. In this article, Nye's concepts of "hard" and "soft" power are adapted and used as a paradigm for categorization and analysis of policy to illustrate this situation. Using this model reveals that while some hard policies specific to music education advocate a progressive music education, other hard policies may interfere with this agenda and soft policies seem to maintain the status quo. Recommendations are made for building the capacity of teachers to understand, study, and influence policy.
30 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that two forms of accountability imbalances fostered by the neoliberal state, hierarchical answerability over communicative reason and top-down over bottom-up policymaking, allow the use of music curricula for political ends, to the detriment of curricular integrity and classroom delivery.
Abstract: This article addresses accountability issues that affect music education policy and implementation in the neoliberal education system. Using examples from education reform in Ontario, Canada, the author argues that two forms of accountability imbalances fostered by the neoliberal state—hierarchical answerability over communicative reason and top-down over bottom-up policymaking—allow the use of music curricula for political ends, to the detriment of curricular integrity and classroom delivery. The article also discusses how central governments that are responsible for developing standardized music curricula and allocating resources in an accountability vacuum may tacitly establish that "basic" subjects such as literacy, numeracy, and science are "more mandatory" than a mandated music curricula. The article concludes by recommending ways in which the centralized development of music education policy and resource allocation can be made more equitable both for those who encounter the curriculum at the local ...
26 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the discrepancy between the values underpinning education politics and the values of higher music education and propose an "education policy of the particular", which conceives of education and higher education as two self-referential but intercommunicative systems.
Abstract: The tendency to construct grand narratives makes participants in education politics unaware of the particularities of marginalized fields such as music education. One prominent reason for this trend is the discrepancy between the values underpinning education politics and the values of higher music education. This article discusses this problem by drawing on five concepts from the literature on quality in higher education: quality of teaching and learning, disciplinary competencies, relevance quality, generic competencies, and employability. The author proposes the idea of an "education policy of the particular," which conceives of education politics and higher music education as two self-referential but intercommunicative systems. Finally, some of the challenges and possible outcomes of such politics for higher music education are discussed.
15 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors review the structure and characteristics of the AP portfolio assessment as a basis for critique and policy analysis, and suggest possibilities for future research and policy recommendations for secondary art education.
Abstract: Because of education reform policy and misconceptions about artistry and artistic assessment, visual art education remains in the margins of high school education. One response to the lack of supportive arts education policy is the Advanced Placement (AP) Studio Art Program, a visual arts assessment at the high school level that engages large numbers of students in rigorous art experiences. This article reviews the structure and characteristics of the AP portfolio assessment as a basis for critique and policy analysis. At issue are the reliability of this assessment's measurements and its level of credibility with key constituencies. These concerns are especially relevant in a testing culture in which objective evaluations are highly regarded and art education programs are often threatened. The authors suggest possibilities for future research and policy recommendations for secondary art education.
15 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present Still At Risk: What Students Don't Know, Even Now: A Report from Common Core, which is a summary of the Common Core report.
Abstract: (2009). Still At Risk: What Students Don't Know, Even Now: A Report from Common Core. Arts Education Policy Review: Vol. 110, No. 2, pp. 5-21.
15 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the presence and impact of nonprofit arts and culture programs in partnership with Arizona's public schools was explored, and the authors argued that arts and cultures should not be permitted to disappear from schools.
Abstract: This study explores the presence and impact of nonprofit arts and culture programs in partnership with Arizona's public schools. Arts and culture offerings are limited by many facets of the educational system, including the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), as evidenced by researchers and participants' responses in this study. The author argues that arts and culture should not be permitted to disappear from schools. Community leaders and policymakers should continue to invest in the arts and culture educational programs offered by nonprofit organizations and, with public support, should enact sound public and educational policies to support arts and culture in communities and schools.
TL;DR: The authors examines the policy implications embedded in the questions asked by music educators that frame the historical progress and evolution of music education and posits that while these questions have seemingly worked toward solutions to problems, they have systematically preserved the inequalities we intended to dismantle.
Abstract: This article examines the policy implications embedded in the questions asked by music educators that frame the historical progress and evolution of music education. Further, this article posits that while these questions have seemingly worked toward solutions to problems, they have systematically preserved the inequalities we intended to dismantle. Consequently, this article investigates the complexity and contradictions embedded in history and policy beyond vague notions of linear progression. I suggest that the narrativization of music education has made us subjects in a process that not only works against "musicking," but also reproduces hierarchies and disparity.
TL;DR: A special issue of the Arts Education Policy Review brought together music educators from Germany, Norway, Canada, and the United States to discuss and present a global outlook for music education policy, focusing particularly on the northern hemisphere as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: uiding action regarding broad understandings, positions, and discrete realities of various elements in music education arguably lies at the center of policy efforts. However, music education seems to have relegated policy considerations, arguments, and visions to the margins of the field. At the same time, the field has debatably failed to adequately develop the policy research capacity of the profession. The result is that policy studies are generally absent from music education research. The articles in this special issue of Arts Education Policy Review bring together music educators from Germany, Norway, Canada, and the United States to discuss and present a global outlook for music education policy, focusing particularly on the northern hemisphere. The particular features of politics and economics in such regions do create discussions that are contextually bound and offer limited results. Nevertheless, the discussions and arguments featured by the authors here, independent of their location, can serve as parameters and possibilities that can be explored globally. Therefore, this issue discusses past absences and problems in music education policy, as well as current promises and future opportunities. The viewpoints and arguments presented are diverse, not only in form and content, but also in conceptualization. These articles adopt varied philosophical, sociological, political, systemic, and developmental framings, yet they are articulated around the need to rethink the connections between micro-level elements of practice and macro-level aspects of conceptualizations. They further consider how alternative relations in music education can be presented as the profession faces the realities and needs of a globalized economy and a flattening world. These articles also discuss new ways of looking at policy itself. The authors propose challenging views for the construction of institutional and collaborative engagements in the hope that such propositions may generate growth in the interest, understanding, and investigation of policy concerns and pathways. The issue takes as an initial standpoint the understanding that policy is “a decision about how to proceed, based in part on knowledge or research and in part on values and opinions” (Hope 2002, 11). Further, the articles critique the constrictive ways in which policy has traditionally been viewed and advocate for a more complex understanding of the word, both in its practice and conceptualization.
TL;DR: In this paper, Solitary Confinement in Education is discussed in the context of the arts education policy review: Vol. 110, No. 2, pp. 29-32.
Abstract: (2009). Solitary Confinement in Education. Arts Education Policy Review: Vol. 110, No. 2, pp. 29-32.
TL;DR: In this paper, the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in music education is defined as a distinctive credential and making the degree accessible to working teachers, and a way to address this situation is proposed.
Abstract: The music education profession is in a period of transition. New musics, cultural understandings, and technologies require music teachers to continually update their knowledge and skills. Regulatory changes in many states that require teachers to pursue continuing education credits and receive a master's degree earlier in their careers than previously and the retirement of the baby boom generation will soon create a shortage of qualified teachers and university professors. At the same time, doctoral education is being scrutinized and reconsidered for the relevance of its content and the efficacy of traditional models in preparing professionals for the twenty-first century. This article proposes a way to address this situation by defining the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in music education as a distinctive credential and making the degree accessible to working teachers.
TL;DR: The First We See: The National Review of Visual Education, which was completed in August 2008, recommends the development of a visual education curriculum for the compulsory years of schooling.
Abstract: In the light of a decision taken in April 2009 that the arts will be included in a projected national curriculum it seems relevant to examine First We See: The National Review of Visual Education, which was completed in August 2008. That Review recommends the development of a visual education curriculum for the compulsory years of schooling. Under the guiding concept of “visuacy,” a neologism deriving from “visual literacy,” the newly conceived subject is intended to have educational outcomes complementary to literacy and numeracy. I examine the arguments and recommendations of the Review, and briefly examine the methodology of Phase One of the Review (i.e., a literature review, a questionnaire, and school visits) for its relevance to the Review's recommendations.
TL;DR: This article provided functional, moderate, and constructive arts education policy lessons drawn from the development of two Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC) visual arts education education policy statements over the past fifteen years.
Abstract: This article provides functional, moderate, and constructive arts education policy lessons drawn from the development of two Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC) visual arts education policy statements over the past fifteen years. These lessons can help formulate action-oriented school, district, state, and national pre-kindergarten-20 educational policies to improve and advance all arts education. The article offers a history of these documents' development, two action examples, conclusions, and recommendations for current and future advocates. SECAC's most recent policy document can be found at http://www.unc.edu/~rfrew/SECAC/index.html.
TL;DR: The sad state of the humanities in modern America has a familiar, indeed almost ritualistic, quality about them as discussed by the authors, and the humanities are among those unquestionably nice endeavors, li...
Abstract: Lamentations about the sad state of the humanities in modern America have a familiar, indeed almost ritualistic, quality about them. The humanities are among those unquestionably nice endeavors, li...
TL;DR: The authors discusses the conflicting forces in society and in the education system that are responsible for this: the precarious relationship of youth music culture and music education, the continuing decline of music education in the schools, which is concealed by media-supported events, the seeming irrelevance of musiceducation content and methods to students, a lack of consensus in society about the core content of music Education, and the ineffectiveness of the argument for the educational benefits of education in policymaking.
Abstract: In the years between the world wars, music education in Germany prospered, because successful policy made constructive cooperation among relevant institutions and representatives possible. The situation today is very different. Many music educators and researchers are not aware that policies affect them; nor do they see themselves as active participants in policymaking. This article discusses the conflicting forces in society and in the education system that are responsible for this: the precarious relationship of youth music culture and music education; the continuing decline of music education in the schools, which is concealed by media-supported events; the seeming irrelevance of music education content and methods to students; a lack of consensus in society about the core content of music education; and the ineffectiveness of the argument for the educational benefits of music education in policymaking. As a result of these forces, Germany lacks both theories and research on music education policy. Thi...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the factors necessary for consideration in the development of new graduate programs and highlight the need of teachers contrasted against the capabilities and limitations of the respective institution and its faculty.
Abstract: The call and need of postgraduate training for teachers in the arts continues to grow, but few programs exist that provide sufficient flexibility or diversity, particularly for theatre educators. This article examines the factors necessary for consideration in the development of new graduate programs. A paramount concern in that development is the needs of teachers contrasted against the capabilities and limitations of the respective institution and its faculty.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe how a student's spectacular hunger for life makes them "radically vulnerable" to bullying, and how this makes them feel trapped in a "deterministic" world.
Abstract: (2009). Dwelling in Possibilities: Our Students' Spectacular Hunger for Life Makes Them Radically Vulnerable. Arts Education Policy Review: Vol. 110, No. 2, pp. 22-28.
TL;DR: The arts represent a unique form of communication that can occur between artists and the individuals who encounter their works as discussed by the authors, and for this communication to provide its full benefits, those individuals need to experience the work in a way that engages emotions, stimulates the senses, and challenges their minds to a process of discovery.
Abstract: The arts represent a unique form of communication that can occur between artists and the individuals who encounter their works. For this communication to provide its full benefits, those individuals need to experience the work in a way that engages emotions, stimulates the senses, and challenges their minds to a process of discovery. In other words, the aesthetic experience requires works of art that can elicit such a response (supply), opportunities to encounter those works of art (access), and people who seek out such encounters and can find value in them (demand). It follows that arts education policies should support all of these conditions. (95)