National Art Education Association

A New Era for Art EducationAuthor(s): Stephen Mark DobbsSource: Art Education, Vol. 34, No. 2 (Mar., 1981), p. 5Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3192528 .

Accessed: 14/06/2014 09:56

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

National Art Education Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to ArtEducation.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.49 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 09:56:35 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

A New Era for Art Education

Stephen Mark Dobbs

Beginnings are exciting. As I assume the new role of Editor of

this journal, I am charged by a sense of promise and potential. After all, Art Education is not merely a house organ of the professional association; it is (or should be) the source of multiple networks of dialogue, sharing, en- lightenment, and change in the field of art education. Thus the editorship is a great opportunity and a considerable challenge.

We art educators ought to be espe- cially sensitive to the need for ex- changing ideas. Our ranks are thin in numbers compared to those of many other subject areas. The mathematics or history teacher is likely to have many other colleagues in the same school, and perhaps dozens or even hundreds in the same school district. But the art teacher is often alone, sometimes servicing several schools. In a state like California, where less than three dozen art supervisors are spread over hundreds of school dis- tricts, in communities separated by significant distances, the problem is aggravated.

Thus conferences and publications are the essential services of a profes- sional organization, and Art Educa- tion, with a circulation of over 12,000 nationwide and overseas, is in a unique position to be a primary tool for the communication of ideas. Con- sider how really marvelous it is (we usually take such things for granted) when the thinking, methods, projects, and dreams of an art teacher or pro- fessor in one small part of the country

are spread upon the collective con- sciousness. An individual, otherwise isolated, can influence (and theoreti- cally receive feedback from) literally thousands of professionals facing similar problems.

Art Education is even more than a means of communication; it is the most widely-distributed currency in the field, a medium of exchange which is as sound as the quality of its back- ing: the interest and energy and ideas which its readers and users invest in it. The health and welfare of art edu- cation can be enhanced quickly and dramatically by the dissemination of good ideas through a regular publica- tion.

The NAEA Board and the Publica- tions Committee have put substantial time into trying to determine how Art Education can better serve the profes- sion. A flood of feedback greeted me upon my appointment, reflecting a number of major concerns, including the perception that the journal just has not been effectively reaching many of our colleagues. I welcome continuing reactions from readers as a new shape and feeling for the journal emerge in coming months. We aspire to better reflect the interests of our readers, be more useful to practitioners, and, in general, provide a more readable, provocative (in the positive sense), and attractive publicati/on.

Obviously Art Education cannot be all things to all people. But I believe we ought to do all we can to approach that standard, in the sense that the journal is appreciated by professionals throughout the field as a useful tool for thinking, teaching, considerations of policy, and learning about art and the profession of art education.

In the months ahead, readers will notice changes in the personality and tone of the journal. Added features and a broadened base of interests will expand the publication, which will now appear every other month throughout the year. The AS I SEE IT guest column, which I have taken the

prerogative of utilizing this one and only time, will provide an opportunity for individuals to speak their mind on matters of concern and controversy. TEACHER TALK will focus on cur- riculum ideas and activities from the front lines, the classrooms where the majority of Art Education's subscrib- ers works. Interviews with prominent artists and art-related professionals, BRIEF BITS, reports on exhibitions and new learning and teaching re- sources, and other features will ap- pear in these pages.

But the staple item, the bedrock of information flow, will continue to be the general article, the "think-piece" in which concepts and practices are elucidated and analyzed. Art educa- tion is a professional discipline, and the most important contribution of this journal will continue to be to fos- ter reflection and the exchange of ideas. It is not like the newspaper, simply telling what is going on here and there. Rather, to paraphrase Susanne Langer, this publication ought to offer us a glimpse of "what art education might feel like."

Contributions of general articles and features are welcome at all times. Those interested are referred to the "Information for Contributors" box on the Table of Contents page. We pledge to do our best to give a speedy acknowledgement and a decision on manuscripts within a reasonable time. Those readers unaccustomed to writ- ing for publication, but who have something significant to say or report, are encouraged to try. Submissions will be reviewed by an Editorial Board, newly formed, and an honest appraisal made. Space and other con- siderations limits the printing of even top-quality manuscripts, but in such cases our recommendation to submit to another journal will be sincere and based on merit. To all of our readers, future authors and readers alike, I welcome you to what I hope will be a proud and productive new era for Art Education.

Art Education March 1981

.. .. .. . . . ~ ~ ~~~~... ... ... - . . .. .. ..-

.. .

5

-

This content downloaded from 185.2.32.49 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 09:56:35 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions