National Art Education Association

The Editorial ChallengeAuthor(s): Pat VilleneuveSource: Art Education, Vol. 54, No. 3, Early Childhood & Interdisciplinary Challenge (May,2001), pp. 4-5Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3193917 .

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W'UEEeU:UW?U

The Editorial

Challenge DL ast August I sat on the floor

surrounded by accepted manuscripts. I sorted them into piles: elementary,

secondary, higher education... Then I sorted them again: interdisciplinary, technology, teacher training... Again, and again. Some of the manuscripts ended up with several tags on them; other defied easy categorization. At the time, I was putting together the January issue that focused on secondary art education. It might have been expedient to grab six manuscripts from the sec- ondary pile, but I knew that decisions made then would impact my options for future issues. As I glanced from pile to pile, I stopped at a short stack with a tag that said "classrooms." One of the man- uscripts analyzed the stuff of secondary art rooms (Hickman, 2001); the other compared traditional early childhood classrooms in North America with Reggio Emilia classrooms (Tarr, 2001). "Hmmmm.. .that could be an interest- ing pairing..." But to combine those two manuscripts would mean that the Hickman article could not appear in the secondary issue. And there were two other manuscripts on early childhood that could be grouped with the one on the Reggio Emilia approach. Then again, one of those two might work with the Venable (2001) manuscript, "Using Role Play to Teach and Learn Aesthetics," which was tentatively in the secondary pile. "Hmmm..."

I was enthralled with the possibilities that danced before me in the ever-

changing piles-and awed by the responsibility of choosing. As the after- noon turned into evening, I wondered whether I might go mad before I got my first issue together. How could I assem- ble the most stimulating groupings of articles for Art Education readers? It felt like the agony I faced selecting readings for my graduate courses. I laughed at my dilemma and shifted the stacks again. Finally it occurred to me that the responsibility was not mine alone: Readers are partners in this process. They are the ones who construe and decide how-or whether-to use the ideas presented in the articles. I knew that some readers would make connections between the Hickman (2001) and Tarr (2001) articles, whether they appeared in the same issue or not. Others would see connections between different articles or associate ideas from the journal with professional or life experiences. And some would come up with associations I had not even imagined. Relieved, I at last chose six manuscripts.

As it turned out, the Hickman and Venable articles were among those I selected for the January Art Education. The early childhood manuscripts appear in the current issue, along with three other manuscripts and an Instructional Resource that might be broadly grouped under an interdiscipli- nary heading. Georgianna Short docu- ments arts-based school reform at a TETAC (Transforming Education Through the Arts Challenge) school,

and Joseph Piro describes The Rembrandt Teaching Project, designed to promote multiple literacies in a large New York City school district. Seymour Simmons, III, looks at multiple intelli- gences at the middle level, using exam- ples from art and across disciplines. In the Instructional Resource, a team of educators associated with another TETAC grant considers artists' repre- sentations of the United States. Patricia Tarr examines early-childhood class- rooms in Italy and North America and reflects on implicit messages conveyed by the different environments. June Eyestone Finnegan describes a toddler's interaction with art images and provides guidelines for parents and teachers, and Eliza Pitri discusses the role of artistic play in problem solving.

In some cases, the connections between the articles in this issue are quite clear; in other cases, less so. Some of the articles may share similar ideas; others present challenging viewpoints. As you read, I ask that you remember the stimulated, but frustrated, editor who tried to pick provocative pairings for your consideration. I hope you will seek connections with articles from other journals, with practice, and with your experience. And, as you reflect, I ask that you consider once again what constitutes good practice and how these articles may inform art education.

PatVilleneuve Editor

ART EDUCATION / MAY 2001

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Considering Interdisciplinary Practice

Pat Villeneuve is Curator of Education at the Spencer Museum of Art and Associate Professor of visual art education and art museum education at the University of Kansas. She is currently visiting professor of art education atArizona State University. Direct comments about the editorial or journal to the address in the masthead or send e-mail to patv@falcon. cc. ukans. edu.

REFERENCES Hickman, R. (2001). Art rooms and art teach-

ing. Art Education, 54(1), 6-11. Tarr, P. (2001). Aesthetic codes in early child-

hood classrooms: What art educators can learn from Reggio Emilia. Art Education, 54(3), 33-39.

Venable, B. B. (2001). Using role play to teach and learn aesthetics. Art Education, 54(1), 47-51.

We all want to be good teachers, but how do we determine what constitutes good practice? Let's consider interdisciplinary education. Some of us have done it; others may have questions about what it is or how to do it well. How do we make decisions about the things we choose to do? We may rely on our professional judgment, adapt what is done

elsewhere, or look for answers in joumal articles or conference presentations. Last year I met an art teacher who seemed to be having tremendous success as a collaborator in interdisciplinary education in his elementary school. His secret: an

inventory of coloring books on all topics. When a classroom teacher wanted to teach about frogs, he let her make photocopies of the appropriate pages. When the fifth-graders were learning U.S. history, he supplied coloring-book images of famous

presidents. The other teachers in the building were

apparently happy to have the materials, and he was

pleased to help.

The account raised many questions for me: Does this

represent good practice in our field? What are our

expectations for the art educator and art content in

interdisciplinary learning? What do we want students to learn about art? What other factors may have motivated or constrained this teacher? How can we build good models for practice? How do we

change what is already being done? I expect we will have different answers, but I urge you to reflect on these questions as you read the first three articles in this issue. And, as always, I welcome manuscript submissions on this or any other topic pertinent to art education today. To receive author guidelines, consult the masthead.

MAY 2001 / ART EDUCATION

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