From Theory to Practice Made Perfect

National Art Education Association

From Theory to Practice Made PerfectAuthor(s): Pat VilleneuveSource: Art Education, Vol. 56, No. 1 (Jan., 2003), pp. 4-5Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3194024 .

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convey to those who are watching and judging us. Are we informed? Do our activities look substantial or trite? Just what is guiding our practices?

I tell graduate students in my Intro to Art Museum Education class that they need to determine what they believe and then envision how that will guide their professional practices. "What do you mean, and why is that important?," they sometimes ask. "Without a philosophy of art museum education, how will you decide what you're going to do and support it?," I reply.

ART EDUCATION / JANUARY 2003



to Practice Made Perfect to Practice Made Perfect "How will you defend your program from the donor who thinks it would be fun to fill the museum's fountain with bubbles and let children

pretend to be fish? Do you consider that to be

good practice? What do you think the director and other curators will say?" As the semester

progresses, students read a small mountain of literature from art education, general education, art museum education, museum studies, and

cognitive psychology. I deliberately present multiple theories and practices, and I encourage students to find connections among the differing viewpoints. It's a challenge, but eventually each student begins to develop a personal philosophy of art museum education that is informed by the literature rather than derived from personal preference or borrowed practices.

Like any developing field, art museum education needs models for practice that are based on research, theory, or literature from related fields. To that end, I have selected manuscripts for the art museum education issue that use current theory, offer new perspectives, or make bridges from theory from practice. Philip Yenawine uses Abigail Housen's stages of aesthetic development to select museum objects for use with novice viewers. Sheng Kuan Chung considers the challenge of presenting cultural artifacts in a museum setting, and Carol Jeffers looks to the university art gallery as a place for community learning. Elizabeth Reese calls upon intertextuality, narrative theory, and narrative forms of education to engage the visitor's voice in the interpretive process, while Sara Wilson McKay and Susana Monteverde propose dialogic looking to aid interpretation. Mark Fenech suggests that the physical setting of the art museum can shape the museum experience, and IR authors E. Louis Lankford, Kelly Scheffer, Barbara Decker, and Carlene Fullerton look at learning in our time.

"How will you defend your program from the donor who thinks it would be fun to fill the museum's fountain with bubbles and let children

pretend to be fish? Do you consider that to be

good practice? What do you think the director and other curators will say?" As the semester

progresses, students read a small mountain of literature from art education, general education, art museum education, museum studies, and

cognitive psychology. I deliberately present multiple theories and practices, and I encourage students to find connections among the differing viewpoints. It's a challenge, but eventually each student begins to develop a personal philosophy of art museum education that is informed by the literature rather than derived from personal preference or borrowed practices.

Like any developing field, art museum education needs models for practice that are based on research, theory, or literature from related fields. To that end, I have selected manuscripts for the art museum education issue that use current theory, offer new perspectives, or make bridges from theory from practice. Philip Yenawine uses Abigail Housen's stages of aesthetic development to select museum objects for use with novice viewers. Sheng Kuan Chung considers the challenge of presenting cultural artifacts in a museum setting, and Carol Jeffers looks to the university art gallery as a place for community learning. Elizabeth Reese calls upon intertextuality, narrative theory, and narrative forms of education to engage the visitor's voice in the interpretive process, while Sara Wilson McKay and Susana Monteverde propose dialogic looking to aid interpretation. Mark Fenech suggests that the physical setting of the art museum can shape the museum experience, and IR authors E. Louis Lankford, Kelly Scheffer, Barbara Decker, and Carlene Fullerton look at learning in our time.

You might notice that the authors of the articles are not currently working in museums. That's not much of a surprise, actually. Museum educators have full plates, and writing for publication has not been an expectation. It's not much different from the theory/practice divide in art education where most of the writing still comes from those in higher education. This need not be a problem, however, as long as we see to it that theory informs our practices.

Read the articles. Consider the content. What can work for you? How can we translate theory into practice for the good of our field?

Pat Villeneuve Editor

You might notice that the authors of the articles are not currently working in museums. That's not much of a surprise, actually. Museum educators have full plates, and writing for publication has not been an expectation. It's not much different from the theory/practice divide in art education where most of the writing still comes from those in higher education. This need not be a problem, however, as long as we see to it that theory informs our practices.

Read the articles. Consider the content. What can work for you? How can we translate theory into practice for the good of our field?

Pat Villeneuve Editor

Pat Villeneuve is curator of education at the Spencer Museum of Art and associate professor of visual arts education and art museum education at the University of Kansas. She has been a member of the museum education division since 1985. Send questions and comments about thejournal to [email protected].

REFERENCE Berry, N., & Mayer, S. (Eds.). (1989). Museum education:

History, theory, and practice. Reston, VA: National Art Education Association.

ERRATA The reference on p. 16 of the November issue listed as Gaitskell, C.D., & Hurwitz, A. (1995). Children and their art: Methodsfor the elementary school, (6th Ed.). New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. should have been Hurwitz, A., & Day, M. (1995). Children and their art: Methodsfor the elementary school, (6th Ed.). New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. The article was "Historical Analysis of Assessment in Art Education" by Donald D. Gruber and Jack A. Hobbs.

Pat Villeneuve is curator of education at the Spencer Museum of Art and associate professor of visual arts education and art museum education at the University of Kansas. She has been a member of the museum education division since 1985. Send questions and comments about thejournal to [email protected].

REFERENCE Berry, N., & Mayer, S. (Eds.). (1989). Museum education:

History, theory, and practice. Reston, VA: National Art Education Association.

ERRATA The reference on p. 16 of the November issue listed as Gaitskell, C.D., & Hurwitz, A. (1995). Children and their art: Methodsfor the elementary school, (6th Ed.). New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. should have been Hurwitz, A., & Day, M. (1995). Children and their art: Methodsfor the elementary school, (6th Ed.). New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. The article was "Historical Analysis of Assessment in Art Education" by Donald D. Gruber and Jack A. Hobbs.

JANUARY 2003 / ART EDUCATION JANUARY 2003 / ART EDUCATION



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From Theory to Practice Made Perfect