Discipline-based Art Education for Preservice Elementary Teachers

Abstract

The content of a preservice elementary teachers' art methods class is an area of concern for teachers and administrators. The lack of standardized, systematic instruction in this area has led to inconsistent art teaching in the elementary schools and the subsequent elimination of art from many general curricula in the public school system. This researcher sought to use a discipline-based approach to develop and test a pilot preservice curriculum for use in a one -semester art methods course for elementary education majors. Discipline-Based Art Education (DBAE)Discipline-based art education is a label coined by Greer for an approach to teaching art. This approach contains a sequential, systematic instruction in that art incorporates the "end-in-view" role models of the art discipline: art critic, aesthetician, art historian, and artist. It "should produce educated adults who are knowledgeable about art and its production and responsive to the aesthetic properties of works of art and other objects" (Greer, 1984, p. 212).Discipline-based art education requires a formal written curriculum. The Need for Discipline-Based CurriculumTo establish a need for this curriculum some factors must be examined: the purpose for art education as part of the general elementary curriculum, reasons for a discipline-based approach, and content of preservice curriculum.