Rethinking Curriculum in Art

By Hausman, Jerome J

RETHINKING CURRICULUM IN ART (2007;$24.95), by Marilyn G. Stewart and Sydney R. Walker. Davis Publications. This book grew out of the work of many art educators involved in a five-year Transforming Education Through the Arts Challenge (TETAC) project. The J. Paul Getty Trust and the Annenberg Foundation provided initial major funding for this effort, along with matching funding from six regional centers in California, Florida, Nebraska, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas.

The book’s primary audience is teachers (pre- and in-service). Others who would find the book useful are non-art teachers, curriculum supervisors, museum educators and arts administrators. Rethinking Curriculum in Art is meant to supplement, not replace, college-level curriculum texts that focus on the history and philosophy of curriculum and instruction.

The authors put forth the notion of using an “enduring idea” (themes, topics or issues that reflect large questions about human experience-for example, power, conflict, life and death, survival, etc.) as the foundation for curriculum development. Teachers would then work to frame and shape curriculum content and align instruction and evaluation to these ideas. The plan can also be designed to meet local, state and national standards.

Many practical examples are given (drawn from the experiences of teachers participating in the TETAC project). Appendices include: Guidelines for Developing Units, Planning Outlines and Sample Worksheets.-J.J.H.

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Copyright Publisher’s Development Corporation Sep 2008

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