Democratic Habits in the Art Classroom

This volume explores the ways in which practicing K–12 art educators can engage with students to develop democratic habits. The contributors present case studies based on action research conducted in their own classrooms as part of their master’s in arts education. The text is divided into three sections that correspond to habits the author-teachers cultivated in their classroom: choice, voice, and caring for community. Each author presents real-world examples for development of not only art skills, but also ways of being and interacting that allow humans to contribute meaningfully to the world. Readers will hear from art educators who strive to teach their students ownership and empowerment through problem-solving, independence, and responsibility. This timely book shows how art education is a bastion of freedom in public education, where students and teachers can think and act collaboratively and critically.

Book Features:

• Offers examples of transformative teaching that give students voice, choice, and opportunities to care for community.
• Provides theory as well as replicable models that teachers can use.
• Addresses the difficulty of balancing student and teacher needs within the politically embattled field of education.
• Shares the voices of art educators in Midwest classrooms ranging from elementary to high school, rural to urban communities.

Elizabeth Sutton is professor of art history and head of the Department of Art at the University of Northern Iowa.

Contents (Tentative)

Introduction: Actualizing the Promise
Elizabeth Sutton

Part I. Choice-Based Classrooms Section Introduction
Samantha Goss

1. Including All Voices in Learning: Peer-to-Peer Verbal Conversations in the Elementary Art Room
Elizabeth S. Bloomburg

2. Using Meaningful Themes to Guide a Choice-Based Approach to Art Education
Sandra C. Nyberg

3. Learning Choices: Students in a Flipped Art Room
Kathryn Christensen

Part II. Nurturing Self-Efficacy and Voice Section Introduction
Samantha Goss

4. How Art Journaling and Studio Habits of Mind Encourage Personal Connections in High School Art Making
Heather Walker

5. Enhancing Elementary Student Voice Through Art and Advocacy
Maddison O. Maddock

6. Self-Efficacy: Empowering Young Artists
Jodi Fenton

Part III. Building Communities That Care Section Introduction
Samantha Goss

7. Art to the Rescue! Exploring Arts-Based Service Learning
Ashley M. Cardamone

8. Cultivating Connections Through Community Art
Lauren Roush

9. Collaborative Art Making Between 4th-Graders and Community Partners and its Impact on School Culture
Michelle Cox

10. Networks Supporting Art Education
Wendy Miller

11. Defending the Useless: A Neighborhood in Flux
Jeff Rufus Byrd

Contributor Biographies

Index