CHILDREN MAKE THE RULES IN CONSTRUCTIVIST CLASSROOMS
Rheta DeVries and Betty Zan (2003) "Building Classroom Relationships" Educational Leadership, September 2003 | Volume 61 | Number 1, Pages 64-67

Student choice-based learning in art.
TEACHING FOR ARTISTIC BEHAVIOR™  "Choice-based art education regards students as artists and offers them real choices for responding to their own ideas and interests through the making of art.  Choice-based art education supports multiple modes of learning and assessment for the diverse needs of students." 

This website has an email discussion group that raises substantive questions and produces evocative responses related to issues that come up in studio art classes. Highly recommended for art teachers who want their students learn to develop their own ideas, learn to experiment, make discoveries, and think for themselves. If you believe that students can learn to construct knowledge and not merely depend on being told what to do and what to think, check out this site.
http://www.teachingforartisticbehavior.org/index.html

Transition to Choice-Based Art Education
An Art Teacher Blog  Indiana elementary Art Teacher, Clyde Gaw, explains his classroom practices to foster learning and creative thinking habits and art making ability. Since 2004, Gaw has been sharing his innovative ways to of fostering individual and collaborative art learning through experimentation, media centers, digital portfolio development, and creative knowledge construction. Elementary students learn to generate ideas, choose their media and technique, prepare/practice, refine their work, write about their work, prepare for exhibitions, and so on. A great collection of essays and ideas dealing with important educational questions.

Art Books for Children and High School
Annotated bibliography of art books for children  Elementary art teacher, Robin Brooks, shares her list of great books. "This is a list of popular children's books and classic children's books books I have used with children at K12 grades to introduce an artist, art concept or process. There is such an incredible volume of art books geared for children on the market today (a recent Amazon search turned up numbers in the thousands) that I decided to focus on books I have actually seen and enjoyed. The books on this list will surely reveal some of my biases and interests in the vast territory of the visual arts."
. . .  "When reading a storybook about an artist to children, particularly one that relies on illustrations and not reproductions of the artists' work, I recommend showing reproductions of the artists' work afterward [after the child makes their own artwork] whenever possible. I also advise talking to children about the difference between a photographic reproduction of, say, a painting, and the original. To make the difference clear I like to bring a sample oil painting so the children may see and even touch the texture of the paint on canvas and compare it to the image on the poster or in the book." [bracketed words inserted by Marvin Bartel]
The above is copied from: http://www.eduguide.org/library/viewarticle/187
Children understand the difference between a real person and photo of a real person. I sometimes use this to explain how a book picture is different than a real painting.  -- mb.

The Incredible Art Department
Lessons These are art lessons shared by art teachers. Some are much better than others. Use your own critical assessment of the lessons to decide what and how student learning habits will be influenced. Often you can creatively adapt an idea from a lesson and improve on it. Change the sequence, use questions instead of directions, or do something else to convert it from a mere activity into a creative learning experience. Some of art lessons may be too product-centered (cookbookish) and can give children the wrong impression of how artists think and how creative thinking actually works.

A high school graphic design teacher website
www.durkinart.com  Judy Durkin's Teaching Website. Ms. Durkin is an experienced graphic designer in her eighth year as a teacher. She generously shares her teaching ideas and experience.

Teacher Support Force
This page has Pat Jones' ideas for integrating art and other subjects. An experienced classroom teacher, Jones shares a large variety of teaching methods that have been successful for her.

Design Education - added here in 2013
www.next.cc   This is a very impressive website with great questions, teaching ideas, art based careers, environmental sensitivity, and so on.

DESIGN-ED is a collaboration of PreK-12 teachers, schools, administrators, universities, designers, organizations, businesses, museums, institutions, individuals, and others supporting design education initiatives in K-12 schools. - added here in 2013

Lessons - looking globally
IDEO’s Ten Tips For Creating a 21st–Century Classroom Experience  Use an “investigative-learning” curriculum to inspire students to be creative seekers of knowledge.

New Zealand Art Teacher Resource   Find lessons, links and inspiration for creativity in the classroom.

Shinozaki Elementary VISUAL ARTS - See the work of school children in Japan. There is a great tradition of observational drawing and painting beginning in grade one in Japan. College students from Japan tell me that they spent three hours per week doing artwork when they were in grade 1 to 3. They also have assignments requiring imagination and working from memories of experience.

Ukita Elementary - This page from Japan shows observation drawing outings and sketches from Ukita Elementary, grades 1 to 6. In visiting college students from Japan, they tell me that they had about three hours per week for artwork during their first three years of elementary school. This is probably three times as much time as we allow for art learning in US schools. As you view the examples of school-child work, I try to imagine the attention span that has been fostered in the children who created the paintings. http://ukitasho.hp.infoseek.co.jp/

Ukita Sketch Festival 2003

Child Art Museum in Japan

Art About Peace and the Vietnam Memorial.  Mark & Judith Decker's teaching links.  Judith is a Bluffton College graduate.

Art teachers will find many great teaching ideas at the Incredible Art Department resources web site, Judith Decker, editor. 

Student work from many countries - Incredible Art Department student galleries

A Web Site for Art Faculty in Higher Education by Artist, Ruth Santee. It features art lessons, and professional sources for better art education. http://www.arteducationprofessionals.com

The Getty Center  This site has lots of art lessons, teaching ideas, famous artist images, and so on. 

Sara Wilson Green An Ohio, USA, art teacher shares art teaching ideas, lessons, and philosophy.

Bettie Lake's The Art Teacher Connection  Lots of art lessons and links.

Women Artists - how to find good exemplars to show in your class.  Reference sources for researching Women Artists, University of Minnesota, Duluth Library.  Women sculptors: from "A Pathfinder" © 1999   Charles P. Wiggins, a sculptor and librarian from Asheville, North Carolina. 

Learning to Draw
learn-to-draw.net  A visual literacy and creativity resource center. Rather then teaching student how to observe and draw things better, many drawing books and drawing teachers mistakenly teach drawing by showing students how things should look when they are drawn. On the The Shift page, Marc S. Lazard explains recent brain science and what has been found to be r-mode and l-mode ways that we learn.

How Creativity is Measured

Barbara Kerr and Camea Gagliardi, Arizona State University, "Measuring Creativity in Research and Practice." This is a scholarly and well documented review of the literature.
http://courses.ed.asu.edu/kerr/measuring_creativity.rtf -top of page

Becoming More Creative

John Cleese, well know humorist, explains how anybody can be more creative.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VShmtsLhkQg

Motivation

Dare to Care blog--- A YEAR OF GENIUS HOUR -- WHAT HAVE I LEARNED?-- a blog about motivation and learning by master teacher, Denis Krebs
http://mrsdkrebs.edublogs.org/2013/01/19/a-year-of-genius-hour-what-have-i-learned/

The Asssimilating Self: Motivation, Learning and Well-being in Self-Determination Theory
by Richard M. Ryan, Professor of Psychology and Education and Director of Clinical Training, University of Rochester.  This is a PowerPoint with many references to many studies related to intrinsic motivation and self-learning.  Ryan lists Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness as significant motivators.
Autonomy means that the learner gets to decide to learn. Ryan says choices are based on interests and values of the learner. Competence motivates when the learner is aware of becoming more capable as a direct result of the learning efforts. Relatedness increases motivation, according to Ryan, when the learner feels cared for, connected to, and has a sense of belonging with others. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2V8Oa94ui7BU2FXMXF3RUxhcTg/edit?usp=sharing

Teachers ask me how to motivate art students.  I respond by asking, "What inspires you to create art?"
Reflective Questions--Is My Classroom Motivating?  Excerpts taken from "A LINE ON LIFE Motivating Students to Learn"  By David A. Gershaw, Ph.D. Linked to INSPIRING TEACHERS site, May, 2009.
http://www.inspiringteachers.com/classroom_resources/tips/curriculum_and_instruction/reflective_questions.html

For PROJECT BASED LEARNING for the whole school, see EL (expeditionary learning).
http://elschools.org  This is not an art education site, but project-based learning is often used in studio art classes. 
This is a pdf with details. - added here in 2013
http://elschools.org/sites/default/files/Core%20Practice%20Final_EL_120811.pdf

Learning from Mistakes

Erasers are great tools, but I encourage students to look for ideas in every accident. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serendipity
Perfectionists miss out on many discoveries. Caring and perfectionism are not the same. Caring means that we do not seek mistakes, but we value them because of their potential discoveries for those who care look for them. What if we and our students learn to wait to erase mistakes until AFTER better options are formulated?

Questions, mistakes, and involvement of multiple senses
from THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF GAMES2TRAIN'S APPROACH
 by Michal Spectre and Marc Prensky These authors are writing about how to design computer learning games. Any classroom could use much of what is said here to enhance learning. 
http://www.games2train.com/site/html/theory.html#question Learning from your mistakes by Laura Davis and Janis Keyser  This article is for parents to help them model good learning behavior for young children.
http://www.parentsplace.com/expert/parenting/articles/0,10335,243319_113887,00.html

The Ten Top Mistakes in Education by Roger C. Schank, Ph.D., who directs the Institute of the Learning Sciences at Northwestern University.  This site has many additional links teachers will find informative and thought provoking.
http://www.engines4ed.org/hyperbook/nodes/NODE-283-pg.html
This link provides a Table of Contents for Schank's web site.
http://www.engines4ed.org/hyperbook/nodes/educator-outline.html#NODE-283 -top of page

Other Helpful University, Art School, & College Art Education Sites

Art Schools and Art Education in Australia - top of page

A Web Site for Art Faculty in Higher Education developed by Artist/Teacher, Ruth Santee. It features art lessons, and professional sources for better art education. http://www.arteducationprofessionals.com

Goshen College for a great Art Major - An art department with a number of useful career paths in a liberal arts college atmosphere where you get to know your professors who are also artists themselves. Goshen students come from many countries. At Goshen most of the US students including art majors have participated in a SST (study/service term) globally as part of their program since the 1960's. Learn to make the world better through art as service, peace, beauty, tolerance, truth and justice. See Goshen College superbowl commercials 2009. I retired from the Goshen College Art department. -- Marvin Bartel, Ed.D. Emeritus Professor of Art (author of this website). See my Biography.

Art Schools A directory with many helpful ideas about how to make good career choices and the benefits of continuing your formal art education. They list 14 art careers that you can study.  Surprisingly, becoming an art teacher is not on their list of art careers.

Art Schools Directory  A Directory of Art schools, searchable by Name, US State and Major with free Information Request Options

University of Illinois at Chicago art education home page.  Olivia Gude, director.  This site has many useful and thoughtfully presented resources for the art teacher.
http://www.uic.edu/classes/ad/ad382/index.html 

"Investigating the Culture of Curriculum"  by Olivia Gude.  Gude discusses art teaching  traditions that leave students disillusioned because we are doing things that are no longer valid in today's society.  "Reconsider your current curriculum. Try to see the portrait the curriculum paints of the world.  If this portrait is not as interesting, complex, and contradictory as the world in which you live--analyze, edit, contextualize, and invent projects and fresh curricular approaches."

Elementary Character Education developed by an elementary school counselor. This website has a unique purpose.... To put to rest the debilitating myth that parents cannot afford college or higher education for their K-12 children. No matter your income level - the money is there.

30 Ideas for Teaching Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
By Leah Davies, M.Ed.
This page is not directly related to teaching art, but I have included this link because art class often provides special opportunities and challenges for both ADHD students and art teachers. Art projects provide a different learning atmosphere. Those of us who suffer from attention disorders are in need of projects that are interesting and challenging to us rather than being forced to learn things that we do not care much about. Art class, because it allows a good deal of flexibility may be a good place to learn how to learn in a setting that is less prescribed by adults, but more relevant and interesting to the students themselves.
http://www.kellybear.com/TeacherArticles/TeacherTip49.html

This link has Visual Art opencourseware course projects at MIT (Massachuesettes Institute of Technology), School of Architecture. MIT allows anybody to access all the assignments and even lectures of many of their courses (no credit is given without being a student at MIT) at not cost. In some classes some MIT students take their course work on the the Internet, but go to class to take exams.
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Architecture/4-301Fall-2006/Projects/index.htm

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