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." 

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://teachingforartisticbehavior.org/?s=TAB+teaching+for+artistic+behavior

The Case for Choice-Based Methods to Foster Creativity in Education
Hathaway, N. E. and Jaquith, D. B."WHERE'S THE REVOLUTION? Bringing creative thinking and personalization into all classrooms would be a true revolution in learning." V95 N6 kappanmagazine.org 25  Thinkstock/iStock
"American education today wants what it can’t quite grasp — creativity in teaching and learning. Creativity isn’t really elusive — we can sense it when we experience it — but an infusion of creativity in schools requires fundamental changes in attitude and approach. . . "
http://pdkintl.org/noindex/k_v95/25pdk_95_6.pdf

Children Learning instead of Teachers Instructing
"Sometimes students can be their own best teacher if they just have someone around to listen to the ideas they are coming up with. Of course, schools tend to allow very little time for such student reflection and even less time for teachers to just listen. Students rarely try out their thoughts on teachers because they know there is no possibility that the teacher would have the required time, the patience, and ability to reserve judgment. But when students are allowed to devise and pursue activities in which they are interested, they naturally generate ideas, hypotheses, and questions. They are ready to learn from their own ideas if we can find a way to help."
The above is a direct copy from the following URL (acquired on 2/5/2014).
http://www.engines4ed.org/hyperbook/nodes/NODE-163-pg.html
The above sample by authors, Roger Shank, Chip Cleary, and others, is from an online book that offers a wealth of ideas to help teachers get ideas to facilitate self-instruction as a habit of learning. At a time when schools have become divorced from natural learning, this the authors offer many classroom examples that help us replace teaching by motivating learning.

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.

Bartel, M. "The Art of Motivation and Critique in Self-Directed Learning." chapter 13 in a book edited by: Hathaway, N. E. and Jaquith, D. B., editors. The Learner-Directed Classroom: Developing Creative Thinking Skills through Art,  (Teachers College Press, 2012). This book includes a chapter on Motivation and Critique

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. I have an assignment for college students studying to become art teachers that asks them to choose and existing art lesson and make it into a better art lesson. They can change the sequence (examples: show the example at the end and use relevant open questions at the beginning or use student choice for defined criteria instead of showing examples), 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 step-by-step product-centered (cookbookish). Prescribed lessons based on expert example may prepare production workers, but are not apt to prepare imaginative and creative thinking.

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
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.

Lessons - looking globally

Ukita Sketch Festival 2003

Child Art Museum in Japan

How Creativity is Measured

See: 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 that was posted probably posted by its authors. I discovered it a few years back, it is no longer online unless you go to the Wayback Machine and get the 2004 page that is saved on the Wayback Machine (Internet Archive).
http://archive.org/web/web.php

In the Wayback Machine, copy and past this URL in their http:// box. Click BROWSE HISTORY
http://courses.ed.asu.edu/kerr/measuring_creativity.rtf

It will show the dates that this paper was being published. To download the paper, click on one of the pale blue dates that the WayBack Machine saved and archived the URL. Obviously, the paper must not be posted or published without permssion of the authors.

Becoming More Creative

John Cleese, well known humorist, talks about his own creativity and teaches people to be more creative. Links to his videos keep changing, so it may work to do your own search "john cleese creativity" for some unique and possibly humous insights.

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 (a K-8 certified teacher)
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

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.
http://elschools.org/sites/default/files/Core%20Practice%20Final_EL_120811.pdf

Learning from Mistakes

Erasers are great tools, but I encourage students to first look for ideas and discoveries in their accidents.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serendipity
Perfectionists miss out on many discoveries. Caring and perfectionism are not the same. Caring means that we may not seek mistakes, but we value mistakes and accidentys because they motivate us to look for potential discoveries. What if we and our students learn to draw by learning to wait to erase mistakes until AFTER other options are formulated? What is learned by comparing our intuitive mistakes until we rationally find a reiliable discovery (solution). Good experimentation and a repeat of the experiment often points out the fallicy of my idea or an accident, but it can also help discover a truth that I would have never thought of without the accident or mistake. If I repeat an accident and get a different result, it may mean that I made a false discovery. Then what? What next?

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

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

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. I am biased here. I retired from the Goshen College Art department. Most of the current faculty were once in my classes and went on to earn graduate degrees -- Marvin Bartel, Ed.D. Emeritus Professor of Art (author of this website). See my Biography.

Art Schools My own recommendation is to avoid spending much for online art courses unless you really cannot find a local program where you can get face-to-face instruction. I am sorry to say that becoming an art teacher is not really covered on this site. It is 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. 

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

How to get your page linked from this page

Please do not send a request to exchange links unless you have already linked to at least one of my pages. You may link to any of my pages that seems to relate directly to the topic of your page. Once your link to my page works, send me a note showing me the URL to the page that has a link to my page. If your link works, I will review your site for appropriateness and consider making a link from this page to your page. CONTACT ME

All rights reserved. You are invited to link to this page.  © Marvin Bartel.   Last updated at date shown at top of page.

BACK HOME to Art & Learning to Think & Feel by Marvin Bartel  ART EDUCATION HOME

Learning to Draw

I wrote this small book for children, but those of any age that wish they could learn to draw better can get some ideas from it. You can choose the subjects you want to practice drawing. You also choose which ways you want to practice from eight different approaches. The book offers ways to practice to make it easier to see better and draw better. At no point in the book do I ask you to copy from my example or from pictures of any kind. Instead you are provided with proven ways to learn to see the real world better while developing your own drawing style and expressiveness. Read more . . . .