Susan & Joshua - April 26, 2008

 

The National Standards for Art Education

 “The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think - rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves.”
 ~Bill Beattie

The National Standards for Art Education provide an integral part for the classroom environment and planning that go into creating a successful art program. Art programs across the United States are all heavily diversified, which is a wonderful part of art education. This diversity allows each student to have a different art experience and also allows the students to add their personal touch to each project that is introduced. However, the Standards ensure that the quality of each art program is equal to that of all others in the country, no matter what the curriculum or the project. The National Standards for Art Education have six content standards that need to be met:

· Content Standard 1: Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes

· Content Standard 2: Using Knowledge of Structures and Functions

· Content Standard 3: Choosing and Evaluating a Range of Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas

· Content Standard 4: Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures

· Content Standard 5: Reflecting Upon and Assessing the Characteristics and Merits of Their Work and the Work of Others

· Content Standard 6: Making Connections Between Visual Arts and Other Disciplines
(The National Standards for Arts Education 33)

Each content standard refers to an essential piece of knowledge that each student should be able to comprehend throughout their artistic learning experience. The content standards also have the added element of containing multiple achievement standards that are grade-specific. These achievement standards are the knowledge that a student needs to acquire by the end of grades 4, 8, and 12. All of the achievement standards for each content standard are carried throughout all of the years of art education, becoming more inclined toward higher level thinking as the student progresses through the art curriculum.

Standards help to provide basic guidelines for the study of the arts. They help educators to develop and implement lesson plans and activities because art education should meet some of the standards at all times, whether it is a ceramic lesson or a trip outside to look at environmental colors. “They help ensure that the study of the arts is disciplined and well focused, and that arts instruction has a point of reference for assessing its results” (The National Standards for Arts Education 9).  While art education is often seen as a free-spirited subject, the Standards help to make sure that the students are gaining something from their education in the art classroom.