Part Two: The Changing Landscape of Art Education

President Obama recently declared, “We have an obligation and a responsibility to be investing in our students and our schools. We must make sure that people who have the grades, the desire and the will, but not the money, can still get the best education possible.”

I’m sure we all agree that teaching and learning about art is part of getting the “best education” possible. The Center on Education Policy notes, “The more a school fell behind, by NCLB standards, the more time and money was devoted to those tested subjects, with less going to the arts. The National Education Association has reported that the cuts fall hardest on schools with high numbers of minority children.” How will art education be available to low performing, high minority, and poor school districts? I believe that part of the answer is in the theory of ‘Disruptive Innovation.’

In the future, more students will be learning art online than they will learn by traditional face-to-face methods. There are four factors that will accelerate this substitution. First, computer-based learning will continue to improve. In fact by 2012, computer-based learning will hold half of the market share. Secondly, the ability for students, teachers, and parents to choose individualized learning pathways will assist in moving toward a student-centered education. Next, teacher shortages in certain subject areas will attribute to school districts needing online course offerings. Finally, teachers will be able to oversee more students online driving costs down. Is art education ready for this shift to the online environment? I believe we are!

Albert Einstein once said, “The significant problems we have cannot be solved with the same level of thinking we were using when we created them.” What is the new way of thinking? I believe we should look at the work of Daniel Pink when searching for the direction of art education. In his book, “A Whole New Mind,” Pink (a great read for every art educator) states that, “A master of fine arts, an MFA, is now one of the hottest credentials in a world where even General Motors is in the art business.” The Conceptual Age is approaching fast. In order to develop the mind for this age, we need to master “six high-concept, high-touch senses.” Those are: Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play, and Meaning. “Anyone can master the six Conceptual Age senses. But those who master them first will have a huge advantage.” I believe that art education is already at an advantage since by nature, we already teach these senses. So what is the big challenge?

Becoming part of the ‘Disruptive Innovation’ by changing how we teach and making sure that things like the five Conceptual Age senses are a part of what we teach will help make sure that art education prevails. Are we as a field opposed to teaching and learning online? What components, if any, of art education do we feel will be lost in an online format? Now is the time to start brainstorming these thoughts.

In my experiences teaching middle school art online for Florida Virtual School, I found that I was actually reaching students who otherwise did not have access to art. In my four years teaching online, 1200 kids had art experiences that they would not have had otherwise. These students learned about the elements and principles of design and demonstrated their understanding through a variety of studio experiences. They had opportunities to relate their experiences with their peers through an online discussion board. They also visited a multitude of famous online galleries, which is an experience that might not otherwise be available to traditional school students. In fact, I found that teaching art online did not limit what I could teach or what my students could do. Instead, we had the opportunity to do even more. We exercised Einstein’s new way of thinking and Pink’s advancement into the Conceptual Age.

I am one art teacher, with one method of teaching. What could and will happen if more and more art educators get on board to designing a new way to teach art? I believe that the disruption will lead to reaching and teaching art to many more students in a new way. In the final piece of this blog series, I will share ways that art educators can get prepared for the future of teaching art.