Roots of art education practice - Review

Arts & Activities, Nov, 2001 by Ivan E. Johnson, Jerome J. Hausman

[Book] ROOTS OF ART EDUCATION PRACTICE (2001; $17.95), by M.A. Stankiewicz. Davis Publications, Inc., 50 Portland Street, Worcester, MA 01608.

In many recent years, there has been increasing attention paid to the history of art education. Educators like Fred Logan, Foster Wygant and Arthur Eflaud have written about the changing ideas and practices that have brought us to the present. Mary Ann Stankiewicz's book Roots of Art Education Practice is a more recent addition to this literature. Her book focuses on the turn of the 20th century. As she puts it, "that era, like the present, was characterized by educational reform, criticism of schools, and pressure from special-interest groups who expected public education to attend to their needs and support their beliefs." Her goal "is not to suggest that art teachers in the 21st century adopt 19th-century practices or goals, but to encourage critical reflection or current beliefs and habits, raising questions about what we do as art educators and why."

Stankiewicz's account begins with the systematic initiation of drawing skills in American schools. She cites the influences of John Gadsby Chapman, Mary Ann Dwight, Walter Smith, Louis Prang and others. Just think, in 1880, a Prang art textbook included the statement, "drawing is the language of form: Art Education is the development of this language, and consists of the appreciation of it in industry and general culture."

Roots of Art Education Practice includes interesting accounts of the influence of Modernism and Progressive Social Reform. We can develop useful insights into the ideas of some of our more recent Art Education leaders: Florence Cane, Victor D'Amico, Viktor Lowenfeld and Manuel Barlean.

Art teachers, curriculum planners and school administrators would do well to make use of this book. It gives a clear sense of the people and ideas that have contributed to our present. It will help in the creative construction of concepts and practices that will deal with the present and future. For information about this publication, circle No. 397 on the Reader Service Card.