National Art Education Association

Learning in and through ArtAuthor(s): Mary Ann StankiewiczSource: Art Education, Vol. 51, No. 1, Learning in and through Art (Jan., 1998), pp. 4-5Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3216181 .

Accessed: 15/06/2014 15:26

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

National Art Education Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to ArtEducation.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.54 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 15:26:19 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

~U~'UEE.U:Ua a

Learning in and

ART EDUCATION / JANUARY 1998

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.54 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 15:26:19 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

through Art lthough you are reading this editorial at the beginning of a new calendar year, I am writing in late

August, just over a week after returning from 6 weeks away from home. The first 3 weeks were

spent in England and Scotland, combining a family vacation with participation in the International

Society for Education through Art (InSEA) European Regional Conference in Glasgow. The next 3

weeks were spent on my own in archives and libraries across Massachusetts, typing notes into a laptop computer as part of continuing research on 19th-century art teaching and learning.

Any of you who have traveled with preteen children will appreciate the fact that the second 3 weeks were more

serene than the first. Reading old letters, books, and school committee reports for clues on why visual art was

regarded as valuable and what people learned about art sometimes seemed much easier than explaining to my

daughters why their father and I wanted them to visit the National Gallery, the British Museum, the Victoria and

Albert Museum, and medieval cathedrals when they wanted to watch British television or find an American-made

movie.

It isn't that we are elitists, looking down on popular culture-we all enjoyed musical theatre performances in

London, Trafalgar Square, and the Museum of the Moving Image. Rather, my husband and I are convinced that

making and looking at works of art of all sorts, from a variety of times and places, enhances and enriches the qual-

ity of human existence. I tried explaining these beliefs to my daughters one especially frustrating Saturday when

neither one wanted to go to Westminster Abbey. I'm not sure that my words were filed with all the other "Mom's

lectures" in their memories, but we did eventually go to the Abbey and enjoyed the experience.

Any art educator who has ever tried to explain how the study of art enhances and enriches human life has

probably found herself quoting Elliot Eisner. In this issue, he examines whether art education should be advocat-

ed as a means to improve learning in other subjects. This paper is an earlier version of the address Professor

Eisner gave in Glasgow as the recipient of the Sir Herbert Read Award, InSEA's highest honor, in recognition of

his lifetime contributions to art education.

Just as the two Letters to the Editor offer perspectives on issues raised in the May 1997 journal, the other arti-

cles contribute to dialogue on learning in and through art. This is not a new discussion; the 19th-century docu-

ments I studied last summer used both arts-based and instrumental outcomes for art education. We invite

responses to Professor Eisner's article and further dialogue on these issues inArt Education.

Mary Ann Stankiewicz

Editor

JANUARY 1998 / ART EDUCATION

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.54 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 15:26:19 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions