Discourse and Disjuncture between the Arts and Higher Education

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-x

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Jessica Hoffmann Davis

   Pages 1-25

3. Challenges

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 27-27

      PDF

   2. Negotiating a Path to the Arts at Harvard: Student Stories of Academic Decision Making

      • Tiffanie Ting

      Pages 29-52

   3. Disciplinary Discord: The Implications of Teacher Training for K–12 Music Education

      • Rhoda Bernard

      Pages 53-73

   4. The Artist-Teacher: Models of Experiential Learning

      • G. James Daichendt

      Pages 75-93

   5. Nurturing the Intersections of Arts and Non-arts Disciplines: Lessons from Art Education

      • Marit Dewhurst

      Pages 95-113

4. Courses

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 115-115

      PDF

   2. Approaching Interdisciplinarity in a School of Art and Design

      • Adriana Katzew, Aimée Archambault

      Pages 117-141

   3. Claiming Creative Space: Bridging the Divide between Art Practice and Art Education

      • Courtney Lee Weida

      Pages 143-165

   4. Reflecting on the Arts in Urban Schools

      • Rubén A. Gaztambide-Fernández, Chandni Desai, Traci L. Scheepstra

      Pages 167-191

5. A Program Then and Now

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 193-193

      PDF

   2. Persuasion and Structure: Reform as Recognition from Within

      • Jessica Hoffmann Davis

      Pages 195-223

   3. Toward a Culture of Solidarity: Reshaping the Arts Sector in Education

      • Steve Seidel

      Pages 225-249

6. Back Matter

   Pages 251-263

   PDF

This accessible and compelling collection of faculty reflections examines the tensions between the arts and academics and offers interdisciplinary alternatives for higher education. With an eye to teacher training, these artist scholars share insights, models, and personal experience that will engage and inspire educators in a range of post-secondary settings. The authors represent a variety of art forms, perspectives, and purposes for arts inclusive learning ranging from studio work to classroom teaching to urban settings in which the subject is equity and social justice. From the struggles of an arts concentrator at an Ivy League college to the challenge of reconciling the dual identities as artists and arts educators, the issues at hand are candid and compelling. The examples of discourse ranging from the broad stage of arts advocacy to an individual course or program give testimony to the power and promise of the arts in higher education.

• interdisciplinary studies
• Harvard Graduate School of Education
• Arts in Education Program
• educational practice
• mainstream curriculum
• Interdisciplinary Portfolio
• disciplinary intersections
• academic legitimacy
• social relevance
• economic imperative
• teacher training
• active participation
• personal experience
• practical application
• social justice
• arts
• creativity
• education
• fine arts
• higher education
• innovation
• learning

“Davis’ skilful compilation of essays should be required reading for arts education graduate students who will recognize the factors of marginalization that devalue the arts in the Academy and K-12 and will find in the programmatic and curricular innovations promising visions of change for recalibrating arts' role in the educational landscape.” (Paul Sproll, Head of Rhode Island School of Design’s Department of Teaching and Learning in Art and Design, USA)

“If you care about individual creativity and the nation's capacity for innovation, you must read Discourse and Disjunction Between the Arts and Higher Education

. These intellectually and emotionally stimulating essays convincingly make the case for arts engagement for all students and demonstrate the crucial role of informed teaching in the midst of cultural change. Jessica Hoffmann Davis contributes decades of experience in education in the arts in a volume that teaches the reader through all the authors' effective examples and lessons learned. This is a worthwhile source-book of both sound theory and promising practices for teachers, education leaders, and parents.” (Ellen McCulloch-Lovell, Former President, Marlboro College (2004-2015), USA)

• Holderness, USA

  Jessica Hoffmann Davis

Jessica Hoffmann Davis, EdD, was the founding director of the Arts in Education Program at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, USA, and held the university’s first chair in arts in education. Recent books include: Why Our High Schools Need the Arts (2012), Ordinary Gifted Children (2010), and Why Our Schools Need the Arts, (2008).

Policies and ethics