The Essence of Art Education

It was exciting to see so many art teachers at the recent PAEA Conference in Harrisburg. I indeed wish each and every art teacher in the Commonwealth had the opportunity to take part in annual conferences. They are stimulating, invigorating, and exciting. The topics are timely and the sessions give information that can be used immediately on “Monday Morning.” This type of sharing of information helps each of us to get to the essence of art education.

The state board of education is currently considering some documents related to certification. These documents give school districts information about what certifications is able to teach which parts of the curriculum. The document specific to art education is well written. We could not have done it better ourselves. The document we have become concerned with is the Elementary Education certification. Buried deep within the text, as it has been for many years, is the line allowing elementary certified individuals to teach art, music, and physical education in self contained environments. In today’s climate, your leadership council and board of directors are concerned about such language.

OK, why be concerned? Why should it change since it has been there for decades? The essence of today’s art education is standards based. It is integrated into the whole curriculum to improve total student learning. Can an individual who has had one methods of art for elementary education course, or better yet no course in art education teach to today’s state and national standards? We think not. We have addressed this issue to PDE and encourage you to do the same. There is much merit to having certified art teachers in every elementary school in the Commonwealth. We know what these merits are. It is all of our jobs to educate and demonstrate to people who do not know why quality art education is essential what the essence of art education is.

I encourage you to continue to be active and proactive. Your Board of Directors is working for quality art education at its essence. They are doing an excellent job! Please take the time to read the State of the Association report located elsewhere on this web site. And more importantly, make a pledge to become an active part of what unfolds in PAEA over the next year. That is the essence of art education.

I look forward to greeting you at the 2004 conference in Lancaster.

It’s all about instruction and learning.

Tom Kelchner