Art Education

Philosophy

A comprehensive approach to art education in Fulton County Schools integrates four areas of study: art history, art criticism, aesthetics and art production. Art education, as a subject in our elementary, middle and high schools, is based on the belief that looking at, talking about and studying art is as important as making art.

Goals

• Art education is embedded within contexts and culture across and time. We not only incorporate issues and concerns of cultural diversity, we celebrate, and support them with hundreds of multicultural resources.
• An interdisciplinary approach to learning benefits all subjects. Art teachers are encouraged to work with interdisciplinary subject area teachers as well as other exploratory teachers to integrate curriculum content into art and art content into curriculum.
• In keeping with a system-wide focus on reading, both reading and writing across the curriculum are essential components of art education from elementary through high school.
• As hardware and software become increasingly accessible in middle school art labs, art teachers are guiding students to use technology in art education as a “medium” for art production, as well as for research and reporting.

Program Description

Locally adopted textbooks and text resources, including software, support the middle school art education curriculum. Fine art reproductions, slides, videos, books, art games and other resources are readily available. The curriculum is fully consistent with the Georgia Performance Standards for Arts by the Georgia Department of Education.

As scheduling configurations of middle schools vary, so do art offerings: some middle schools have one art teacher, some two; some include art teachers in interdisciplinary teams and some schools maintain a schedule of nine week connections courses developing specialized courses such as Photography, World Art and Art and Technology.

Course Description

Curriculum and instruction for middle school art education courses are tailored to meet the variety of experience levels within art classes at grades 6, 7 and 8. Art textbooks designated as primary texts by grade level are often used interchangeably at all three grade levels, based on needs of individual classes.

Visual Arts 6

Emphasis is on art to communicate personal meaning and developing skills in two dimensional and three-dimensional techniques such as: drawing, design, painting, and three-dimensional art. Students work to create art and study artworks, with information and activities integrated from art production, art criticism, art history and aesthetics.

Visual Arts 7

Emphasis is on communication through visual art. Students work in a variety of materials and approaches to create art and study artworks. Information and activities are integrated within this emphasis from art production, art criticism, art history and aesthetics.

Visual Arts 8

Emphasis is on art production and developing skills in drawing, painting and sculpture or ceramics. Information and activities are integrated from art history and aesthetics, as well.