Art Education

The broad instructional concept of Art Education at Western is to integrate the components of art history, art criticism, and studio art courses, university courses, and Western's Gallery Exhibition Program and permanent collection. Students learn to interpret, analyze, and make intelligent judgments about art, and the skills and concepts of the studio. A grasp of the dynamic nature of a culture and the continuing extension of its visual language is a fundamental objective.

Programs in art education lead to becoming either an elementary classroom teacher or an art specialist who teaches art only. Elementary classroom teachers, who teach all subjects, must specialize in one area by completing the 50-credit program in addition to those courses specified in the elementary education section of this catalog. Students who want to teach art only at any grade level take the 71-credit program. Courses required for a state teaching endorsement must be completed with a grade of C (2.0) or better.

A formal course plan must be developed with the area coordinator by the time a student completes 12 art credits. Refer to the Art Education course plans for more detailed information. Transfer students with more than 18 credits of art should do this prior to completion of their second quarter at the University. Once developed, the course plan is placed on file in the art office. Students are strongly encouraged to complete the studio and Art History requirements prior to completing the art education series.