Art Education

Making art is messy, unpredictable, and divergent. Teaching art can empower students to embrace the messy, unpredictable, and divergent in life. The Art Education program at Western integrates art-making and art-looking to explore the powerful intersection of material and process exploration, visual and cultural literacy, and identity work and personal meaning-making in art. Art education theory comingles with practice as we teach and learn with one another, drawing on current, interrelated art education pedagogies so that each student develops their own, unique teaching philosophy in the process.

Programs in art education prepare students to become either an elementary classroom teacher or an art specialist who teaches art only. Elementary education students, who will become classroom teachers who teach all subjects, must major in one area at Western, and those who major in Art Education will complete the 52-credit Art Education, Elementary program in addition to the required Woodring Elementary Education program courses.

Students who want to teach art only at any grade level complete the 76-credit Art Education, P-12 program (keeping in mind that most P-12 majors eventually go on to teach art in middle and high schools) prior to applying to the Woodring Secondary Education 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 Art Education coordinator by the time a student completes 12 art credits. Transfer students with more than 18 credits of art should do this prior to completion of their second quarter at Western. Once developed, the course plan is placed on file in the art office. Students are encouraged to complete the majority of their Studio and Art History requirements prior to completing the Art Education courses.