A Portrait of Environmental Integration in U.S. K–12 Art Education

• In Event: Childhood Contexts in Environmental Education

Abstract

In recent years, scholars have increasingly recognized the value of the arts for furthering the aims of environmental education. Likewise, scholars within the field of art education have noted the affinity between visual art and ecologically sensitive pedagogies. Despite a long-standing ecologically oriented thread in art education literature, the extent to which United States K-12 art educators have embraced these pedagogies is unclear. We conducted survey research to examine how K-12 art educators in the US engage in environmental integration, including the extent, forms, and importance of integration and preparedness for integration. Given K-12 art teachers’ interest in environmental art pedagogies and acknowledged dearth of knowledge, we argue environmental education capacity-building efforts might target, and even prioritize this field.

Authors

• Joy Gaulden Bertling, The University of Tennessee - Knoxville

• Tara Camille Moore, The University of Tennessee - Knoxville