Defining quality in visual art education for young children: Building on the position statement of the Early Childhood Art Educators. Issue 3 (3rd July 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: McClure, Marissa; Tarr, Patricia; Thompson, Christine Marmé; Eckhoff, Angela
• Is Part Of: Arts education policy review. Volume 118:Issue 3(2017)
• Page Start: 154
• Page End: 163
• Publication Date: 2017-07-03
• Subjects: Agency and early childhood -- art education and early childhood -- art materials and young children -- pedagogy of listening -- policy and early childhood visual art; Arts -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; 700.71
• DOI: 10.1080/10632913.2016.1245167
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1063-2913

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article reflects the collective voices of four early childhood visual arts educators, each of whom is a member of the Early Childhood Art Educators (ECAE) Issues Group of the National Arts Educators Association. The authors frame the article around the ECAE position statement, Art: Essential for Early Learning (2016), which focuses on the central role of art interactions among young children, educators, environments, and materials. The authors describe eight principles that underlie the statement from philosophical viewpoints, and provide practical examples of the principles in action. Amid a varied policy landscape for visual art in early childhood, the authors assert that children need organized, materials-rich environments that invite discovery, interaction, sensory and kinesthetic exploration, wonder, inquiry, and imagination in relationship with responsive educators who value young children's diverse abilities, interests, questions, ideas, and cultural experiences. The authors explore issues and possibilities resulting when educators work to bring visual arts fully and dynamically into the lives of young children in diverse education and care spaces. In closing, the authors explore the realities of visual arts policies in the early childhood education and art education fields while emphasizing the critical need for supportive pedagogical practices in all early childhood classrooms.