Design Interest Group (DIG) Column: Fall 2023

This past year, two DIG members received NAEF grants. Two newsletter columns will explain both research studies. Hopefully, these will be helpful to you in developing design-related curriculum.

The first study, titled Art and Design Educators: Change Agents in Re-designing Education, was conducted by Robin Vande Zande. The goal for the research was to identify areas of expertise where art and design educators could take a central role in the predicted changes in education in the next decade.

The study addressed these questions:

1. What are the changes that are predicted for education in the next decade? The investigation was a literature review of sources that study education and have a vision for the future.

2. What are the connections of those predictions to art education philosophy, standards, practices, and values? The National Visual Arts Standards and NAEA Position Statements provided a basis for this.

3. What guidelines may be used for visual arts educators to take a central role in the major shift in education? A conceptual framework was created, making connections between the two theoretical lists and recommendations for how to position ourselves in the future.

The Framework articulates the predicted changes, the sources used, and areas where art and design educators could take the lead. If you are interested in a full copy, please contact Robin, rvandeza@kent.edu.

A brief summary of the findings is displayed in this chart. Art and design educators could expand curricula in these areas in order to develop an expertise to lead the changes.

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References

Association of Colleges & Research Libraries. (2023, April 5). A definition of visual literacy. In University of Birmingham Library Services, Visual literacy (sec. 3). https://libguides.bham.ac.uk/asc/visualliteracy

Google for Education. (2022). Preparing for a new future: Future of Education. https://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/foe_part1.pdf

Jones, W., Pant, Y., & Nikolaides, K. (2022, March 18). Delivering the future of K-12 education. CDW. https://www.cdw.com/content/cdw/en/articles/digitalworkspace/delivering-the-future-of-k-12-education.html

OECD. (2018). The future of education and skills: Education 2030. https://www.oecd.org/education/2030/E2030%20Position%20Paper%20(05.04.2018).pdf

Skates, A. L. (2023, February 8). Five predictions for the future of learning in the age of AI. EverydayAI. https://a16z.com/2023/02/08/the-future-of-learning-education-knowledge-in-the-age-of-ai

Column by:

Kristen LaJeunesse Roach, DIG Co-Chair
High School Art + Design Educator, Lake Zurich, IL. Email: kristen.lajeunesse@lz95.org

Robin Vande Zande, Dig Co-Chair
Professor and Coordinator of Art and Design Education, Kent State University. Email: rvandeza@kent.edu