Giving Advice Through Art Education
The Departme
nt of Art Education’s very own Dr. Jeff Broome co-authored an article in the Art Education Journal. Dr. Jeff Broome is an Assistant Professor of Art Education at Florida State University. Enthused to be a contributor of such an elite publication, Dr. Jeff Broome stated, “Art Education is a top-tier journal with national distribution and is one of two journals sponsored by the National Art Education Association.” Art Education is known for covering a diverse range of topics dealing with subjects of professional interest to art educators. In March of 2015, the journal published one article in particular that sparked the excitement of educators globally.
The article entitled “Experiences in Multiage Art Education: Suggestions for Art Teachers Working With Split Class Combinations” allows three art educators to share their personal experiences and advice on working with multiage groups in the classroom. The article provides an intimate perspective of the challenges and successes instructors encounter and thoroughly explains the prime two motives and benefits of combining diverse grades in most teaching situations.
Jeff Broome
The personal experiences featured in the article are then evaluated more closely to identify the underlying themes and techniques common in each of the educators’ narratives. All three narratives discussed the successful use of instances where students worked together across grade levels, either through group work, collaborative projects, or the provision of peer mentoring or tutoring. Another commonality within the stories involved the use of thematic instruction as centerpieces of mulitage curricula.
With the practice of combining grades in classrooms on the rise, art instructors in similar scenarios and educators of other disciplines will find the suggestions and teaching strategies provided at the closure of the article extremely helpful and crucial to their success as educators.
Even though educators may be reluctant to engage in organizational strategies that break away from long established traditions, Dr. Jeff Broome, along with the authors Dr. Karen Heid, Ms. Jan Johnston, and Dr. Dan Serig, deduced that multi-age art education can be a successful and rewarding experience.