Learning to teach, teaching to learn

The Art Education Curriculum Art Education at Appalachian State University enacts innovative approaches to art teacher preparation that uphold commitments to emergent and interdisciplinary curriculum, respect for children and teens, collaborative relationships, social justice, contemporary art practice, and the spirit of inquiry. Our four methods courses are thoughtfully designed to teach you how to listen, plan, instruct, and assess what really matters in the lives of children and teens today.

Art Education

Establish a Strong Foundation

ART 2222 Introduction to Art Education. Explore philosophies and histories of art education, contemporary issues, how to plan, instruct, and assess for diverse learners, classroom management strategies, teach in an area school, and ground yourself in the field of art education in this course.

Cultivate Respect for Children and Teens

ART 3333 Constructions of Childhood. Explore childhood and adolescence in local and global contexts, and recall your autobiographical knowledge about being and becoming in the world. Write and make art as processes of inquiry in this writing in the discipline course.

Diversify Curricular Possibilities

Art 3969 Differentiation and Inclusion in Art Education. Prepare to meet the needs of students with identified disabilities (K-12). This course explores the role of the art teacher in inclusive classrooms as well as in self-contained classrooms. Students observe, analyze and evaluate a variety of K-12 art experiences involving children with disabilities. The course teaches modification of art tools and the development of teaching strategies to allow all students to make art, and includes a practicum in area schools.

Explore the Art of Teaching

Art 4444 Art Education Seminar. Evoke the artful potential of creating learning environments in which effective art instruction takes place. This course emphasizes composing meaningful questions and enduring understandings that guide lesson provocations that focus on the process—not product—of learning. Students explore current teaching methods, materials, resources, and assessment processes appropriate to various educational settings, populations, and levels of art education. Taken the semester before student teaching, this course explores the format of edTPA (teacher performance evaluation) within a supportive community.

A handmade quilt held up outdoors, depicting a stylized landscape. The design features rolling hills, a river, and a textured sky, all created with layered, curved pieces of fabric in various patterns and colors. Blues, greens, purples, and yellows suggest natural elements like water, grass, trees, and sky, evoking a peaceful mountainous scene.

Emma Schneider
A vivid screenprint on tan paper of a stylized figure in profile, the body marbled in orange, blue, and red, split into segments that float apart amid pink and purple spheres.

What Flows Between

Hannah McKee
A close-up of a white wall filled with handwritten messages and drawings in blue ink. The phrase “LIVE A GREAT STORY” is prominently stenciled in bold blue letters near the center, surrounded by faint doodles and personal notes, creating an expressive and inspirational visual.
A student with long blonde and pink hair hand-sews a sock monkey, following a step-by-step photo guide on a laptop. A sock monkey book, green thread, and pink yarn sit on the table beside her.

Professional Education Classes

A series of four professional education courses taken through the Reich College of Education offers our majors a robust introduction to key issues in the field of education writ large, including best practices in assessment and meeting the needs of diverse learners. These aims are met through both lecture classes and field experiences.

Foundations and Art History

Our three Foundations courses lay the groundwork for advanced 2D and 3D studio courses. Students gain a broad knowledge of art history in two survey classes and more specialized knowledge with electives in subjects of their choosing.

Studio Art Electives

One of the unique points of our program is the BFA in Art Education degree, which allows for intensive studio art experiences and exploration. While we want to encourage you to take a wide range of studios, we also encourage you to declare a concentration in one studio area by taking three classes in one area, be it painting, ceramics, metals, fibers, drawing, sculpture, photography, or printmaking.

Senior Capstone Experience

The capstone experience in Art Education is student teaching – a 15 week experience, worth 12 credit hours. You will be paired with a cooperating teacher as your daily mentor, develop and teach lesson provocations in elementary, middle, or high schools, and submit documentation materials of your performance in these classrooms for licensure in K-12 Art Teaching.

Course Descriptions

For a complete list of courses that fulfill this degree’s requirements, see the Program of Study in the University Bulletin.

Our major allows us to focus on strengthening our artistic skills while also learning how to be an effective and engaging leader in the classroom. 

Abby Dent
Several children and an adult sit around a table drawing and writing in sketchbooks with markers, crayons, and paper spread across the surface.

Lucy Brock Drawing Sessions

Each week, Art Education students join three-year-olds at App State’s Lucy Brock Child Development Lab for an hour of shared drawing and discovery. As they sketch side by side, the students listen, record, and learn from what the children say and do—turning moments of creativity into meaningful research.