ABSTRACT
This chapter is an attempt to single out four main aesthetic approaches (the representationalist, the expressionist, the formalist/cognistivist and the contextualist/pragmatist) that have been connected to art education theories. For this purpose, the chapter examines the theoretical premises of these approaches, their origin, their different versions and the nuances of their concepts, as well as their contemporary reception and influence. It refers to the literature about contemporary questions concerning the meaning and usefulness of aesthetics and theories of art, as well as of their impact on art and arts education. It also discusses the ways they affect educational practices that appear to be connected to each of them and how they can serve the purposes of a meaningful design of arts education activities. The aesthetic foundations and the related models for arts education presented in this chapter are considered as having different goals and promoting different priorities.
