ABSTRACT
Visual arts, music, drama, and dance teachers need to invite students to participate wholly as creators. Concrete opportunities for discovery and invention will nurture artistic thinking. ere is little room for exploring artistic thinking where rigid rules dictate the ways in which the arts should be represented. Artistic thinking comes from playing with possibilities, searching for relationships. e development of such thinking in situation permits possibilities to be included as engagement evolves. Without artful, playful engagement, it would seem that imaginative thought, requiring speculation and conjecturing about possibilities, might not be possible. us, artistic thinking demands student investment, and the visibility gained through ongoing sharing and critique holds tremendous potential for enlarging and informing all understandings. Teacher belief in the worthiness of artistic thinking translates into greater commitment to search for these considerations in one’s teaching practices. is chapter therefore asks visual arts, music, drama, and dance teachers to remind themselves of the artist within, awakening the artist within each of their students.
