ABSTRACT
This chapter explores in depth the role of art education in a high-stakes testing climate. It explains two apt schooling metaphors-the school-as-factory model and the school-as-studio model. The chapter examines John Dewey's theoretical lens of Art as Experience, advocating critical perception over easy recognition as the makings of an aesthetic experience. It discusses the perceived role of art education in the schools as expressed by principals, parents, teachers, and students. The chapter considers issues influencing principals, the ineffectiveness of parental concern for art, the witnessed evidence of learning in and through meaningful art experiences by teachers, and the welcoming of opportunities to share and think critically by young students. It deals with a call to remember schooling as a human endeavor requiring the cultivation of aesthetic experience to maximize human potential, as should be the goal of education. High-quality art education requires that students and teachers safeguard and utilize their curiosity.
