LEADERSHIPBY KERRY FREEDMAN in Art Education:

Taking Action in Schools and Communities

Fortunately, the hard work of advocacy paid off in that district.The arts were not eliminated from the schools because teachers,parents, students, and other stakeholders took the responsibility tomake their educational priorities known. However, when theteachers saw the high interest in art that existed in the community,they realized that this threat to art education might have beenprevented through strong leadership before the crisis.

One of the traditional privileges for teachers in the United Stateshas been control over the curriculum. Unlike most countries in theworld, the United States does not have a national curriculum perse, enabling teachers to make curriculum decisions that mostbenefit local students. However, the Elementary and SecondaryAct, also known as the No Child Left Behind Act, has acted as anational curriculum policy by enabling school administrators toconceive of a curriculum that privileges reading and math, andneglects arts programming. Research has demonstrated that artteachers are being pushed into teaching reading and math skills intheir classes (Chapman, 2005; Sabol, 2010) and for several years,my graduate students have reported specific administrativedirectives that are contrary to good art teaching, such as usingmultiple-choice tests in their classes to help students do better onstandardized tests. High schools that do not continually improvetheir students' reading and math test scores run the risk of losingwhole art departments. And in junior high and middle schools,many students are allowed to take only one quarter or less of art.

In contrast to these repercussions of policy, a 2005 Harris pollreported that 93% of Americans consider the arts a vital part of awell-rounded education. The report also revealed that "86% ofAmericans agree that an arts education encourages and assists inthe improvement of a child's attitudes toward school; 83% ofAmericans believe that arts education helps teach children tocommunicate effectively with adults and peers; and 79% ofAmericans agree that incorporating arts into education is the firststep in adding back what's missing in public education today"(Americans for the Arts, 2005).

It is time to reclaim the curriculum. To do this, we need creativeleadership by teachers, professors, and community educators whoare willing to take action against policies and managerial decisionsthat diminish students' opportunities for learning through art(Freedman, 2007). For over a generation, scholars in educationhave been pointing to the disempowerment of teachers in thewake of public policy makers, school administrators, and otherstakeholders' efforts to countermand the expertise of teachers andundermine the importance of teachers' knowledge about theirstudents (Giroux, 1988). Now, art educators need to draw on ourexpertise to ensure that we are included in educational decision-making in schools and out.

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Shortly before writing this article, I was asked to help the art teachers of a small

school district organize support when their art programs were in jeopardy.

The superintendent had threatened to eliminate arts education in the district and

replace arts teachers with reading specialists and other personnel who would, it

was assumed, facilitate an increase in students' standardized test scores. Advocacy by art

teachers in the town resulted in hundreds of people attending a district School Board

meeting where the arts programs were discussed. When the superintendent was asked at

that meeting why he planned on doing away with art, he replied simply, "Because I can."

Sadly, the superintendent was within his rights; his state does not require art education.

The most important first step of art education leadership is topossess a clear vision of the future. That vision should be related tothe leading edge of the field, reflect best practices, and be written ina curriculum rationale.

An effective contemporary leadership vision for art educationneeds several baseline characteristics. It must characterizeknowledge of the visual arts as essential to human life. It must takeinto account the cultural and personal impact of the range ofpopular and fine art. It must connect the visual arts to a variety ofsocietal aims as well as educational goals. It must renew anemphasis on creative thinking and behaviors in the face ofincreased standardization. And, it must guarantee learning, usingappropriate student assessment as proof of achievement. Based onthese criteria, the following are critical components of successfulleadership.

Understanding the Difference Between Advocacyand Leadership

The breadth of art education-in school, communities,museums, and so on-is continually threatened by forces requiringthat art educators advocate to maintain the opportunities forstudents that we currently have in place. Such advocacy is impor-tant, but it is just one part of leadership. Advocacy focuses onsupporting and maintaining art education programs. But, leader-ship enables change, improvement, and the cultivation of newideas. For example, as noted, leadership toward an art graduationrequirement in every state would go a long way toward helping tocircumvent the threat of program elimination. Although moststates have an art graduation requirement, art is not required bysome, or is bundled with foreign language or other unrelated schoolsubjects.

Even more important, art education can be reinvented throughleadership in ways that can help to secure its future. In many places,and by well-intentioned teachers, art is still being taught the way ithas been taught for decades. Creative leadership provides a visionfor the future that, for example, takes into account the increasingattention of students to sociocultural conditions, sustainabledesign, visual technologies, and popular visual culture, which canattract students to elective programs. Leadership can encourageschool and community program transformation, promoting growthin the field and new learning opportunities for students.

Leadership may take a charismaticleader or leaders to initiatechange, but it also requires adistribution of power for lastingchange to occur.

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Leading as a Form of Social ActionArt was one of the first school subjects, and it is the capacity of

art educators to reinvent the school subject in response to changingsocial conditions that has kept art in public schools for over 150years. The use of visual arts for social control instituted throughadvanced levels of industrial capitalism and mass media distribu-tion has been viewed as a negative social effect of contemporaryvisual culture (e.g. Baudrillard, 1983; Harvey, 1990). And yet, oneof the values of art is found in its variety as visual culture, whichcelebrates sensuality and intensifies feeling, making it a profoundlypersonal and social experience (Lyotard, 1984).

To teach from a social perspective is to convey the convictionthat the visual arts are vital to all social groups. Art education canlead students from personal expression to cultural engagementthrough the capacity of art to act as a social mediator (Freedman,2003). Because art education has such social foundations, it canengage people in the participative and communicative processesnecessary in a democracy (Freedman, 2000). In this context,curriculum leadership is a social responsibility and a form of socialaction.

For example, many of the art teachers in our graduate programat Northern Illinois University have functioned as activists in theprocess of leading change in their schools and communities. Theyhave developed visions for change, gained support from stake-holders, written grants, conducted research, created engagingcurriculum, and improved their assessment of learning. In theprocess, they have challenged the status quo through a range ofnovel program changes, from the use of newer media to culturaljamming, thereby helping to protect their programs by keepingthem up-to-date.

Forming and Working in GroupsLeadership requires a shared vision for change. Communicating

with teachers, administrators, parents, and community leaders canhelp to promote essential alliances. The conscious development ofdistributed leadership depends on the foundation of a sharedvision in which different members of a group share responsibilitiesfor leadership (Elmore, 2000). This means that leadership in arteducation requires the participation of many people collaboratingwithin, and negotiating across, social groups (Irwin, 1995; Thurber& Zimmerman, 2002). Leadership may take a charismatic leader orleaders to initiate change, but it also requires a distribution ofpower for lasting change to occur.

When working in leadership groups, participants might: (1)develop charges that are the main goals for the group, (2) writesome guiding principles based on common interests amongmembers of the group, (3) allocate jobs for each member based onthe charge and the guiding principles, (4) ensure that plans areenacted and evaluated, and (5) organize reporting of groupaccomplishments. Distributed leadership can emerge and besustained through the use of electronic social networks tocommunicate with friends of art programs about leadershipprojects.

Responding to Policy MandatesBecoming informed about policies that influence art education

can aid educational practice and work to support the field as awhole. The interest of state and national policy makers is often tocontrol the work of teachers. However, policies are alwaysinterpreted and, through their interpretation, can lead to construc-tive responses that support the field and benefit students. However,this does not require agreement with those who interpret policy tomean that the purpose of art education is to support learning inother school subjects. Even when policy statements are reasonable,inappropriate directives can occur by the time that policy docu-ments are interpreted and implemented, so it is helpful to read theoriginal policy document or a good summary whenever possible.

Many service roles actually provide opportunities for leadership.For example, people who serve as officers in professional organiza-tions are in excellent positions to initiate change. Taylor (2002)discusses a service project based on community leadership inwhich preservice art teachers cooperated with communitymembers in participatory citizenship by helping under-servedpopulations learn about art and other school subjects. Working insuch community groups is a part of leading art education to meetbroad-based, educational goals.

Student service-learning that supports art education can be seenas a way of helping students to understand the communal aspectsof art and the necessity of art education. Through service projects,students can take on public roles that illustrate the many benefits ofart education by, for example, organizing art experiences that helptheir community or protect the environment.

Even administrators who support the arts tend to have a limited acquaintancewith the amount and types of learning that students accrue through theirexperiences with visual culture and the power of art as an educational foundation.

42 ART EDUCATION / March 2011

Maintaining a Critical AttitudeLeadership is often needed when an ability to analyze and

critique programs or institutions for curricular or instructionalchange. Art education leadership demands a critical attitude thatreveals a healthy skepticism of status-quo practices and over-simplified solutions to complex problems. This is particularlyimportant during the first of the three phases of leadershipdescribed by Tony Wagner, Robert Kegan, and their colleagues(2006) in the Change Leadership Group at Harvard University:preparing, envisioning, and enacting. However, critique is requiredthroughout the change process to ensure that shifts in direction canbe taken when necessary in response to developing conditions.

Uncovering and challenging taken-for-granted assumptions is ofcrucial importance for those who lead change. This sometimesrequires turning assumptions upside down to find their sources.For example, consider the assumption that art is not basic toeducation. This assumption is based, in part, on the idea that thevisual arts are not essential to contemporary economies. However,the assumption is false. In fact, art is an increasingly importantfoundation of 21st-century economies, particularly as a result ofthe expansion of creative industries. Educational leadership shouldhelp to refute such misconceptions that diminish the basic qualityof arts in human learning.

Because we do not have a tradition of national curriculum in theUS, teacher education has been particularly important in repre-senting the professional interests and directions of all schoolsubjects. Teacher education should help to instill and support acritical attitude in professional educators. Teachers can bestrespond to policy expectations if prepared with a critical perspec-tive that leads to constructive action.

Keeping Hopes and Dreams AliveA constructive attitude is also vital for effective leadership.

Leaders must balance their critical perspective with a convictionthat things can change for the better and the belief that they canmake change occur. Curriculum is a representation of teachers' andother curriculum designers' hopes and dreams for students(Freedman, 2003). A positive attitude can be maintained byreminding yourself of those hopes and dreams.

Through a meta-analysis of 69 studies involving 2,802 schools,1.4 million students, and 14,000 teachers, Marzano, Waters, andMcNulty (2005) demonstrated that student success, even onstandardized tests, has a great deal to do with the effectiveness ofschool leadership. These researchers wrote for an audience ofschool principals, but the message is the same for teachers,community educators, and higher educators: good leadership leadsto good programming.

Staying in Touch with the FieldStaying in touch with the field requires a good working knowl-

edge of the most advanced thinking about art education. Considerforward-looking art education as being similar to other cutting-edge professionalism. People would certainly prefer a doctor who iswell-versed in the latest professional medical practice to one whoseknowledge of medicine is fixed in the past. The same is true ineducation; children should have the opportunity to attend artclasses based on contemporary ideas and practices.

Art curriculum leadership in a school or district requiresinvestigations into recent curriculum theory and practice such asreviewing the recent literature in the field, attending professionalconferences, and staying in contact with other leaders. Keeping upwith new ideas involves participation in professional developmentopportunities; however, school district professional developmentworkshops often focus on general educational change or on otherschool subjects. School and district leadership should entailworking with administrative representatives to organize profes-sional development workshops on topics specific to art education.

General educational policy often seems to move in directionsthat are contrary to the forward-looking ideas of art educators, so ithelps to know the work of leaders who are knowledgeable andcommitted to art education at the national level. National leadershave demonstrated that increasing and broadening professionalexperience provides an understanding of the field as a whole,which can help to facilitate change. Many of these leaders havetaught at all levels, published research and theory in the field, beenpracticing artists, conducted professional development workshopsfor other professionals, and worked at the national and interna-tional levels, and as a result are able to see the big picture of arteducation. Their debates frame higher education practice andtherefore, help to frame the field.

Making Data-Based DecisionsData-driven decision-making is becoming an emphasis in school

districts throughout the country. This type of decision-making isdependent on qualitative and quantitative data collected withindistricts and schools to help students in that setting. Traditionalschooling was not originally intended to meet all of the needs thegeneral population expects it to serve in the 21st century (Wagner,et al., 2006). Educators at all levels need to stay up-to-date inunderstanding students' needs in order to meet them. This requiresdata collection inside of school and community programs, as wellas accountability outside of those programs. Learning how toconduct and use research enables art educators to present a newtype of case that can convince stakeholders outside the arts tosupport art education.

March 2011 / ART EDUCATION 43

Higher education courses are available on methods of classroomdata collection and analysis. Also, school districts and communityeducation programs may provide professional developmentopportunities to enable K- 12 educators to develop research skills.Alternatively, researchers can be invited to collect the data neededto help teacher leaders make and implement decisions. A particularadvantage of using outside researchers is that data collection andanalyses are perceived as less biased when done by professionalswho do not have a vested interest in the results.

Employing the Power of Expert "Opinion"My experience in talking with hundreds of school and commu-

nity administrators over many years is that they tend to be unawareof the larger aims and goals of art education and know little of whatis actually learned through the study of the visual arts. Evenadministrators who support the arts tend to have a limitedacquaintance with the amount and types of learning that studentsaccrue through their experiences with visual culture and the powerof art as an educational foundation.

Unlike most other areas of study, people outside the arts think ofthe content of the field as mainly subjective. Art is consideredlargely ephemeral, made up of elusive impressions and inspiration.Many people believe that the contents of art education, rather thanbeing based on knowledge, are solely based on personal opinion,'feelings: and individual preferences.

However one defines art, professional opinions are not merelypersonal or subjective; they are based on expertise. Art educatorstend to have widely differentiated experience and knowledge of ourfield and are able to make judgments based on expert opinion, just

as other professionals do. Similarly, a scientist might offer aninterpretation of the meaning of physical evidence at a trial. Theseopinions are based on professional experience, and no less weightshould be given to a judgment in the arts than those offered in otherprofessions. Leaders in art education provide the carefully consid-ered judgment of an expert.

Acting as a Role ModelStudents report that close relationships with teachers as role

models can motivate them to learn (Csikszentmihalyi & Larson,1984). Educators teach students about problems and should tellstudents regularly about the actions they take in response toproblems.

Accepting service and administrative positions supports the fieldby improving its leadership reputation and making it possible tomove constructive agenda items forward. These positions includechairing a school district curriculum committee, heading a highschool art department, directing a community art program, servingas an officer of a state art education association, organizing a teamto protect or change art education policy, and becoming a memberof a museum advisory committee.

Art education can help students become leaders to support artand art education throughout their lives. All students can revealtheir potential for leadership by, for example, participating in anannual school art exhibition. To ensure students grasp the power ofart education to aid in expressing ideas and convincing people,have them reflect on the exhibit and then lead audiences through it.Art exhibitions are particularly important in this context becausethey enable even students who may not yet write well to present thecomplexity of their ideas to an audience.

No less weight should be given to a judgment in the arts than those offeredin other professions. Leaders in art education provide the carefully consideredjudgment of an expert.

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ConclusionPromoting any type of educational innovation takes courage and confidence. But effective

leadership can transform a program and can help to protect it. Here are some places to start:

1. Write a clear and timely rationale that includes a vision for the program emphasizing thecontributions of art to cultural knowledge, personal and social identity, visual literacy, and thecreative economy in a manner that laypeople can understand.

2. Publicize the program and its rationale using traditional means, such as exhibitions, and newermeans, such as a website and electronic social networking.

3. Work with immediate supervisors or administrators to inform them about the program andeducate them in the best ways to represent the program to others.

4. Develop a contact list of parents and other stakeholders who can be counted on to promote arteducation and the specific program by, for example, writing letters to district or state officials.

5. Establish a leadership group of teachers, community leaders, and other supporters of arteducation to develop a leadership plan with critical and constructive strategies to protect theprogram, such as establishing a communication network using a listserv or phone tree.

6. Document the program by collecting evidence that demonstrates its importance to students andcommunity, such as student work and parent comments, for example, from a blog established forthis purpose.

7. If a challenge to the program occurs, use the contact list to garner support and the leadershipgroup to plan a presentation to the school board or other management group based on thedocumented evidence.

Kerry Freedman is Professor of Art Educationand Head of Art Education at Northern IllinoisUniversity, DeKalb. E-mail: Kfreedman@niu.edu

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Chapman, L. (2005). Status of elementary art education, 1997-2004. Studies in Art Education, 46(2), 118-137.

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Freedman, K. (2000). Social perspectives of art education in the US: Teaching visual culture in a democracy. Studies in Art Education, 42(4),314-329.

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Marzano, R. J., Waters, T., & McNulty, B. A. (2005). School leadership that works: From research to results. Alexandria, VA: Association forSupervision and Curriculum Development.

Sabol, F. R. (2010). No Child Left Behind: A study of its impact on art education. Reston, VA: National Art Education Association.

Taylor, P. G. (2002). Service-learning as postmodern art and pedagogy. Studies in Art Education, 43(2), 124-140.

Thurber, F., & Zimmerman, E. (2002). An evolving feminist leadership model for art education. Studies in Art Education, 44(1), 5-27.Wagner, T., Kegan, R., Lahey, L., Lemons, R. W, Garnier, J., Helsing, D., Howell, A., & Rasmussen, H. T. (2006). Change leadership: A practical

guide to transforming our schools. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

AUHOR'S NOTEThe author wishes to thank Doug Boughton for the cartoons printed with this article.

March 2011 / ART EDUCATION 45

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