Art and Craft of Pedagogy : Portraits of Effective Teachers

Richard Hickman considers effective teaching across the curriculum, examining the notion that successful teachers of art and design are amongst the best teachers of any subject with much to offer outside their discipline in terms of pedagogy. The case study approach focuses on adolescent learning, although much of what is considered is applicable to all ages and phases of education, to consider the following questions: What are the characteristics of successful art teaching? How do individual life experiences inform art teachers' teaching? How in turn might others benefit from their pedagogical practices? Using self-portraiture, autoethnography and autobiography, Hickman draws together the varied experiences of a group of art teachers to explore a range of issues, including identity, learning environment and the nature of the teacher/learner relationship, which are discussed with clarity and imagination.