DISCIPLINE-BASED

ART EDUCATION
DISCIPLINE-BASED ART EDUCATION(DBAE)
 Is a comprehensive approach to art education that takes advantage
of art’s special power to educate.
 The Getty Education Institute for the Arts advocates DBAE as an
effective means by which to help students experience the visual arts in a
variety of ways.
 Following its foundation in 1982, the Getty Education Institute adopted
the ideas of the art educators who had been calling for a more holistic,
comprehensive, and multifaceted approach to art education.
Educators who take DBAE approach integrate from the four disciplines that
contribute to the creation, understanding, and appreciation of art. These
disciplines of art provide knowledge, skills, and understandings that enable
students to have a broad and rich experience with works of art;
1. By making art (art production);
2. By responding to and making judgements about the properties and
qualities that exist in visual forms (art criticism);
3. By acquiring knowledge about the contributions artists and art
make to culture and society (art history); and
4. By understanding the nature, meaning, and value of art
(aesthetics).
• Not only do teachers incorporate paintings,
drawings, sculpture, and architecture into their
lessons, but they also include "fine," applied, craft,
and folk arts, such as ceramics, weaving and other
textile arts, fashion design, and photography.
Students work with and study a variety of visual
images and objects that carry unique meaning for
human beings from all cultures and times.
• Although there are DBAE curricula, DBAE itself is an
approach to instruction and learning in art and not a
specific curriculum. It exists in many forms to meet the needs
of the community in which it is taught. Examples of variation
include selecting one or more of the disciplines as a central
or core discipline(s) for helping students understand works of
art; featuring settings such as art museums or community
centers and the original artworks they collect or display;
integrating the arts with other subject areas; and pursuing
newer technologies.
DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS OF
A DISCIPLINED-BASED ART
EDUCATION PROGRAM
 A. RATIONALE
1. The goal of disciplined-based art education is to develop
students abilities to understand and appreciate art. This
involves a knowledge of the theories and contexts of art
and abilities to respond to as well as to create art.
2. Art is taught as an essential component of general
education and as a foundation for specialized art study.
 B. CONTENT
1. Content for instruction is derived primarily from the disciplines of
aesthetics, art criticism, art history, and art production. These disciplines
deal with: (1) conceptions of the nature of art, (2) bases for valuing and
judging art, (3) contexts in which art has been created, and (4)
processes and techniques for creating art.
2. Content for study is derived from a broad range of the visual arts,
including folk, applied, and fine arts from Western and non-Western
cultures and from ancient to contemporary times.
 C. CURRICULA
1. Curricula are written with sequentially organized and articulated
content at all grade levels.
2. Works of art are central to the organization of curricula and to
integration of content from the disciplines.
3. Curricula are structured to reflect comparable concern and respect
for each of the four art disciplines.
4. Curricula are organized to increase student learning and
understanding. This involves a recognition of appropriate
developmental levels.
 D. CONTEXT
1. Full implementation is marked by systematic, regular art
instruction on a district-wide basis, art education expertise,
administrative support, and adequate resources.
2. Student achievement and program effectiveness are
confirmed by appropriate evaluation criteria and
procedures.