"Back to School"

Like other periodicals, each issue of this journal is developed and prepared several months in advance. For example, the authors had to complete the final edits to their articles and I had to write this editorial at least 4 months before you could read it in print on this page.

Now, I am typically not a fan of editorials and columns that acknowledge when they were written, however, I think this case is slightly different. You see, when I first sat down to write this editorial I was busy with final exams, committee meetings, graduate student dissertation defenses, a conference presentation, and other end-of-the-semester duties that I typically face each spring. I was thinking of the end of the school year, not the beginning. But as you may have picked up from the title of this editorial, the focus of this issue of the journal is "back to school," a concept that is not exactly related to the end of a school year. So, as I finished the spring semester, I had also to shift my focus on putting together a few words about the beginning of a new school year several months in the future.

Each semester, before I can return to the classroom, I need to spend some time deep in thought about what I want to teach and how I want to structure my courses. I dream great images of the amazing work my students will complete and the wonderful lessons I will learn from their accomplishments.

When you head "back to school" do you feel energized and ready to tackle all of the obstacles that might come your way? Do you feel pedagogically invincible? Are you inspired to lead your students fearlessly toward higher and higher levels of knowing? For some people, going back to school means a return to a building or campus to reinstate studies with teachers and relationships with friends after a long summer break. And for some K-12 students, going back to school also means an opportunity to obtain new clothes, lunch boxes, and school supplies.When people "go back to school" like this, they return in a literal way. But going "back to school" might also be a metaphorical way to describe a conscious return to theoretical, practical, and professional foundations.This type of "back to school" experience can be a chance to learn new approaches, accept alternative perspectives, and refresh skills and knowledge that have gone unused over time for whatever reason.

In this issue, the authors take us "back to school" in a number of ways. That is, I see this collection of articles as inspiration to revisit our thinking-to go back to school-about several issues, topics, conventions, contexts, techniques, and theories in our field.

David Darts describes one way to move sociocultural issues and concepts closer to the center of the high school curriculum. Angela Eckhoff and Steven Guberman make a case for visual culture as an entry into art history and art criticism discussions with elementary students. Rebecca Gajda and Dorinne Dorfman describe the conception and ongoing success of an arts-based academy within an existing high school and how it supports and encourages student learning, engagement, and empowerment. Nancy Lampert reviews inquiry-based instructional techniques designed to enhance critical thinking and offers ways to encourage higher order thinking in art students. Eliza Pitri addresses possibilities for conducting action research in art education based on situated learning, constructivist theory and Reggio Emilia practice. Deborah Kuster helps us back to theories of multicultural education and implications for current practice in art education. In the Instructional Resources, Lisa Vihos offers ideas about works of art based on bathrooms as rich sources of inspiration.

There is always so much to do to prepare for the first day of school. I believe that the variety of concerns, recommendations, and perspectives on art education offered in this issue reflects the vast array possibilities that accompany students, teachers, and administrators as they return to school each fall.

So, what are your plans for this school year? Are you ready to go "back to school"?

[Sidebar]

I see this collection of articles as inspiration to revisit our thinking-to go back to school-about several issues, topics, conventions, contexts, techniques, and theories in our field.

[Author Affiliation]

B. Stephen Carpenter, II

Editor

B. Stephen Carpenter, II is associate professor of art education and visual culture in the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture, Texas A&M University, College Station. E-mail: bscarpenter@tamu. edu