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Art Education BFA
Programs of Study:
Students studying Art Education at MassArt choose one of the following areas of study:
BFA IN ART EDUCATION WITH STUDIO BREADTH offers a broad education in studio work. Those choosing the additional Certification Program/12-credit Student Teaching Semester are eligible for initial state licensure to teach visual arts in the state of Massachusetts.
BFA IN ART EDUCATION WITH STUDIO SPECIALIZATION equips students with the expertise and preparation in a single studio area. Those choosing the additional Certification Program/12-credit Student Teaching Semester are eligible for initial state licensure to teach visual arts in the state of Massachusetts.
MassArt also offers two 4+1 programs - the BFA/MA and BFA/MAT programs, which qualify graduates to earn two degrees in five years and apply for the Massachusetts initial teaching license. After three years of teaching, graduates may then apply for a Massachusetts professional teaching license without further coursework.
Learning Outcomes
- Students will develop expertise in studio practices, learning and teaching
- Students will develop the dispositions (skills, inclination, alertness) as artist-educators
- How areas of expertise and roles interact dynamically.
- How to keep students’ development and well-being at the core of their educational practice.
- To see their identity and position as artist-educators as professionals and leaders.
- How to nurture their own development through reflective practice over time.
- How models and theories interact with and support practice.
- How to respond sensitively to every individual’s universal, group and unique characteristics.
- How meaning and meaning-making are embodied and embedded in contexts (language, behavior, and culture).
- How to seek, nurture, and use intuitive, observed, experienced, and logical connections and associations to develop understanding.
- How to select and use art-making, teaching, and scholarly research methods to suit purpose, context, and audience.
- How quality thinking requires not only skills, but also attitudes that drive engagement and focus attention on opportunities in contexts.
Unique to MassArt
The Art Education Department prepares students to be skillful, imaginative, and socially engaged artist-educators. An important requirement is for students to gain real world experience through our courses. Students take introductory courses in contemporary teaching and art practices outside the walls of MassArt, as well as a course in art and human development. They also take courses in which they develop skills, strategies and approaches that address the diverse needs of learners. Students are also required to complete multiple interdisciplinary studio courses, which demonstrate their competency in art making.
In addition, students select to take either a course designing and implementing art experiences for older adults in community centers or one in which they develop an exhibition with a local artist, curating, installing, and developing educational materials for the public.
MassArt's Saturday Studios Program, in place for more than 90 years, affords an opportunity for students to gain supervised and supported hands-on experience as educators by teaching Saturday morning art classes to elementary though high school students.
Students in the Art Education Department are required to do a supervised internship in a school, community, museum, or gallery setting. School-based internships are specifically aligned with the MassArt state-approved educator preparation program for licensure. Art Education students interested in pursuing state licensure to teach Visual Art in public schools, complete the full-time (360+ hour) Student Teaching Practicum during an additional semester, along with other required coursework. Licensure candidates must take and pass the required MTELs (Massachusetts Tests for Educational Licensure) in order to be placed in a school-based practicum. Successful completion of the 9-semester BFA, with passing practicum evaluation, leads to the MassArt endorsement for the Initial level Visual Art Teacher license in Massachusetts.
Courses Art Ed BREADTH Requirements