Enriching Studio Thinking: A New Mind-Centered Approach for Curriculum Development in Art Education

Abstract

This study examines the use of Studio Thinking's Studio Habits of Mind (Hetland, Winner, Veenema & Sheridan, 2007) as a framework for curriculum design. In order to compare the ideas with other current art education theories, I conduct a literature review that identifies types of thinking accessed in the visual arts classroom. Through the comparison of Hetland et. al.'s Habits of Mind with those cited by current researchers, I discuss the relevance of the Studio Habits of Mind and propose an additional Habit of Mind: Investigate. In order to explore the use of these Habits as a framework for curriculum design, I design several lessons for a local after-school program using an objectives-based lesson template. The difficulty of applying this framework to an existing template indicates the need for a new unit/lesson plan template formatted specifically to a mind-centered approach. I present my design for a new unit template, lesson template and examples. The findings of this research point to a move in art education towards a mind-centered approach in the visual arts classroom and the use of a mind-centered template for unit and lesson planning.