UH Manoa College of Education professor selected by the National Art Education Association to provide a co-sponsored academy

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
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Posted: Apr 14, 2008

HONOLULU - Betty Lou Williams, associate professor of Art Education in the College of Education at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, has been selected by the National Art Education Association (NAEA) to provide a co-sponsored academy. Her proposed course, Learning from Objects and Site Visitation: People, Places, and Things, was accepted after a thorough screening process that resulted in the selection of five academies for 2008. The program, which will be held at the Honolulu Academy of Arts this July, adheres to the NAEA‘s goals for quality art education.

The NAEA is the only national professional art education association in the United States, with more than 22,000 members. It is comprised of elementary and secondary teachers, artists and administrators, museum educators, arts council staff, and university professors from the United States and 66 foreign countries. Their mission is to advance art education through professional development, service, advancement of knowledge, and leadership.

Course objectives for Learning from Objects and Site Visitation include personal narrative and correlation theory; the constructivist museum and the spiral learning curve; methods of art history including iconography and semiotics; art criticism and aesthetics; visual literacy and visual culture; developing curricula; and educational programming in conjunction with collections.

"Art museums offer unique opportunities for students to acquire new viewpoints and understanding about themselves and the world, while building a foundation for life long learning," Williams said. "The success of introducing new ideas to students ultimately depends on teacher participation through the organization of collaborations and professional networking."

Williams‘ area of expertise is in museum and art education for teacher training. She is an instructor and field supervisor for the COE‘s elementary, secondary, and graduate programs and serves as an adjunct in the Museum Certificate Program in American Studies. She will be the lead teacher and administrator for this five-day museum course which offers credit and non-credit options and is designed for museum educators, classroom and art teachers, and art administrators. For more information, please contact Betty Lou Williams at bettylou@hawaii.edu or (808) 956-4415.