Teacher Leadership in Art Education Preparation

In this essay, I set forth arguments for including teacher leadership in art education preparation in order to empower emerging professional art educators with the skills necessary for teaching content that engages contemporary visions of art education. An analysis of relevant literature suggests that art educators have begun to examine the importance of leadership in art education preparation. My essay discusses goals and pedagogical practices for inclusion of leadership as content for art teacher preparation. Discussion includes goals that will empower future art teachers with strategies I have found to be useful in varying educational contexts. As I argue here, these strategies must be informed by a vision that embraces contemporary socio-cultural theories that will require careful adaptation to current pre-K–12 school cultures.