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A Critical Review of the Postmodern Implosion of Fine Art and Popular Visual Culture in Art Classrooms

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The Palgrave Handbook of Global Arts Education

Abstract

The chapter critically examines activities conducted in art classrooms in K-12 schools and teacher preparation courses on the introduction of popular visual culture. It is framed in terms of a continuum between the use of a critical pedagogy with a stress on critique and a purely playful pedagogy with its stress on pleasure, including the pleasure of transgression. The author argues that it is necessary to achieve a balance between the pleasures that are an inherent characteristic of popular culture and the normative expectations of formal, institutionalized education for rational discourse and critique. The author argues for a playful pedagogy that engages in a dialog that allows for a range of views and where teachers position themselves as learners as much as teachers.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

    Paul Duncum

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  1. Paul Duncum
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University, Mt Gravatt, Queensland, Australia

    Georgina Barton

  2. Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts School of Linguistics, Adult and Specialist Education, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia

    Margaret Baguley

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Duncum, P. (2017). A Critical Review of the Postmodern Implosion of Fine Art and Popular Visual Culture in Art Classrooms. In: Barton, G., Baguley, M. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Global Arts Education. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55585-4_32

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55585-4_32

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-55584-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-55585-4

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