Art Education (BFA in Art Education)

The BFA in Art Education combines art making and teaching in a program that develops professionals who are academically and technically proficient; knowledgeable, skilled and reflective in their practice; committed to the empowerment of all people; and the role of public education in a democratic society. Students in Art Education should demonstrate a strong positive attitude toward art, teaching, and children. Art Education students are involved in art production, the study of art, developmental theories of child art, and the roles of the artist, art historian, art critic, and aesthetician in our society.

Students enter ECU as BFA Art Education—Intended majors. After successful completion of lower-level art and education coursework students apply for admission to “Upper Division.”

For information on this process please contact Dr. Cynthia Bickley-Green.

Art Education Faculty

Service Learning in the Art Education Program

The Art Education program has been active in offering service learning opportunities to the students.

Since 2010 Dr. Arnold volunteered with her ART 3850: Art in the Elementary Schools students at the ECU sponsored Lucille Gorham Intergenerational Community Center. In 2022 Dr. Arnold and her students are now working with the newly formed Lucille Gorham Unit of the Boys and Girls club, at the same location, 1100 Ward Street, Greenville, NC. All the students in Dr. Arnold’s ART 3850 Art in the Elementary School class, meet her at the center and teach “Art and Literacy” to the children in their After School Program called YES: Youth Excelling for Success. Dr. Arnold reads award winning books to the children and then the children make art based on a pivotal part of the story. Often a video is shown, with the author of the story reading the book. The book is then discussed in class, and the children spend the rest of the hour creating a unique and personal response to the text.

Since 2013, Dr. Borim Song and Dr. Nanyoung Kim have been organizing the Saturday Art Program with Art Education majors and ART2123 students at the NC Greenville Korean Language School, to offer them opportunities to teach art to Korean American students (K-8 Grade). The students find this service-learning opportunity very rewarding and an important part of learning to teach children. Many students have presented their teaching outcomes at NCAEA and NAEA conferences.

From 2010 to 2013, ART 3860 students participated in the service learning project with Dr. Robbie Quinn at the Building Hope Community Life Center. Art education undergraduate students designed and taught lessons during the after-school sessions conducted at the Building Hope Community Life Center. Middle and high school children engaged in these lessons for multiple weeks during an hour of their after-school sessions. In the spring of 2012, the lessons culminated in a large-scale mural that the children designed and completed on one of the exterior walls of the Center.

Several students in the program and their mentors participated in a collaborative sculpture competition utilizing bicycles sponsored by an organization in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The boys designed and prepared the sculpture during after-school sessions at the Center. During the summer of 2013, the young men traveled with Dr. Quinn to install the sculpture and visit several colleges in the Spartanburg area.

Since 2014, in partnership with the College of Fine Arts and Communication, students enrolled in ART 3851 have participated in the service learning project with Drs. Quinn and Bickley-Green at the Third Street Education Center. Students taught art lessons to youngsters in the Center’s Arts of Third Street after-school program. Art education undergraduate students designed and delivered lessons to the elementary-school aged children for several weeks semester. Selected sections of the ART3851 course have been designated as Service-Learning courses and undergraduate students have earned that Service Learning credit on their transcripts.

 

ECU Educator Preparation Program SARA Statement

Institutional and Professional Licensure Disclosures for Enrolled and Prospective Students

ECU degree programs satisfy the professional licensure and/or certification requirements in North Carolina and prepare students to sit for these exams.  However, requirements in other states may be different.

If you are considering a degree program that may, would, could or potentially lead to a professional license and/or certification, please note that at this time ECU may or may not be able to advise whether a  program meets requirements outside of North Carolina.  Prior to enrolling in a degree program, please discuss this important topic with your program of interest.

The following information applies to all ECU programs that lead to a license to work in any level in public schools, i.e. teachers, principals, librarians, social workers, school counselors, superintendents, etc.

Upon successful completion of educator preparation program degree requirements and licensure requirements for the State of North Carolina, such as, but not limited to, testing and national assessments, candidates will be eligible for an ECU recommendation for a NC license.  However, final licensure granting decisions are the sole responsibility of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction not ECU. Candidates who graduate and seek out of state employment will have to meet the receiving state’s requirements for licensure. There is no automatic licensure reciprocity between states. ECU will verify the completion of an approved, accredited program for candidates who seek employment out of state, and those candidates will be responsible for working with the receiving state to complete any additional requirements needed to obtain the license for employment.