A Comparative Approach to Art Education Policy Research

Overview & Synopsis

The challenges and opportunities of globalization require art education scholars and practitioners to develop international competencies, but research in the specific field of comparative art education is very limited at present. In this article, I provide a pragmatic framework for studying art education policy as a subfield of comparative cultural policy. Based on a review of literature in comparative cultural policy, I discuss how research in the field has evolved over the past 35 years along three main trajectories, which I call comparative international, cross-national, and transnational. I present major conceptual models used in comparative cultural policy, and conclude with general recommendations for art education policy scholars interested in pursuing international research. (Contains 2 figures and 4 footnotes.)