“We don't need the arts in our schools to raise mathematical and verbal skills—we already target these in math and language arts. We need the arts because in addition to introducing students to aesthetic appreciation, they teach other modes of thinking we value.”
—The Boston Globe

“This book is very educational and would be helpful to art teachers in promoting quality teaching in their classrooms.”
—School Arts Magazine

“Chapter one should be disseminated to all decision-makers in education. . . . Studio Thinking is a major contribution to the field.”
—Arts & Learning Review

“The research in Studio Thinking is groundbreaking and important because it is anchored in the actual practice of teaching artists. . . . The ideas in Studio Thinking continue to provide a vehicle with which to navigate and understand the complex work in which we are all engaged.”
—Teaching Artists Journal

Recently featured in the New York Times and the Boston Globe, this book presents groundbreaking research on the positive effects of art education

“You do not have to read very far into Studio Thinking to feel that, like Lewis Carroll's Alice, you have stepped through the looking glass into a fantasy world where the colors are brighter, the scenes richer, and the adventure altogether more engaging than what you recall about school. . . . [This book] is a vision not only of learning in the arts but what could be learning most anywhere.”
—Foreword by David N. Perkins

Many people believe that art education is important, but few can say exactly why. Here, at last, are the results of the first in-depth research on the “habits of mind” that are instilled by studying art—habits the authors argue that could have positive impacts on student learning across the curriculum. Studio Thinking provides art teachers with a research-based language for describing what they intend to teach and what students learn. This language will help advocates explain arts education to policymakers, help art teachers develop and refine their teaching practices, and help educators in other disciplines learn from existing practices in arts education.

Book Features:

• Introduces the Studio Thinking Framework, which allows researchers to test hypotheses about precisely which kinds of instruction lead to various desired outcomes.
• Goes beneath the surface to discover what underlying cognitive and social skills are imparted to students when the arts are taught well.
• Includes the voices of teachers, photographs of students at work, and samples of art projects in different media to demonstrate findings.
• Shows teachers of all subjects how to incorporate critique sessions in their classes to promote public, shared reflection and ongoing formative assessment.

“Hetland and her colleagues reveal dozens of practical measures that could be adopted by any arts program, inside or outside of the school. . . . This is a bold new step in arts education.”
—David R. Olson, Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto

“Will be at the top of the list of essential texts in arts education. I know of no other work in art education with this combination of authenticity and insight.”
—Lars Lindström, Stockholm Institute of Education

“The eight studio habits of mind should become a conceptual framework for all preservice art education programs; this book should be read by all early and experienced art educators.”
—Mary Ann Stankiewicz, The Pennsylvania State University

Lois Hetland is Associate Professor of Art Education at Massachusetts College of Art, Ellen Winner is Professor of Psychology at Boston College, Shirley Veenema is Art Instructor at Phillips Academy (Andover), and Kimberly M. Sheridan is Assistant Professor in the College of Education and Human Development and the College of Visual and Performing Arts at George Mason University.