There are a number of local theater and dance groups as well, and a downtown with a variety of exciting architecture. This teacher wisely features local art in her teaching. This teacher has her own art room in a middle school, and students come to her for their art classes. She is an art specialist, but maintains close contact with other teachers in the school and is well aware of the curriculum her students experience. The teacher has been involved in a leadership role for development of the middle school art curriculum for this school district.
Students maintain journals for written work, notes, sketches, research, and other purposes.
Student journals and portfolios of student artwork can serve as records of their progress, recording not only the final outcome of their efforts, but the learning process as well. Portfolios and journals can provide excellent means for teachers to assess students' progress, diagnose needs, communicate with students, and discuss each child's development with their parents. Students in this class analyze different functions of art as well as points of view about art taken by a variety of individuals in a community. Through this process they question and discuss the nature of art and recognize multiple possible perspectives and purposes of art. The nature, value, and function of art and relationships of art in society are fundamental topics examined within the discipline of philosophical aesthetics.