BY RACHEL BRANHAM
"What's So Great About Art, Anyway?" is a visually and conceptually captivating graphic novel that invites readers to examine schools and teaching with a critical lens, while advocating for arts education in schools. Branham’s focus on her time as a young high school art teacher in a public school system makes use of engaging anecdotes about classroom life—mixed with discussions of education policy and reform, exploration of teacher/student relationships, testing and accountability, 21st-century learning, and the history and purpose of art education.

 

She demonstrates why art education should be preserved as a core subject if students are to understand the connection between creativity, critical thinking, and other higher-order skills with her personal narrative of challenges and triumphs. "What's So Great About Art, Anyway?" is a refreshing book particularly for in-service teachers—as well as a smart foundational text in arts education and an introduction to teaching courses. Published by Teachers College Press.

 

"Through this visually inventive personal narrative, Rachel Branham smartly captures the current state of education and makes a strong case for the importance of the arts. She’s created a practical, thought-provoking, and fun read sure to inspire new teachers and seasoned educators to explore fresh ways of learning alongside their students."
—Nick Sousanis, comics artist and author of Unflattening; assistant professor of Humanities & Liberal Studies, San Francisco State University

 

“Through the 21st-century lens of a graphic novel, Branham provides humorous, thought-provoking, and timely insight into the ongoing evolution of the U.S. educational system and art education. As a teacher, I would share it with any High School student considering a career in art education.”
—Julia Lang-Shapiro, director of Media, Visual & Performing Arts, Long Beach Public Schools

 

144 pages. 2016.
ISBN: 9780807757321