Strategic Positions

The National Art Education Association has entered an exciting era in its almost 65-year history. Having completed the 2007-2010 strategic plan, the NARA Board of Directors recently adopted NAEA Next!: 2011-2014, an expansive and clear vision for the future of the Association. The new plan is intended to guide NAEAs work, and to prioritize the resources and programming required to advance its mission and vision for visual arts education, while meeting the professional needs of visual arts educators and students in all educational settings.

NAEA Next! 2011-2014 is NAEAs third strategic plan; the Board of Directors adopted its first plan in 2004 under the guidance of then-President Mary Ann Stankiewicz. That plan identified a set of goals and outcomes to guide NAEAs growth and development from 2004 through 2007. A second plan, adopted in 2007, represented a refined framework and expansion of the previous plan. The 2007-2010 plan was directed by President Bonnie Rushlow, President Barry Shauck, and Executive Director Deborah Reeve.

The 2011-2014 Strategic Plan represents a historic development for the Association in its approach to planning efforts. The design process was unique in that it included opportunities and encouraged input from all NAEA members. At the 2010 Convention in Baltimore, MD, participants represented the United States and countries throughout the world, as well as membership divisions and geographic regions, the NAEA Delegates Assembly, Issues Groups, Distinguished Fellows, students, and others. Members were invited to share their ideas for NAEA priorities in the Strategic Planning Design Studio. The collected ideas were studied and reviewed by the Board of Directors to inforni and guide the development of the new plan.

NAEA Next! represents an inclusive, transparent, and collaborative effort that produced a clear, cohesive, and bold course of action for NAEA. Indeed, the strategic plan design process reflects the member-driven participatory engagement embraced by NAEA leadership.

The plan also presents a newly revised mission statement, vision statement, and five strategic goals. Tlie evolved mission statement - "The National Art Education Association advances visual arts education to fulfill human potential and promote global understanding" - represents a new understanding about the purposes of art education and its relationships with individuals and the world at large. Similarly, the vision statement captures contemporary professional values and beliefs that art educators hold about the nature, character, and qualities of exemplary visual arts education. NAEAs vision celebrates the role that visual arts education plays in enriching human experience and society throughout the world.

The following five strategic goals provide a framework that holds relevance for all NAEA members. Each goal addresses a particular spectrum of needs of art educators and of the field of art education.

1. COMMUNITY: NAEA is a dynamic, inclusive, and diverse professional community that shares a commitment to NAEA's mission and vision." Art educators are part of a professional community of educators, and their active participation in that community is essential. This goal is intended to build and strengthen the NAEA professional community in order to deepen individual member connections within our profession, as well as build relationships with professionals in other organizations. This goal also recognizes the ongoing need to increase NAEA membership by reaching out to art educators in all instructional settings and to preservice educators in order to enhance the professional capacities and competencies ot all art educators.

3 ADVOCAY: NAEA influences stakeholders and decision makers to support visual arts education." Art educators routinely champion art education, and are particularly concerned with how to advocate effectively for art education. This goal supports the development of comprehensive advocacy plans, while providing advocacy training, information, and tools that can assist members in educating the public, decision makers, and policy makers.

4."LEARNING: NAEA provides exemplary learning opportunities that help members become more effective educators, artists, leaders, and advocates for visual arts education." Art educators recognize the importance of ongoing professional development, and are actively and consistently engaged in professional development activities. NAEA supports this goal by providing professional development through strengthening and expanding learning activities for its members through its annual convention, live learning, and virtual learning in addition to the Association's publications, resources, and materials that provide quality professional development for its members.

5. RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE: NAEA conducts research and generates knowledge that enriches and expands visual arts education, and widely shares that research and knowledge." Art educators are aware of the role research plays in informing both their practice and the policies that influence art education. This goal recognizes the importance of research for and about the held; it supports the means through which research can be done, along with the means through which research can be shared with multiple authences within and beyond NAEA membership.

6. "ORGANIZATIONAL VIBRANCY: NAEA's culture, systems, structures, and resources facilitate its mission of advancing arts education." Maintaining organizational stature is essential for advancing NAEAs mission and meeting the needs of its members. This goal supports strengthening the strategic messages and developing member capacities through the development of leadership and relationships with state art education organizations and other professional associations, as well as increasing NAEA's internal capacities to deliver member services effectively and efficiently.

Founded in 1947 as a professional arts education organization by members and for members, NAEA has been unwavering in its commitment to advancing art education. The 2011-2014 NAEA Strategic Plan supports its members and represents a vision and supporting goals that art educators can model for the profession and for students in their classrooms, museums, galleries, and studios.

For more information on the planning process and the strategic objectives supporting each of the five goals, visitwww.arteducators.org/naeanext

Thanks to President Sabol for sharing with us the strategic plan. This issue of Art Education serves as a model of the areas in our strategic plan: community, advocacy, learning, research, and organizational vibrancy. Patricia Amburgy focuses on diversity in the art education classroom through the incorporation of visual culture into a curriculum designed for preservice art educators. Julia Marshall and Kimberley D'Adamo explore the concept of art practice as an important form of research for young people in K- 12 settings, as they detail the experiences of incorporating art-based research in a high school classroom. Joanna Black and Kathy Browning revisit creativity in light of digital art education teaching practices, and examine integrating technology in the classroom without sacrificing students' creative productivity. Yi-hui Huang furthers the notion of technology in the classroom with the exploration of photography and theories of knowledge in making meaning in photographic works with the help of digital technologies. Jennifer Motter explores PostSecret as a transitional space for learning and community-building, as well as the collision of private and public worlds. David Darts takes visual culture in the higher education classroom a step further with a project that brings everyday life, and social justice issues that exist seemingly at the fringes of the classroom experience, into a school space for dialogue and critical reflection among students.

Christine Ballengee Morris, Editor

Christine Ballengee Morris is Professor of Art Education at the Ohio State University. E-mail: Morris. 390@osu.edu

[Sidebar]

At Art Education's last editorial board meeting, we decided that these pages could be a place for new, and experienced, voices.

In this issue, NAEA President Robert Sabol describes the 201 1-2014 NAEA Strategic Plan for our readership.

NAEA Vision Statement

Students of all ages benefit from comprehensive, balanced, and sequential learning in the visual arts, led and taught by qualified teachers who are certified in art education. Art educators meet ethical and rigorous standards of excellence in preservice preparation, ongoing professional development, pedagogy, and inquiry in the field. Schoolbased visual arts instruction surpasses national, state, and local standards and is enhanced through access to art museums and other community resources. The power of the visual arts to enrich human experience and society is recognized and celebrated throughout the world.

[Author Affiliation]

Robert Sabol, NAEA President