Discursive underground: Re-transcribing the history of art education using critical multicultural education

This article proposes the application of three primary tenets of critical multicultural education to assist art educators in re-conceptualizing myopic histories of art education currently dominating the field. Traditionally, voices of those from non-dominant groups have rested on the outskirts of most American art education historical narratives. Critical multicultural education provides an alternative framework as it examines the subjugation of certain non-dominant cultural knowledge and voices. Critical multicultural education re-directs investigations of power as it relates to culture construction and maintenance, knowledge creation and culture fluidity. The objective of this article is to challenge art educators to re-evaluate firmly established historical ‘truths’, and encourage them to recognize a broader audience of voices in order to articulate the cultural complexity of the history of art education.