Abstract :
In formulating models of art criticism for schools,
educators in the United States have focused
most of their attention upon the language of art
criticism. Typical prescriptions for art criticism
present a series of activities such as describing,
analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating, activities
that are linked to the performance of specific
kinds of statements. The widespread acceptance
of such models raises questions about their accuracy
as reflections of actual critical discourse, and
their practicality and efficacy as prescriptions for
classroom instruction. In this article, I argue that
current models of criticism both distort the actual
discourse of critics and they force educators to
rely upon a problematic instructional method:
classroom recitation. After critiquing this method,
I conclude by suggesting that critical inquiry,
rather than critical discourse, is a more fruitful
concept for structuring art criticism instruction.
