Multiculturalism: narrowing the gaps in art education

This article is a critical study of multiculturalism within British art education and examines aspects of the art school curriculum from compulsory levels of schooling to higher education. The study seeks to explore and to highlight relevant cultural theories connected with the student experience of art education, yet will also focus on how this ‘sits’ within the wider critical framework of education policy and practice and for or against prevailing issues in multicultural theory. The overall aim is to identify how multicultural referencing may or may not have been used in some of the current teaching strategies in art schools, colleges and universities in Britain and to note how unifying aspects of culture might be involved in the possibilities for future curriculum planning.