Teaching and learning are lifelong events. The resources below are a sample of those available to the art and surface design teacher.
We will add resources as they become available.
Have a book, website, video, or podcast to share? Email the Director of Education at education [at] surfacedesign [dot] org.
SDA Curriculum Map
Plan an entire unit or term adapting this table to your lesson. It serves as a guide; you may type over the existing text.
PDF / Word document
SDA Lesson Plan TemplateUse this template to create activities for the classroom.
PDF / Word document
Organizations
The National Art Education Association offers resources and training for K-12 teachers, college and university professors, museum and lifelong adult educators. It holds annual conventions that serve teachers from all subject areas and levels of education.
Teaching Skills & Classroom Management
The Skillful Teacher: Building Your Teaching Skills by Jon Saphier and Robert Gower. Provides current information on pedagogy, curricula, and classroom management.
Teaching Philosophy
- Art for Life: Authentic Instruction in Art by Tom Anderson and Melody K. Milbrandt. A holistic, life-centered curricula is rare in classrooms, including those in the arts. This book explains how to incorporate such a practice.
- Teacher by Sylvia Ashton-Warner. This book records the journey of a New Zealand woman who taught Maori children from 1931-1940. Her teaching method proved successful, but has not become part of today's teacher training.
Curricula Design
Developing curricula in the arts employs multiple techniques and assessment tools. Below are selected books from Davis Publications that can guide and inspire you while creating courses and developing lesson plans and syllabi. They comprise the Art Education in Practice Series, a collection that effectively adapts educational theory to the art classroom.
- Assessment in Art Education by Donna Kay Beattie
- Community Art in Action by Kristin G. Congdon
- Teaching Meaning in Artmaking by Sydney R. Walker
- Using the Art Museum by Denise L. Stone
- How to Write Instructional Objectives by Norman E. Gronlund
Techniques
Art Cloth: A Guide to Surface Design for Fabric by Jane Dunnewold- Color by Accident: Low Water Immersion Dyeing by Ann Johnston
- Color by Design: Paint and Pring with Dye, by Ann Johnston
- Complex Cloth: A Comprehensive Guide to Surface Design by Jane Dunnewold
- Breakdown Printing, by Claire Benn & Leslie Morgan
- Dyes & Paints: A Hands-On Guide to Coloring Fabric by Elin Noble
- Eco Colour: Botanical Dyes for Beautiful Textiles, by India Flint
- Learning to Weave by Deborah Chandler
- Polychromatic Screen Printing, by Joy Stocksdale
- Quiltmaking: Tips & Techniques by Jane Townswick
- Shibori: The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing by Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada, Mary Kellogg Rice, & Jane Barton
- Shibori, Creating Color & Texture on Silk, by Karren K. Brito
- Surface Design for Fabric by Richard M. Proctor & Jennifer F. Lew
- The Celebration of the Stitch by Barbara Lee Smith
- The Reader’s Digest Guide to Embroidery
- The Reader’s Digest New Complete Guide to Sewing
- Unexpected Knitting by Debbie Small
Instructional Materials & Supplies
The Art Teacher’s Book of Lists by Helen D. Hume. This book is a valuable resource for art history, procedures, and art and media-related topics.
DVDs
Available for purchase from SDA:
SDA’s Teach + Learn Volume 1 (Download Merchandise Order Form - PDF / Word Document)
- Jane Dunnewold: Soy Wax Three Ways
- Kerr Grabowski: Deconstructed Screen Printing
- Lisa Klakulak: Free Motion Machine Embroidery
- Kathyanne White: Creating and Printing Uncommon Surfaces
- Daniella Woolf: Encaustic for Fiber Artists
SDA’s Teach + Learn Volume 2 (Download Order Form - Word Document)
- Jiyoung Chung: Traditional Korean Joomchi Handmade Paper
- Giovanna Imperia: Japanese Kumihimo with Wire
- Wendy Huhn: Acrylic Paints on Fabric
- Chunghie Lee: Korean Pojagi Patchwork and Nobang Fabric
- Sharron Parker: Felted Wool Fleece Transformation
These sites offer DVDs and study guides.
Textile History- The Object of Labor: Art, Cloth, and Cultural Production. Edited by Joan Livingstone & John Ploof
- The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine by Rozsika Parker
- Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Years by Elizabeth Wayland Barber
Biography & Autobiography
Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland- The View from the Studio Door by Ted Orland
- Originals: American Women Artists by Eleanor Munro
- Three journals by Ann Truitt: Daybook; Turn; Prospect
Art & Educational JournalsSurface Design Journal
These journals are available through the National Art Education Association & some university libraries.
Artists' Series
