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Connecting Creativity Research and Practice in Art Education: Foundations, Pedagogies, and Contemporary Issues ed. by Flávia Bastos, Enid Zimmerman (review)

Connecting Creativity Research and Practice in Art Education, edited by Flávia Bastos and Enid Zimmerman, is a rich, diverse, and densely packed collection of 35 chapters that examine foundations, pedagogies, and contemporary issues in art education research and practice with creativity as a core concept. Bastos and Zimmerman want to “bridge the gap” between research into creativity in an art education context and the practice of teaching and learning in art (p. ix). They argue that this much-needed focus will also help educators who see creativity “as a central theme in education at all levels” (p. viii). Furthermore, Zimmerman suggests that creativity research might form the basis for developing theoretical frameworks for art education and be foundational in creating theories of art education. I have no doubt that this edited collection of chapters is a significant publication that might catalyze a potential for art educators’ re-conceptualization of creativity as a theoretical foundation for art education practice. The publisher of Connecting Creativity is the National Art Education Association (NAEA), which is predominantly American. Almost all the authors are academics who work in North America. Many have made very significant contributions to the field; these include D. Jack Davis, Paul Duncum, Kerry Freedman, Kit Grauer, David Harrington, jan jagodzinski, and David Pariser, just to name a few from a long list of well-respected and expert contributors. This review introduces the book to readers, describes its structure, and offers some examples of its contents. As a critique, I allude to the wide-ranging generality of the term “creativity,” acknowledge its allure, and ask rhetorically, given arguments in this Flávia Bastos & Enid Zimmerman (Eds.). Connecting Creativity Research and Practice in Art Education: Foundations, Pedagogies, and Contemporary Issues. Reston, VA: National Art Education Association, 2015.