Domains of Knowledge

Domain knowledgeFacts, information, and skills acquired through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. is knowledge of a specific, specialised disciplineA specific way, a set of procedures and techniques for a specific activity e.g. the discipline of drawing embraces perspective, figure and conceptual ways of... or field, in contrast to general (or domain-independent) knowledge.

There are many ways of ‘carving up’ domains of knowledge in artArt refers to a diverse range of human intellectual and expressive activities and the outcomes of those activities. Within this context art is further defined... education. The subject literature uses a range of terms for the domains. In this review, we suggest 3 domains:

• Practical KnowledgePractical knowledge may be defined tentatively as the form of knowledge involved in exercising a skill. It is the 'knowing how'. is about developing technical proficiency
• Theoretical KnowledgeTheoretical knowledge is the cultural and contextual content that pupils learn about artists and artwork. is the cultural and contextual content that pupils learn about artistsPeople who are engaged in a broad spectrum of visually led ideas and activities aligned to the expressive arts and artwork
• Disciplinary KnowledgeDisciplinary Knowledge is what pupils learn about how art is studied, discussed and judged. is what pupils learn about how art is studied, discussed and judged

These terms are helpful for discussing the different types of knowledge that pupils build in art, and for describing good-quality art education. We do not expect schools to use this terminology.

The 3 domains build on the different ways that knowledge about art has been discussed in recent research. For instance, some researchers put forward ‘foundational art disciplines’, which include art production, art historyArt History is the study of art works from an historical viewpoint. It usually involves looking at the various contexts in which art works were..., art criticismArt Criticism is concerned with judging the value of art. and aestheticsA term used to explore and explain the look and sensual appeal of a work of art, craft or design. The term embraces aspects of.... They suggest that pupils build knowledge in these domains when they study art.

Some literature refers to ‘productive’, ‘critical’ and ‘cultural’ domains in art education. 

Other approaches refer to the types of knowledge that pupils learn when they learn ‘about’ art, ‘with’ art, ‘in’ art and ‘through’ art.

Although these approaches use different words from the ones we have chosen, they all recognise that it is important to be clear that there are subject-specific forms of knowledge in art. The terms we have used (practical, theoretical and disciplinary) incorporate many of these ideas, as we go on to explain.