Elliot W. Eisner

Elliot Eisner is emeritus professor of Art and Education at the Stanford University School of Education. He is active in several fields including arts education, curriculum reform, qualitative research, and is the recipient of a Grawemeyer Award in 2005 for his work in education as well as the Brock International Prize in 2004.

Originally trained in the visual arts, Eisner received his Ph.D. in education from the University of Chicago in the 1960s, where he studied with Joseph Schwab, Bruno Bettelheim, and Phillip Jackson.

Eisner's work has supported Discipline-Based Art Education, and he developed the importance of forms of representation in education. During the 1980s, he had a number of exchanges with Denis C. Phillips regarding the status of qualitative research for educational understanding. Eisner also had a well-known debate with Howard Gardner as to whether a work of fiction such as a novel could be submitted as a dissertation (Eisner believed it could, and some novels have since been successfully submitted).

Eisner publishes regularly; his works include hundreds of articles and over a dozen books. He also frequently speaks before teachers, administrators, and at professional conferences.

Eisner has served as president of many professional organizations, including the American Educational Research Association, the National Art Education Association, and the John Dewey Society.