Art education: teaching dilemmas explained via History

This paper reflects on the situation of arts teaching in the 5th to 8th grades in mainstream elementary education. The study was carried out in public schools in a city in the state of Paraná in 2004. The data was collected by means of questionnaires. Among the problems identified, primary is; the lack of specific teacher training and the lack of a conception about artistic work and, as a result, a visible constraint in their educational practice. The paper presents a historical retrospective of the teaching of arts in Brazilian education in order to understand how the educational policies are implemented. The understanding of art as an activity, polyvalence and free expression demonstrate remains of the 5.692/71 Law in the context investigated