Dennis Atkinson is Professor Emeritus at Goldsmiths University of London, Department of Educational Studies and the Centre for the Arts and Learning.
He is a visiting professor at the Universities of Porto, Helsinki, Gothenburg and Barcelona. He taught in secondary schools in England from 1971-1988 when he was appointed lecturer in art and design education at Goldsmiths University of London. He directed a number of programmes including, PGCE Secondary Art and Design Teacher Education, MA Education: Culture, Language and Identity and the Post Graduate Research Programme in Educational Studies. He was appointed Professor of Art in Education in 2005 and was Head of Department of Educational Studies from 2006-2009. He established the Research Centre for The Arts and Learning in the Department of Educational Studies in 2005 and was Director from 2005-2013. He was the Principal Editor of The International Journal of Art and Design Education from 2002-2009 and was a member of the National Society for Education in Art and Design’s Publications Board until 2013. He was made a Fellow of the Society in 2009.
Dennis has published regularly in a number of international academic journals since 1991 including The International Journal for Art and Design Education, The International Journal of Inclusive Education, Educational Philosophy and Theory, British Educational Research Journal, Journal of Curriculum Studies and Subjectivity, and has contributed chapters to a number of edited collections. He has published five books, Art in Education: Identity and Practice; Social and Critical Practice in Art Education, (with Paul Dash); Regulatory Practices in Education: A Lacanian Perspective, (with Tony Brown & Janice England,); Teaching Through Contemporary Art: A report on innovative practices in the classroom, (with Jeff Adams, Kelly Worwood, Paul Dash, Steve Herne, & Tara Page) and Art, Equality and Learning: Pedagogies Against the State. His forthcoming book entitled Art, Disobedience and Ethics: The Adventure of Pedagogy will be published by Palgrave MacMillan in 2017. In 2015 he was awarded The Ziegfeld Award by The United States Society for Education through Art for outstanding international contributions to art in education.
Atkinson, Dennis. 2009. How children use drawing. In: Steve Herne; Sue Cox and Robert Watts, eds. Readings in Primary Art Education. Bristol and Chicago: Intellect, pp. 139-152. ISBN 978-1-84150-242-7
