우리나라의 경우 제1차 교육과정(1955～1963)부터 현재의 제7차 교육과정(1997이후)에 이르기까지 미술과 교육 내용 체계화를 위한 다양한 모색을 해왔는데, 교육과정에 관한 대부분의 연구는 미술과 교육과정 목표 및 내용 체계에 중점을 둔 것이었다. 그러나 교육과정 및 교과서 개발을 위한 기초 연구로서 학교급별로 체계적인 미술 용어에 대한 분석이 필수적이었음에도 불구하고, 이에 대한 연구는 이루어지지 못하였다.
The purpose of the study was to analyze art textbooks for primary, junior high, and senior high school in Korea, the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and Japan. In order to set up the basis for the systematic organization of the content structure of art terms for developing the next Korean National Art Curriculum. For this study, each nation's National Art Curriculum, textbook system, art terms in art textbooks for each country's school level were researched. The textbooks which were collected and analyzed are following: ‘Art 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6’, ‘Art 1, 2, 3', ‘Art’, the art textbooks in primary, middle, and high school in Korea, respectively. ‘Adventures in Art 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6’, the art textbooks for primary school, and ‘Exploring visual design: The elements and principles’, the art textbook for junior and senior high school in America. Various references on National Art Curriculum on internet for primary, junior high, and senior high school in England. And finally, ‘Dowhagongjack(圖畵工作) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6', the art textbooks for primary school, ‘Middle-school Art 1, 2, 3’, the art textbooks for junior high school, ‘High-school Art 1, 2, 3', the art textbooks for senior high school in Japan. The findings of this study are as follows: 1) The art contents in the next National Art Curriculum and art textbooks for each level should be developed and presented in accordance with appropriate art terms. 2) Art terms suggested in the frame for analyzation for each school level, which is, ‘art elements’(‘dot’, ‘line’, ‘shape/form’, ‘colour’, ‘volume’, ‘texture’, ‘space’, ‘movement’, etc), ‘art principles’ (‘balance’, ‘harmony’, ‘emphasis’, ‘unity’, ‘contrast’, ‘pattern’, ‘rhythm’, etc), ‘art careers’, ‘artistic genre’, ‘art terms for art appreciation, art history’, ‘aesthetics’, ‘art materials and art tools', and finally, ‘art methods and techniques(art skills)’, would be changeable for