Abstract
In the era of alternative truths and complex school contexts, online resourcing of arts teaching is growing. Online platforms, such as Pinterest, offer ready-made activities and therefore simple answers for some classroom teachers, who are struggling to plan and implement the arts for their students. However, a lack of criticality can underscore the unexamined 'advantages' of such accessible resources. Criticality and connoisseurship are two key issues in understanding why teachers prefer online platforms for the sourcing of arts teaching resources, rather than curriculum documents written for them by 'curriculum experts'. Critically competent curriculum decisions require informed knowing about value and how the decision impacts on practice and student learning. Combined in an arts context and drawing on interviews with sixteen classroom teachers, criticality and connoisseurship are used to highlight the systemic issues of context, value and pedagogy that impact on teachers practice. Understanding the participatory nature of the internet and the multi-modality of digital texts are two suggestions for increasing teachers' criticality. These ideas are explored as a means of improving teacher's connoisseurship and arts learning for young people.