The purpose of this study was to determine if commercially produced art and aesthetic education packages are quality products and if art and aesthetic education packages meet selected goals for art education. This study was limited to packages developed for preschool, kindergarten, and elementary children.To initiate the study, various avenues were explored in order to discover sources of commercially produced art and aesthetic education packages. A list of 72 publishers and suppliers of art and aesthetic education packages was compiled. From this list, a sample of 14 packages was selected.The first portion of the study pertained to the individual analysis of each package. To assess the packages comprising the sample, "An Instrument for the Assessment of Instructional Materials," developed by Maurice Eash (1972) was selected as the evaluation instrument. This instrument is divided into five sections: (a) objectives, (b) organization of material, (c) methodology, (d) evaluation, and (e) overall assessment.The second portion of the study pertained to the relationship of the package to the goals for art education. Various art educators have listed goals for art education; moreover, the goals listed by the National Art Education Commission on Art Education (1977) were selected as the goals to be used in this study.A group of trained evaluators assessed the individual packages. The findings revealed that only two packages received mean and median scores of 5.0 or higher on a rating scale of 1 through 7. This included the assessment of all five areas included in the evaluation instrument. The other 12 packages received mean and median scores of 2.5 or less on a rating scale of 1 through 7.In comparing the.packages to the goals for art education, two packages met all of the goals for art education. These two packages were the same ones which received the highest ratings on the evaluation instrument. Two other packages met two of the goals for art education. All of the other packages met only one of the goals for art education. The majority of the packages met one of two goals, either "art education as a means of developing creative and flexible forms of thinking" or "art education as a means of helping students understand and appreciate art."

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The purpose of this research was to investigate the past art experiences and the beliefs about ability to create art as held by beginning elementary generalist teachers, and the effects of those beliefs on art teaching. Constructivism as a learning theory formed the theoretical framework for this study. An investigation of the related literature explored the topics of ability to create art, elementary generalist teachers of art, beginning teachers, teachers' beliefs, preparation of art teachers, and beginning teachers' images of self as art teacher. The research, consisting of two phases, was conducted using a descriptive case study methodology. Phase one of the study consisted of using semi-structured interviews with eight elementary generalist teachers in order to determine their past art experiences and their beliefs about their ability to create art. Three of those participants formed the purposeful sample for phase two of the study which consisted of observations of five art lessons per participant, along with pre and post interviews. An extended final interview was conducted along with documentation examination and interviews with school personnel. The thesis which emerged from this study is that beliefs about ability to create art were formed from prior experiences with art, and that beliefs about an ability to create art affected the art teaching practice of the participants. The participants believed that they do not have an ability to create art and do not have the natural talent required to be an artist. These beliefs, along with their limited background in art, lack of subject matter knowledge in art, and their status as beginning teachers adversely affected their art teaching practice. This study revealed eight specific connections between beginning teachers' beliefs about their ability to create art and their art teaching practice. Insights into these beliefs about art making and their connections to art teaching suggest important implications. Noteworthy among these implications are the need for teacher education programs to provide for personal art making skill development and the need for schools to provide support and accountability within art education for beginning teachers.

In this investigation, a content analysis was made with eleven lexicographical sources and three basal reading series to determine if art and art-related words were present. The analysis was made with the use of two charts, in which each was divided into eight categories of word context. The Composite Chart contained 6,576 words found in six lexicons, five word lists and forty-two readers, and the Reader Chart contained 407 words found only in the readers. The analysis revealed: dominant categories and percentages, word and cumulative word frequencies, high and low frequency words, and the percentage of words found in the basal readers as compared to the lexicographical sources.

In September 1985, a new Fine Arts Curriculum Guide/Resource Book was introduced in elementary schools throughout British Columbia. The purpose of this study was to investigate a practitioner's use of the guide within her classroom. Enquiry into the quality of the practitioner's living within the tensionality between this curriculum-as-plan and her curriculum-as-lived experience provided a counterpoint for the researcher's personal reflections on her experiences as a school art specialist and district resource person. An art education evaluation model based on art criticism concepts provided a flexible framework for this study. Classroom observations and reflective dialogue between teacher and researcher raised these issues: the lack of integration and balance between artistic, linguistic, and mathematical modes of learning within the overall school curriculum; the nature of school art, child art and art appreciation as each relates to curriculum goals for art education; evaluation in art education; and the "being" of children and the "being" of women teachers within present educational institutions. The study generated reflections on possible changes in the roles of learners, teachers, art specialists, and educational researchers as they adapt to curriculum change. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this research was to investigate the past art experiences and the beliefs about ability to create art as held by beginning elementary generalist teachers, and the effects of those beliefs on art teaching. Constructivism as a learning theory formed the theoretical framework for this study. An investigation of the related literature explored the topics of ability to create art, elementary generalist teachers of art, beginning teachers, teachers' beliefs, preparation of art teachers, and beginning teachers' images of self as art teacher. The research, consisting of two phases, was conducted using a descriptive case study methodology. Phase one of the study consisted of using semi-structured interviews with eight elementary generalist teachers in order to determine their past art experiences and their beliefs about their ability to create art. Three of those participants formed the purposeful sample for phase two of the study which consisted of observations of five art lessons per participant, along with pre and post interviews. An extended final interview was conducted along with documentation examination and interviews with school personnel. The thesis which emerged from this study is that beliefs about ability to create art were formed from prior experiences with art, and that beliefs about an ability to create art affected the art teaching practice of the participants. The participants believed that they do not have an ability to create art and do not have the natural talent required to be an artist. These beliefs, along with their limited background in art, lack of subject matter knowledge in art, and their status as beginning teachers adversely affected their art teaching practice. This study revealed eight specific connections between beginning teachers' beliefs about their ability to create art and their art teaching practice. Insights into these beliefs about art making and their connections to art teaching suggest important implications. Noteworthy among these implications are the need for teacher education programs to provide for personal art making skill development and the need for schools to provide support and accountability within art education for beginning teachers. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

The problem is to determine why fifteen lower grade pupils were absent from school so many times during the previous year and to ascertain whether the pupils' attendance records could be improved in the present year through arts and crafts.

How much art is projected into the home and community as a result of art experiences in the school is difficult to determine without some criterion as a standard for judgement. Based upon this premise, the author attempted, with the cooperation of the art committee of the Dallas Junior League, to test the aesthetic judgement of selected groups of children in the Dallas Public Schools by evaluating their reactions to an exhibition of common household articles currently available on the Dallas market.

The purpose of this project is to address the growing need for multicultural education through the use of art. It identifies several approaches to teaching multicultural education and the importance it has on the development of today's students.

"The two books, Creative and Mental Growth by Viktor Lowenfeld and The New Art Education by Ralph Pearson, were chosen in order to compare the contributions of two art education leaders in a specific publication of each with special reference to creative painting in the lower elementary grades. These books were selected because both deal with education through art with emphasis upon painting; for the influence, reputation, and recognition which they have had in the teaching field, for their divergent objectives, and for their value in the teaching profession. My purpose in examining these two books was twofold; to compare the contributions of each book, and to clarify my own philosophy in teaching art. In terms of this purpose I have restricted the data included in this paper to the direct contents found in the named publications"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "April 19, 1952." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts under Plan II." / Advisor: Julia Schwartz, Major Professor.