This study is concerned with pre-existing beliefs or preconceptions teacher candidates bring to their methods classes. It specifically addresses students in art education methods classes at a middle sized midwestern university and the population of generalist teachers the classes serve. The research question is particularly important because of the emergence of a new theory for delivering art education, discipline-based art education (DBAE) (Greer, 1984), that has challenged the existing art education paradigm. The study draws heavily on curriculum enactment research (Doyle, 1978). Through interviews with two groups of students, one entering and one exiting the teacher education program, the research seeks to identify and analyze the persistence of students' preconceptions about art and art education. The study's analytical framework is drawn from two bodies of research: (1) science and math studies concerning preconceptions held by students about subject matter; and, (2) studies of teachers and teacher candidates regarding the effect of their implicit beliefs on instructional choice and activities. The study finds that students have various preconceptions. Students believe that art is significantly different from other subjects. Instruction and evaluation are not deemed appropriate. Students believe that providing instruction or setting limits in an art activity is likely to restrict their students' creativity, and that any evaluation is a threat to students' self satisfaction. Entering students believe that talent is a genetic trait and can be improved very little by instruction. A prevalent preconception about observing and analyzing art is that all explanations for an artwork are equally valid since only the artist knows the real meaning behind the work. Despite a curriculum that was designed to teach students a discipline-based approach to art education, a model that emphasized the value of instruction, analysis and evaluation, many of the students' perceptions persisted. Most surprisingly, and importantly, preconceptions concerning talent and training, and instruction persisted. Although students moved toward a DBAE paradigm in some of their beliefs, in most respects students' preconceptions remained unchanged by the art methods classes.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to determine and investigate -the criteria used to identify artistically gifted children and attempt to determine their validity. Sources of data included interviews with art teachers, interviews with children in combination with observations, and observations of characteristics cited in the literature. With one exception, the criteria which these art teachers used to identify artistically gifted children correlate with criteria found in the literature. There appeared to be, however, some characteristics with which these art teachers were not familiar. One characteristic found in the literature was neither listed by these art teachers nor observed by the investigator. Results indicated that these art teachers may value different types of characteristics than the experts.

In this study, identity is conceptualised as a joint accomplishment between individuals and their interactions with norms, practices, cultural tools, relationships, and institutional and cultural contexts (Gee, 2000; Holland et al., 1998; and Wenger, 1998). From this stance, this research is within a situative approach which aims to understand motives and engagement of people as they participate in formal and informal learning contexts. This is accumulated from experiences (Dewey, 1934) which are processed and retained. From this state of being, the individual's identity is in the process of becoming; affected by personal circumstances and experiences gathered throughout the life course. In response to this, this research views identity not as a thing but as a process of being and becoming. (Beijaard, 2003). Through the process of living, individuals come into constant interaction with different contexts and cultures which inform their personalised identities. Individuals live in the world and, in so doing, create a 'meshwork' (Ingold, 2011) in which individuals do not exist in one location but move along paths acknowledging the role of other people and places in the formation of identity. Transitions throughout the individually lived life course (Elder, 1994) and the emotional experiences (Dutton and Heaphy, 2003) of these transitions aid in the identity formation of the artist teacher. The artist teacher is in a constant state of 'negotiating' between the identities of the artist and the artist teacher. The theoretical framework guiding this study merges Urie Bronfenbrenner's theory of ecological systems (1979)- the micro-, meso-, and macro- levels of human development with Barbara Rogoff's three planes of analysis (1995) - the personal, interpersonal and community levels of development. Data were built with the participation of six artist teachers living and working in North East Scotland, Aberdeen. Findings revealed fascinating ways in which the six artist teachers negotiated their artist and artist teacher identities in/through: art practice and pedagogy, collaborations with others in processes of dialogue and joint activity, and both solo and collaborative participation across persons in-contexts (Nolen et al., 2015).This study contributes to knowledge in exploring both psychological and sociological emotional experiences of the artist teacher to provide a more comprehensive and thorough examination of identity formation from a situative perspective.

The purpose of this study was to measure the effects of specially designed instructional strategies utilizing an art criticism model upon the perceptual differentiation and compositional drawing skills of college students. The an elementary art education course.All subjects received instruction in the studio activities of drawing and painting during the ten week treatment period. The three experimental groups received additional instruction in art criticism.Instrumentation consisted of the Group Embedded Figures Test, a standardized measure of perceptual differentiation, and the Student Composition Rating Scale, a measure developed by the investigator to quantify judgments of five expert judges on compositional skills displayed in drawings. Each instrument was administered as a pre- and post-test for all groups.Three null hypotheses were tested which maintained no significant differences for perceptual differentiation or compositional drawing skills among the three experimental sample consisted of 86 students enrolled in four sections of groups or between the experimental and control groups. A fourth null hypothesis maintained no significant difference between field-dependent and field-independent subjects on compositional skills displayed in drawing. These hypotheses were tested using multivariate analysis of variance and covariance. The .05 level of confidence was established. Inter-rater reliability was computed and found to be high for pre- and post-test SCRS measures.Findings and Conclusions1. All groups experienced gains in skills of perceptual differentiation. This result suggests that involvement in concentrated art activities, whether limited to studio activities, or coupled with the more cognitive aspects of art criticism, has the potential for increasing the visual perceptual skills of college students.2. The experimental groups significantly outperformed the control group on compositional drawing skill.This result suggests that the art criticism model did assist in the development and utilization of compositional strategies.3. No significant difference was found in perceptual differentiation or compositional drawing skills among the three various approaches to the implementation of the art criticism model. It would appear that student involvement with the structured analysis matrix determining factor, rather than the focus of criticism, or the degree of student involvement.4. Students who display greater skills of perceptual differentiation also display greater utilization of compositional strategies in drawing. This finding supports earlier contentions regarding the relationship between perceptual differentiation and art production.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1992. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Justin Schorr. Dissertation Committee: Hndassah Sahr. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 166-180).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1978. / Title from title page screen, viewed Jan. 21, 2005. Dissertation Committee: W.E. Colvin (chair), Max R. Rennels, Fred V. Mills, Eric Bickley, M.M. Chambers. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-106) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1975. / Title from title page screen, viewed Nov. 12, 2004. Dissertation Committee: Max Rennels (chair), Fred Mills, Charles Edwards, Susan Amster, Sherron Hill. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-67) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-125). Also available on the Internet.