The purpose of this study is to describe and interpret young children's shared narrative construction and story acting practices within an early childhood visual arts program. Narrative and story acting offer children unique opportunities to explore ideas, thoughts, and questions. Listening to children and trying to understand their perspectives, thought processes, and experiences is a necessary and vital way of illuminating our understanding of curriculum practice. Based on the researcher's kindergarten art workshop program, this inquiry specifically addresses: (a) What is the context (the structure and organization) of the shared narrative process to be studied? (b) What are the major themes that emerge in the children's small group narrative? (c) What does this collection of narratives tell about what these particular kindergarten students feel and think about their world? This study provided an ethnographic-type account of the young children's co-constructed narratives in response to works of art. The study included 18 children from a private Montessori school in the northeast. The kindergartners worked in three separate small groups of six. Each group took part in 9 sessions. The children ranged in age from 4.9 to 5.9 years old. The primary methodology is that of participant observation. The design of this project is exploratory, descriptive, and interpretive in nature. The data in this study was gathered via audiotape and observational field notes. Data analysis primarily consisted of reviewing field notes to identify themes, patterns, events, and actions in the children's narrative activities as well as to generate working hypotheses. The application of the coding system by Wolf (2002) aided classifying co-constructed conversational sequences in order to allow the frequencies of each category to be calculated and compared. Analysis consists of the three aspects of data transformation advanced by Wolcott (1994). This ethnographic research emphasized the importance of listening to children's voices.

Previous research does not address the integral role art plays in early childhood education and preschool teachers and providers are rarely trained to teach art creatively. This study presents a framework for training early childhood providers in the developmental and psychological aspects of early childhood art, and the methodology of formulating and teaching creative art activities. The study assessed the effectiveness of this training in changing attitudes and behaviors of preschool teachers and day care providers, regarding the value of art for the young child and methods of teaching art to children. The sample was composed of 73 preschool teachers, assistant teachers, and family day care providers in Western Massachusetts. The treatment group received training in creative art activities. Both groups were administered pre- and post- tests regarding attitudes towards children's art, a demographic survey and a researcher-designed preschool and day care questionnaire. After the training the subjects' styles of teaching art to young children were observed and evaluated. The treatment group completed an evaluation of the training, a self-evaluation form and participated in post- training interviews. The effectiveness of the training program was confirmed by the evaluations. Subjects found the training was important to their professional growth. Statistical findings reveal significant differences for 11 of the 23 items on the Likert-type attitude pretest and posttest. Non-significant findings show a change in the expected direction for almost all items. Although the control group also showed change on some items, their change was always smaller than that of the treatment group. The data showed that overall, educational level made no difference in participants' attitudes towards the value of children's art. The methodology and behavior of teaching art by treatment group subjects were more effective than the control group. When observed, treatment group subjects displayed a smaller percentage of dictated art activities. Both groups displayed an equal percentage of creative art activities in their facilities. The results of this study indicate the importance of teaching art creatively with an awareness of the developmental and psychological implications for preschool children. It depicts positive implications for future research.

This research looks thoughtfully and deeply at the relationship between art education and signs, as defined by the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze (1964/1998). Signs, as articulated by Deleuze (1964/1998), are violent disruptions to our way of understanding the world, causing us to think again and/or re-consider what we once knew (or thought we knew). This study looks generatively at how these kinds of disruptive and disorienting moments might be mined for possibilities in art education and remind us of our own relationality. As a post-qualitative lived inquiry, it asks how might art education be-with apprenticeship to signs and what might art education do-with sign-encounters? Using the theoretical lens of transcendental empiricism and new materialism, this study considers how art educators might hold open the space of sign-encounters for oneself and one's students by turning towards the rhizomatic cut and staying with uncertainty. It is focused on the doing-with, making-with, and thinking-with of art, pedagogy, and philosophy/theory, investigating their deep entanglements in spaces of disruption and ultimately developing frame-works for engaging in this kind of work in the classroom. Drawing from Erin Manning and Brian Massumi's theory of research-creation, this research was experienced in an emergent, layered, and complex way over the last two years, including the construction of this dissertation presented as an assemblage all of its own.

Since the 1970's collaborations, partnerships, and networks between schools and universities have been increasing. As Goodlad points out we no longer have to justify the value of school/university partnerships, but it is the descriptions of the processes that are lacking (Goodlad in Sirotnik & Goodlad, 1988). I have studied a partnership among a public elementary school, a university school of education, and two cultural institutions. The focus of the partnership was on the arts as the entry point to broader and deeper approaches to teaching and learning. A review of literature related to school/university partnerships and artists in the schools and the integration of the arts in the curriculum provides a foundation for this study. The case study design using in-depth and informal interviewing and participant observation was developed from a review of the nature of the phenomena to be studied. This inquiry was guided by the question: What factors, circumstances or environments within the partnership process foster the development of all participants as learners? The study examines the planning year and one year of implementation. During the planning year of this study I focused on an overview of the development of the three year art partnership plan and the efforts to lay the foundation for implementation of the plan. A description of the work with artists, university consultant, and the Cultural Education Collaborative's summer institute in the arts serves to show how that foundation was built. During the year of implementation the study focuses on the process of two pilot teachers as they interfaced with the components of the partnership program: the infusion of the arts in the curriculum, modeled by artists in residence, and experiential learning opportunities aided by interns and a consultant from the University School of Education partner. Conclusions drawn from the data indicate that the school community was energized by the involvement of community resources such as artists, consultants, interns et al. when their involvement was relevant to the interests and stated goals of the participants. This school/university (school of education) partnership provided a way for teachers and interns to reflect on their practice at their own pace. When participants come together open to ideas different from their own, and open to experiences new to them, personal and professional growth occurred. The arts were a vehicle for getting in touch with their creative potential. Recommendations for further research are presented.

<p> The affective domain of loneliness is an essential creative force in children's lives. Unwanted solitude, although disparaged in our culture, is a theme that takes center stage in stories. This study explores the ways in which Loneliness as an active archetypal presence operates in positive ways in children's imaginations as revealed by children's literature, folklore, film, and myth. The isolated orphan or banished outsider lost within the wilds of narrative <i>makes</i> and enriches her emergent world using the tools of the body, imagination, and voice. Utilizing the modalities of visual art, dramatic play, and lyrical storytelling, inventive companions and elaborate landscapes are constructed which succeed in soothing and expanding the child's psyche.</p><p> Employing the archetypal psychology approach, this study imagines (and personifies) Loneliness as the youngest of three sisters: Solitude, Aloneness, and Loneliness. Although these three siblings share similar genetic traits and are woven together in countless tales, Sister Loneliness stands apart as a unique archetypal actor. She is far more restless and angst-ridden than her sisters. Dissatisfied with her companionless state, she holds within her a yearning&mdash;the desire/<i>eros</i>&mdash;to construct a new cosmology filled with inventive possibilities. This dissertation qualitatively describes these vast and varied universes.</p><p> In conjunction with an analysis of well-known (and lesser-known) children's stories, the research examines Loneliness's real-world creations in the classroom and therapeutic settings, including children's drawings, sand play constructions, stories, and poetry. Further areas of focus are the role of the adult in solitary geographies, the gendered-base response to loneliness, and the transitional object as a vital compass on the path towards individuation.</p><p> Key Words: loneliness, creativity, children's literature, child development, folklore.</p>

Arts administrators are charged with a number of responsibilities, one of which is to educate the public concerning art. In a rapidly changing, pluralistic, and information packed society, the important task of understanding how to interpret cultural symbols can be both difficult and confusing. This confusion can be observed in an emergent arena where current print advertising and appropriation art, which closely resembles advertising, came together. Much print advertising and appropriated art share similar symbols and forms. But beyond surface resemblance are these symbols and forms used in the same manner? Are meaning and intent similar or different? What are the underlying messages inherent in each respective form? What does each say about art and about contemporary society? And what is the significance of this for arts administration? / "Reading" images is dependent on a combination of direct experience and applied knowledge resulting from life experience. It has been argued that audiences of all ages can learn to look at both advertisements and appropriated art images and to examine not only the formal elements of design, but also the embedded meanings therein, and by this, to have a greater understanding of the society in which they live. / Working from the premise that art is a language in the broad sense of its being communication, the purpose of this study was to analyze and interpret appropriated art images and contemporary print advertisements to understand their symbol use, intentions, value systems, and relationships to each other and what they reflect about contemporary art and culture for possible use by arts administrators in serving their constituents. Toward this end, a literature review of appropriation and of the print advertising media was conducted. Based on this foundation a methodologically consistent critical analysis, interpretation, contextual examination and evaluation was conducted on five print advertisements and five contemporary appropriation art works which use similar visual language and techniques. It was concluded that appropriation art and print advertising have similar forms and are both instrumental, but the intent of each form is markedly different. Implications of these findings are posited for arts administrators. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-03, Section: A, page: 0693. / Major Professor: Tom Anderson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

This study examined the prevalence of electronic imaging through a content analysis of course inventories in all public post-secondary institutions in the state of Florida in relation to national trends. The question addressed was: to what extent, and in what ways, is computer/information-based high technology reflected in public post-secondary course inventories and curriculum in electronic imaging in the State of Florida in relation to national trends? The central data for this study was derived from five course inventories in the areas of Art Education, Studio Art, Photography, Graphic Arts, and Communications in the State of Florida Statewide Course Numbering System (SCNS). Through an analysis of course inventories obtained from the Florida Department of Education, the literature review, and referential analysis of the national survey of photographic curricula in post-secondary journalism programs, the following conclusions have been drawn. First, the Statewide Course Numbering System of the State of Florida, has shown efforts in accommodating new electronically-based imaging technologies through the employment of various curricular devices. Yet at the course level, the state of Florida evidences a need for curricular attention, in the area of electronic imaging-related courses. Next, through the analysis of the SCNS and survey data sources which were assessed in this study, it has been concluded that because of the great costs involved with electronic imaging in post-secondary environments, and the ever-changing forms of these media, more than the curriculum needs to be addressed. Finally, this study suggests that future research needs to focus on appropriate curricular forms which will accommodate the special and ever-changing needs of the electronically-based imaging arts. It has further been postulated that special consideration now needs to address / the administrative and fiscal relationships of this new area of curricular challenge and capital depletion in post-secondary imaging arts and arts education programs. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-03, Section: A, page: 0740. / Major Professor: Jessie Lovano-Kerr. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: A, page: . Adviser: Liora Bresler. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 178-189) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

<p> Internet Memes transverse and sometimes transcend cyberspace on the back of impossibly cute LOLcats speaking mangled English and the snarky remarks of Image Macro characters always on the lookout for someone to undermine. No longer the abstract notion of a cultural gene that Dawkins (2006) introduced in the late 1970s, memes have now become synonymous with a particular brand of vernacular language that internet users engage by posting, sharing and remixing digital content as they communicate jokes, emotions and opinions. </p><p> For the purpose of this research the language of Internet Memes is understood as visual, succinct and capable of inviting active engagement by users who encounter digital content online that exhibits said characteristics. Internet Memes were explored through an Arts-Based Educational Research framework by first identifying the conventions that shape them and then interrogating these conventions during two distinct research phases. <?Pub _newline>In the first phase the researcher, as a doctoral student in art and visual culture education, engaged class readings and assignments by generating digital content that not only responded to the academic topics at hand but did so through forms associated with Internet Memes like Image Macros and Animated GIFs. In the second phase the researcher became a meme literacy facilitator as learners in three different age-groups were led in the reading, writing and remixing of memes during a month-long summer art camp where they were also exposed to other art-making processes such as illustration, acting and sculpture. Each group of learners engaged age-appropriate meme types: 1) the youngest group, 6 and 7 year-olds, wrote Emoji Stories and Separated at Birth memes; 2) the middle group, 8-10 year-olds, worked with Image Macros and Perception memes, 3) while the oldest group, 11-13 year-olds, generated Image Macros and Animated GIFs. </p><p> The digital content emerging from both research phases was collected as data and analyzed through a hybrid of Memetics, Actor-Network Theory, Object Oriented Ontology, Remix Theory and Glitch Studies as the researcher shifted shapes yet again and became a Research Jockey sampling freely from each field of study. A case is made for Internet Memes to be understood as an actor-network where meme collectives, individual cybernauts, software and source material are all actants interrelating and making each other enact collective agencies through shared authorships. Additionally specific educational contexts are identified where the language of Internet Memes can serve to incorporate technology, storytelling, visual thinking and remix practices into art and visual culture education. </p><p> Finally, the document reporting on the research expands on the hermeneutics of Internet Memes and the phenomenological experiences they elicit that are otherwise absent from traditional scholarly prose. Chapter by chapter the dissertation was crafted as a journey from the academic to the whimsical, from the lecture hall to the image board (where Internet Memes were born), from the written word to the remixed image as a visual language that is equal parts form and content that emerges and culminates in a concluding chapter composed almost entirely of popular Internet Meme types. </p><p> An online component can be found at http://memeducation.org/</p>

This study examines a cross-disciplinary curriculum that uses guided imagery and writing warm-ups to enhance student awareness of sensory properties in the teaching of printmaking, book making and memoir writing. I questioned whether implementation of such a course could: (1) increase student motivation? (2) show improvement in student writing? (3) show student comprehension and application of basic printmaking and book making techniques? (4) show evidence of experimentation in student artwork that results from an awareness of the sensory properties? The curriculum was taught to two courses of middle school students during the University of Arizona's SEEK (Summer Education Enrichment for Kids) program. Each course was two weeks' duration for two hours a day. Quantitative and qualitative results indicate an improvement in student writing and a comprehension and application of printmaking and book making techniques, in addition to experimentation in art as a result of awareness of the sensory properties. Evidence also suggests that both subjects enhance one another when taught together.