Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: A, page: . Adviser: Elizabeth Delacruz. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 292-309) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

New understandings regarding the nature of intelligence, and recent research demonstrating the importance of the emotional and aesthetic context of learning, suggest that teachers reflect seriously upon the types of learning environments which will optimize the learning potential for their students (Caine & Caine; 1994, 1997; Csikszentmihalyi, 1997; Eisner, 1985/1998a; Gardner, 1993, 1999a, 1999b). My practical experience has led me to believe that the arts can provide an important vehicle through which students can explore their learning. The purpose of this investigation was to gain an understanding of the processes of meaning making in adolescent students as they learned language and literature through artistic activities. Furthermore, it identified changes in participant perceptions of their learning. The voices of the students were central to the findings of the investigation. The inquiry was qualitative in nature and underpinned by a constructivist perspective. The research findings drew on data from students in the teacher/researcher's grade eight language class. Four case studies, two girls and two boys, were also conducted. Information was gathered through interviews, audio and video taping, student journals and field notes. Data analysis utilized both within and cross-case analysis. Findings from this investigation support recent research which suggests that teachers should carefully consider the implications of MI theory, emotional intelligence, and aesthetics when designing classroom experiences for their students (Caine & Caine, 1994, 1997; Eisner, 1993; Gardner, 1999a, 1999b; Goleman, 1995; Langer, 1997; Perkins, 1992; Sylvester, 1994). Using the arts as a vehicle to give students control over the nature and direction of their learning provides a context in which more students will find success more of the time.

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This study explored two areas: (1) teacher implementation of aesthetic and critical activities in the classroom; and (2) the nature of fourth and fifth grade students' responses during such activities. A series of lessons were designed and taught to fourth and fifth grade students. The study had two goals: (1) to solicit responses from the students that would illustrate their cognitive levels and their stages of understanding art; and (2) to provide a venue by which the researcher would assess her ability to design and facilitate philosophical and interpretive activities. Data from the study indicates that these students recognize expressive qualities of portraits, understand basic symbolism, apply the concept of figurative expression to their own abstract representations, and give clearly stated reasons for their aesthetic beliefs. Reflections on the teacher's participation in the study indicate need for fine tuning of questioning and facilitating strategies, and a greater historical knowledge of art and aesthetic theories.

This thesis explores the significance of art in the relationship between democracy and education, challenging the apolitical perspective that has often resulted from the application of instrumentalist approaches in the field. Rather than viewing arts practices as a neutral means of teaching democracy, I have built on Biesta and Lawy's concept of 'citizenship-as-practice' (2006) to investigate how the arts are implicated in the ways young people learn democracy across a variety of contexts. Specifically, the objectives for my empirical research were to add to existing knowledge about young people's democratic learning in arts contexts, and to explore the significance of young people's more general engagement with art and culture for their democratic learning. The terms of the study were conceptualised via a theorisation of the relationships amongst democracy, education and art based on the work of Mouffe (2005; 2007), Rancière (1999; 2004; 2006; 2007) and Biesta (2006; 2010). The research was conducted as an interpretative study with two sets of young people recently engaged in the arts, using an adapted version of Charmaz' (2006) approach to grounded theory. The findings of the research indicate that the young people's engagement with art contributed to the their experiences of being able to act democratically or not in a number of contexts, and that it sometimes enabled them to make the imaginative leap necessary in order to learn from the experience of becoming democratically subject. The research suggests that the most fruitful way in which democratic education can 'make use' of the arts is not by teaching democratic citizenship, but rather by supporting young people as they reflect on and respond to their experiences in arts and other contexts, and by taking seriously the democratic potential of all aspects of their arts engagement.

How is meaning produced by art criticism? To address this question the study developed an analytic model that was utilized with the texts of three professional art critics. The model analyzed the critics' texts for four systems to account for the production of meaning: (a) a linguistic system, (b) an open poststructuralist system and a closed structuralist system, (c) a narrative system, and (d) a traditional system of critical practice. Each systemic analysis allowed for a unique perspective of the critics' production of meaning, but the common thread was relational meaning from structuralism. The critics' practice demonstrated that relational meaning had implications for classroom critical practice in areas of: (a) utilizing the external context to produce meaning about artworks, (b) developing a primary concept for the critical text, (c) constructing the critical argument, (d) conceptualizing the critical process, and (e) extending the traditional systems of critical practice. The work of linguists Ferdinand de Saussure (1913/1959), Roman Jakobson (1960), William Labov (1972) and literary critics Roland Barthes (1957/1972, 1970/1974, 1977/1977) and Murray Krieger (1981) informed the study and the construction of the analyses. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-10, Section: A, page: 3429. / Major Professor: Jessie Lovano-Kerr. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.