<p> This study examined the relationship between participation in an intensive summer arts program and creative thinking as measured by pre- and posttests using the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. It sought to examine the experiences of the teen apprentices in the summer Art Camp program. The purpose of this study was to compare scores on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking before and after a 7-week arts apprenticeship across arts disciplines with urban teenagers. A parallel explanatory research design was used. The two research questions were as follows: What is the relationship between the pre- and posttest scores on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) after participation in an intensive summer arts apprenticeship? And How do Art Camp apprentices describe the impact of the program and their experiences as apprentices? Findings show an increase in creativity as measured by the TTCT and largely positive impact on the apprentices. Implications for transformational leaders include support for collaborative community partnerships as well as for the use of summer arts programming as a way to boost cultural capital for economically disadvantaged teens.</p>

<p> This study looked at the impact of a weeklong visual art program informed by clinical art therapy on empathy development with two groups of adolescents in their school setting. The study used a mixed-methods approach to uncover any quantitative change in empathy as well as identify emergent themes seen through qualitative data. Quantitative outcomes indicated no change in empathy development as seen through analysis of a survey measure. Qualitative analysis uncovered several key findings seen through observations, participant interviews, and visual art data; most specifically, participants illustrated beginning levels of empathy by way of increased self-awareness and several cognitive functions involved in empathy development.</p>

<p> Due to federal laws requiring standardized testing of only a select few of the core subjects, many students have been divested of fine arts instruction (Chen, 2008; Garcia, 2010; Jacobsen &amp; Rothstein, 2009; Maxwell, 2008; Suzuki, 2009). Moreover, school officials have reduced funding allocated to non-tested content areas as one means of balancing district budgets in a poor economy (Chen, 2008; Garcia, 2010). This mixed method study examined music educators' and curriculum directors' perceptions of how federal education laws have affected public school fine arts. Analysis of data from interviews of six music educators and six curriculum directors were conducted concurrently with the distribution of a Likert online survey. The interview and survey methodologies provided descriptive data of educators' perceptions regarding the consideration of fine arts as a core subject in policy and practice, the role of public school fine arts in the education of the whole child, the overall value of the fine arts in light of brain research, and the controversy surrounding the standardized assessment of the fine arts. The findings of the study revealed that even though all curriculum directors and music educators agreed the fine arts should be included in a child's holistic education, music educators possessed stronger beliefs regarding the fine arts being considered a core subject, Curriculum directors indicated their districts valued the fine arts as a public relations tool and as a means to boost achievement in other subjects, while music educators in the same district spoke of feeling devalued, indicating a disconnect in communication between administrators and staff. Finally, though many educators oppose the standardized testing of the fine arts, the assessments would provide valuable data.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Washington State University, 2006. / (UMI)AAI3242123. Adviser: David A. Gruenewald. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-11, Section: A, page: 4070.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Harvard University, 2006. / (UMI)AAI3244757. Adviser: Jessica Hoffmann Davis. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-12, Section: A, page: 4417.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-05, Section: A, page: 1621. Adviser: Luis Miron. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 216-223) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1969. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-11, Section: A, page: 4078. Advisers: Liora Bresler; Daniel Walsh. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 182-186) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

This documentary analysis study critically examines representations of a multicultural perspective in selected Ontario elementary school visual arts curriculum and support documents. The study focuses on five documents that were published between 1985 and 1998, a period that coincides with important curricular changes in art education. This period was also significant with regards to developments that occurred in this province relating to multicultural education. To complete this analysis, references to race, ethnicity and culture were examined in order to identify ways in which they were being utilized in the documents. Furthermore, these references were analyzed from the perspective of critical multiculturalism to determine how multicultural education was being represented in the resources. I argue that while certain efforts were made to include a multicultural perspective in art education during this time period, these were for the most part inadequate in that they tend to present information out of context, fail to include diverse perspectives, overemphasize certain groups to the detriment of others, and perpetuate false information and stereotypes. I also contend that these deficiencies in art education are closely related to the political context that influenced the role and place of art education within the educational system.

This research looks at the effects of learning environments on the creative process of learning. The literature search addresses fundamentals of, and relationships between learning, creative process and art-making through neurophysiological, aesthetic, and psychobiological theory. These three things are further tied together through a movement analysis tool—the Kestenberg Movement Profile (KMP)—which underscores the common tie between the three: bodily movement in the forces of space, weight, and time of the three-dimensional world in which we live. The Kestenberg Movement Profile was used to analyze the movement of preschool children in three activity categories of movement: formal activities, improvisational dance, and art-making. A gestalt notation of group movement was done; the notation was scored and plotted separately for each activity category. An interpretation of each activity profile was done for KMP factors related to the creative process of learning. These factors were: developmental age being expressed in each activity, as well as affect, self-esteem, learning styles and structures, creative and social intelligence, and agreement between internal states and the effective communication of those states. Results showed formal activities as hindering the creative process of learning. Formal activities required highly controlled bodily movement of the children. This research study indicates, as the literature suggests, that children of this age group—ages three-and-a-half to five years—develop a healthy self-identify and intelligence through bodily movement and creative spontaneity.