This thesis is an analysis of existing approaches to multicultural curriculums and an original curriculum unit developed based on them. The study explores McFee and Degge’s (1977) Universal Institutions of an Evolving Culture and Related Curricular Themes in correlation with Banks’s (2009) Levels of Integration of Ethnic Content. The purpose of the study is to help educators make effective multicultural curricular choices when constructing unit lessons to give students a more comprehensive multicultural experience in art class. The goal is to understand that “culture can be a tool and a more powerful concept than language because it can be used to organize and teach more information” (Banks, p. 55).

This study investigated the relationship between visual cues in art reproductions, simple linguistic time vocabulary and children's temporal understandings. During interview sessions, 33 third-grade students attending two suburban schools were asked to place three art postcard reproductions sets in chronological order. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded for analysis. Linguistic references used to represent historical time and visual cues within the art postcards which caused students to place art works in a particular time sequence were documented.

Most colleges and universities offer a general course in elementary art education to provide instruction to the elementary generalist to enable that student to later provide art instruction to students at the elementary level. This course is commonly referred to as the two-credit course in elementary art education throughout this thesis. This thesis is a case study investigation of a certified elementary art specialist and a non-art certified teacher teaching elementary art in the Subject School District in Utah. It asks and gathers data on three main questions. How is art education valuable for elementary students? What is a quality elementary art curriculum? How does an elementary art specialist change the learning experience of elementary art students? Under these three main questions the following questions are also considered: Where do teachers obtain their curricula? What research exists that describes differences between art specialists and non-art specialists teaching elementary art? What were the qualities within each art room? What types of art projects are being taught in these two different classrooms?Further, a survey was constructed to seek answers about the attitudes towards art education in the Subject School District in relation to the three questions under consideration. To ensure the maximum in statistical accuracy, the survey was sent to every elementary school in this district including all elementary administrators. The survey contained 49 statements on attitudes towards elementary art education. There were 129 elementary educators and administrators out of 2,300 from Subject School District that responded. The data from the survey was analyzed to determine where these attitudes lie and the thoughts on the importance of art education at the elementary level. The results of this survey show the typical elementary educator in Subject School District feel the arts are indeed an important part of the elementary curriculum. However, the majority do not feel fully prepared to teach a quality elementary art curriculum and feel elementary art should be taught by art specialists.

This a/r/tographic research study examines how explorations of identity and place influence a sense of self. An elementary art educator investigated the roles of artist, researcher and teacher by having students create artwork individually and as a class. These pieces reflected their understanding of place and how it contributed to a sense of self. Using the methodology of a/r/tography, this teacher separated her identities of artist, teacher and researcher, and explored the complications and implications of all three in relation to her place as an elementary art specialist and her identity in the classroom. Several important understandings were drawn from this research study, specifically the idea of using art making as a learning tool to uncover identities in relation to place in an elementary classroom, the complications of working with elementary students on a deeper level due to the amount of students and the schedule of an art specialist, and the difficulties of coping with the demands placed on an art specialist.

The purpose of this research is to examine ways that the instructional use of voluntary risk-taking and multimodality might decrease preservice elementary educators' artistic trepidation and assist them to reconceptualize elementary art education. The study investigates participant-reported impacts and insights, and inspects ways that participants utilize multimodality during course assignments. This qualitative action research study was conducted in a semester-long arts methods and materials course with 23 participants who were university preservice elementary education students. Data were collected during instruction through open-ended questionnaires, researcher fieldnotes, participant fieldnotes, course culmination projects, participant artwork, written reflections, and participant-created elementary art lesson plans. A hybrid theoretical construct utilized both multimodal and reconceptualist theories. Participant self-reported comfort ratings during the study indicate increased artistic comfort in both making art and teaching art after instruction. Findings from the study suggest the need for educators to focus on arts integration during course instruction and to address the art apprehension held by some preservice elementary educators. Insights shared confirm that recognizing preservice elementary educators' multimodal skills contributes to educational possibilities for their own future instructional practice. By facilitating voluntary risk-taking and multimodality opportunities during the teaching of art education to preservice elementary educators, this study contributes to scholarship about successful instructional strategies and the importance of contemporary arts methods.

This study investigated using literature as an alternative means to teach the art curriculum. Three widely used integrated curriculum models (Reading Improvement Through Art, Learning Through the Arts, and Champions of Change) were studied and analyzed in search of the best features for art-literature integration. A new curriculum is developed for two different grades using the Fulton County Elementary Art Education Curriculum standards as the foundation. This study used picture books as the catalyst to create an art-literature curriculum.

The purpose of this document is to design and record a Kindergarten visual arts unit using the Activboard to determine how student achievement, motivation, and interest are impacted. Methods of data collection include both observational recording and student interviews. The Activboard facilitates a highly interactive study of the art curriculum and data collected throughout the unit indicates a positive impact on student achievement, motivation, and interest.

This study investigated using literature as an alternative means to teach the art curriculum. Three widely used integrated curriculum models (Reading Improvement Through Art, Learning Through the Arts, and Champions of Change) were studied and analyzed in search of the best features for art-literature integration. A new curriculum is developed for two different grades using the Fulton County Elementary Art Education Curriculum standards as the foundation. This study used picture books as the catalyst to create an art-literature curriculum.

This research study explored the role of the elementary art educator in facilitating individualized learning experiences for students in contrast to a standardized culture of education. The methodology of a/r/tography was used to investigate the role of the teacher, as well as artist and researcher, within an inquiry-based art curriculum for a fifth grade class. Inspired by contemporary art practices, students used inquiry to investigate, research and experiment with their ideas around an integrated topic of compare and contrast as found within the fifth grade science and language arts standards. Students created a work of art as a means to inquire or in reaction to an inquiry. This study hopes to persuade educators, specifically elementary art educators, to guide students toward personal and meaningful learning.

The art of making pottery has long been recognized as a valuable educational activity, both for its cultural value and for the opportunity it presents for creative activity. However, the impression is prevalent among school teachers and administrators that the making of pottery requires the purchase of raw material as well as an expensive kiln. For this reason few schools have given pottery making a place in school activities. Experiments with Texas clays have shown conclusively that pottery making is a comparatively simple and inexpensive undertaking. The purpose of this study is to present and evaluate these experiments so that other Texas teachers may utilize them in their work, especially in the elementary art classes of the public schools.