<p> The arts represent a range of visual and performance based fields that have shown to have profound intrinsic and cognitive benefits. Building on this premise, one of the emerging ways to integrate the arts with other academic disciplines is the inclusion of the arts with the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) learning, renaming it STEAM. This qualitative study aims to understand the experiences of individuals that have pioneered university programs that integrate the arts with STEM and to share student learning experiences within these interdisciplinary programs. Bolman and Deal's theories of organizational development, sociocultural theory, and experiential learning theory are the three guiding frameworks in the analysis of leadership and student learning in the selected university programs. Using a collective case study methodology, I compare and contrast extant and interview data to paint the picture of two distinct university programs.</p>

<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> Bullying behaviors among primary school-aged children are underreported, which communicates to the children that the issue is not important to the adults who should be promoting a safe and healthy environment. The purpose of this qualitative, hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions and lived experiences of a purposeful sample of 15 fourth- and fifth-grade elementary teachers concerning the possible effect of Bernstein&rsquo;s Artful Learning&trade; Model strategies (an arts integration program) on bullying behaviors of fourth- and fifth-grade students at an arts magnate school. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 15 fourth- and fifth-grade teachers, using an interview guide with open-ended questions, about their perceptions of bullying at the research site and the effects of Bernstein&rsquo;s Artful Learning&trade; model on bullying behaviors. The study results indicated use of the model has the potential to help deter bullying behaviors. Participants believed the model&rsquo;s community-building component and strategies helped decrease bullying and aggressive behaviors. This study provides educational leaders with a demonstration the efficacy of an arts-integration program in deterring bullying behaviors among elementary students.</p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative research case study was to investigate leadership and funding decisions that determine key factors responsible for sustaining arts programs in public schools. This dissertation represents one of eight dissertations in a thematic dissertation group at the University of Southern California. Each researcher conducted a qualitative research case study at a separate, individual school site. While the educational climate, financial constraints and use of standardized testing to evaluate schools continue to threaten arts programs in public education, Eastland High School, the site of this case study, managed to sustain its visual and performing arts program. Understanding the key factors that sustained the arts program at Eastland High School shaped the foundation of this research study. A qualitative lens investigated three research questions to understand: (1) arts programs at the school, (2) leadership decisions that support the arts program, and (3) funding decisions made at the site. The triangulation of data identified several emerging themes relevant to the three research questions. The first significant theme found collaborative leadership built ongoing social and political capital among all stakeholders to support and sustain the arts program. The findings discovered community partnerships represented a second important theme, which contributed toward the longevity of the arts program. A third theme determined resourceful funding decisions guided school leaders to build successful arts programs. The implications of this case study indicated collaborative leadership and resourceful funding decisions sustain viable arts programs in public schools. Based on the evidence analyzed and discussed in the findings, the case study provided educational leaders with recommendations for future research and advice to sustain arts education in public schools.</p>

<p>The 21st century imposes totally new challenges on businesses, different from anything they have experienced before, due to a very high degree of complexity and uncertainty. These transformations, in eco-political as well as in social spheres, imply a new conceptualization of leadership. We provide an understanding of leadership based on art, since we regard art as a medium incorporating unaccountable aspects of human life. This unaccountable dimension moreover, is of crucial importance in organizations nowadays, in order to provide the working atmosphere people need in order to excel at work. Thus, leaders have to become aware of the quality of relationship they create based on social interaction with the people they lead. What might be crucial elements composing the art of leadership in this relationship is well researched by a number of qualitative dialogues with experts in the domain of leadership, grounded in specific deepening literature study and thoroughly depicted in this thesis.</p>

The 21st century imposes totally new challenges on businesses, different from anything they have experienced before, due to a very high degree of complexity and uncertainty. These transformations, in eco-political as well as in social spheres, imply a new conceptualization of leadership. We provide an understanding of leadership based on art, since we regard art as a medium incorporating unaccountable aspects of human life. This unaccountable dimension moreover, is of crucial importance in organizations nowadays, in order to provide the working atmosphere people need in order to excel at work. Thus, leaders have to become aware of the quality of relationship they create based on social interaction with the people they lead. What might be crucial elements composing the art of leadership in this relationship is well researched by a number of qualitative dialogues with experts in the domain of leadership, grounded in specific deepening literature study and thoroughly depicted in this thesis.