Inclusive education practices call for the diverse and individual needs of all students to be met satisfactorily. The needs and experiences of artistically talented students in Australian visual art classrooms are currently unknown. This study addresses this gap in research through an inquiry into the experiences of artistically talented students and their teachers in visual art classrooms, by examining the accounts of a group of students and teachers at one high school in South East Queensland. This study is significant as it provides teachers, parents and others involved in the education of artistically talented students with additional means to plan and cater for the educational needs of artistically talented students. Teacher and student accounts of the visual art classroom in this study indicated that identification processes for artistically talented students are unclear and contradictory. Furthermore, teacher and student accounts of their experiences presented a wide variety of conceptions of the visual art classroom and point towards an individualised approach to learning for artistically talented students. This study also discovered a mismatch between assessment practices in the subject visual art and assessment of art in the ‘real world’. Specifically, this study proposes a renewal of programs for artistically talented students, and recommends a revision of current procedures for the identification of artistically talented students in visual art classrooms.

abstract: The issue this study addresses is the need to extend the topic of gifted art education into the multicultural realm. The purpose was to assess accommodations for gifted art students of culturally diverse backgrounds, to see how socio-economic class and culture influence identification and opportunities for gifted art students, and to identify similarities and differences among gifted art students. The research took place at five public high schools containing a high percentage of culturally diverse students around the Phoenix rural and suburban areas. Participants included five high school art teachers and five artistically talented students that each teacher identified. I conducted, transcribed and analyzed interviews with the participants. Analysis of the data has led to many themes. Teacher interviews indicated universities attended by teachers in the study didn’t touch on diversity or gifted art education, although all art teachers have had a lot of experience teaching diverse students, and reported student diversity was growing. Teachers define artistically talented students as students with natural abilities, many times looking at the students' product. Teachers recommend the students to community art classes, such as the local center for the arts, or summer college courses. Teachers vary in support, some saying they have more than enough resources and support, others saying they need more space in the classroom and smaller class sizes, or want to take students to artist studios. Results from student interviews reveal that all students in the study were self-motivated to do art everyday, two mentioning especially after a big life event, such as depression or a father dying. Participating students think of art as something beautiful and something to which they can relate, defining art very vaguely, saying it could be anything or everything. All students have future plans to major or minor in art in college or continuing creating art in their free time. Participants had supportive and encouraging art teachers and parents and had art materials readily available. Universities and high school art teachers may benefit from the study because of the need to prepare for growing diversity. Art teachers may benefit from this study by gaining a better understanding of artistically talented students of diverse backgrounds and by challenging them, and getting parents involved in supporting their child. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Art 2016

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<p>The dissertation deals with the issue of reflection, democracy and educational drama. The overarching aim of the dissertation is to investigate whether educational drama may be perceived as fostering democratic values in the literature and curricula.</p><p>The dissertation shows that, based on various different theoretical and philosophical values, an interplay does exist between the goals for an activity and the choice of content and work method, which creates a number of opportunities for reflection in the various different perspectives of educational drama. It also indicates, however, that attitudes towards educational drama shift in the different curricula, where the artistically oriented perspective is the one most sought after. As a result, education in democratic values, which does not necessarily problemize social and political issues, is demanded from educational drama.</p><p>The literature analyses made in the dissertation reveal four perspectives. Within <i>the artistically oriented perspective,</i> a democratic potential exists in giving the individual tools with which to learn both how to achieve and to create knowledge. Every performance is a story about life and, for every performance the individual takes part in, his knowledge of art and human problems at different times and in different situations increases.</p><p>Within <i>the personal development perspective</i> the individual. acquires tools to understand himself in relation to others and to understand the connection between various dynamic processes occurring at individual, group and community levels. The aesthetic form as well as the participant s' own experience of life gives cause for adaptation and reflection.</p><p>The democratic potential contained in <i>the critically liberating perspective</i> are that the individual acquires the necessary tools to investigate both in word and deed power relationships in society and how such power relationships are made apparent in concrete human situations. </p><p>The idea of fostering democratic values contained in <i>the holistic learning perspective</i> is characterised by acquiring tools with which to understand the universal human significance behind every problem. In the communicative process, the varying language skills of the individual are developed, skills in which artistic expression is fundamental for understanding complex human situations.</p>

The dissertation deals with the issue of reflection, democracy and educational drama. The overarching aim of the dissertation is to investigate whether educational drama may be perceived as fostering democratic values in the literature and curricula. The dissertation shows that, based on various different theoretical and philosophical values, an interplay does exist between the goals for an activity and the choice of content and work method, which creates a number of opportunities for reflection in the various different perspectives of educational drama. It also indicates, however, that attitudes towards educational drama shift in the different curricula, where the artistically oriented perspective is the one most sought after. As a result, education in democratic values, which does not necessarily problemize social and political issues, is demanded from educational drama. The literature analyses made in the dissertation reveal four perspectives. Within the artistically oriented perspective, a democratic potential exists in giving the individual tools with which to learn both how to achieve and to create knowledge. Every performance is a story about life and, for every performance the individual takes part in, his knowledge of art and human problems at different times and in different situations increases. Within the personal development perspective the individual. acquires tools to understand himself in relation to others and to understand the connection between various dynamic processes occurring at individual, group and community levels. The aesthetic form as well as the participant s' own experience of life gives cause for adaptation and reflection. The democratic potential contained in the critically liberating perspective are that the individual acquires the necessary tools to investigate both in word and deed power relationships in society and how such power relationships are made apparent in concrete human situations. The idea of fostering democratic values contained in the holistic learning perspective is characterised by acquiring tools with which to understand the universal human significance behind every problem. In the communicative process, the varying language skills of the individual are developed, skills in which artistic expression is fundamental for understanding complex human situations.

The purpose of the study was to determine a definitive description of "artistic giftedness." A questionnaire was sent to Texas art teachers to find what characteristics they attribute to the artistically gifted, how they determine this, and what program goals they set. The wide variety of survey responses indicates the diversity of artistically gifted individuals. The high rating on all items indicates that all could be used as identifiers (higher rated characteristics identifying a larger population, lower rated ones, a smaller population). Responses to items dealing with identification indicate nontest methods to be most widely used. No connection was found between goals chosen and either characteristics or methods.

This cognitive ethnographic study explored the mental processes that professional actors used when making artistic choices while engaged in creative practices to begin a conversation about how the theatrically gifted and talented population is viewed, researched, and educated in non-arts subjects. Professional actors at two sites were observed, videotaped, and interviewed over several rehearsals during play production. The major thematic findings indicated that artistic decision making results from actors engaging in a cyclical process of private work, affective validation, and collaboration. Implications for teaching theatrically gifted students call for classroom environments and processes that echo theatrical rehearsal structures, while engaging the imagination through personal connection and discovery.