Education Commons^™

Hip-Hop, Medellín And Social Change, Veronica Henao Posada

Master's Theses

This study explores the ways in which the Hip-hop movement is producing social change in Medellín, Colombia. Looking specifically at a Hip-hop school called Cuatro Elementos Skuela, which exists autonomously and with very little state support in the Medellín neighborhood of Aranjuez, I argue that young people are contributing to the reconstruction of the city’s social, cultural and economic fabric. I start by explaining the historical context of Medellín, describing the different sets of conflicts that unleashed high levels of violence and caused the fragmentation of the social, cultural and economic fabric. Moreover, I review the role of the …

A Case Study Investigating How Art Education Fosters Collaboration In An Urban Environment Through The Lens Of Public Pedagogy, Tracy Fox

Art Education Projects

This case study examines how one particular after-school arts program in an urban environment bridges the gap between a university campus and the community it serves, creating opportunities for collaboration via the arts. The study was conducted at a community center run by Buffalo State.

Over the course of the study, ten interviews were conducted with a variety of people connected to the Community Arts Center’s (CAC) arts programs, including partners in the public arts initiative. The data was collected and analyzed over the course of eight weeks through the lens of Henry Giroux’s public pedagogy, which focuses on educational …

Qualitative Action Research On The Benefits Of Adding Humor And Aspects Of Play In An Elementary Art Education Classroom With Sixth Graders, Kelly Macagnone

Art Education Projects

This qualitative action research study explored the benefits of using humor and aspects of play as teaching strategies in the art classroom. This study was conducted in a small Catholic elementary school located in Western New York. One sixth grade class, composed of nine students, participated in this study. Data was collected and analyzed a period of ten weeks. Conducted through the theory of constructivism, students were engaged and encouraged to construct deep understandings of important concepts in the art classroom through the tools of humor and play. My focus was how the students’ perceived humor and play in the …

A Basic Qualitative Study Investigating The Implementation Of Constructivist Teaching Practices In A K-2 Art Classroom, Carly Schrader

Art Education Projects

Abstract

This basic qualitative research examined the question, “What aspects of constructivism can be found in a kindergarten through second grade art classroom?” Over an eight to ten week period, I investigated a kindergarten, first, and second grade class of an elementary art teacher who did not identify herself as a constructivist teacher, but claimed to incorporate as many constructivist aspects as possible. I interpreted the data collected through a constructivist lens in order to record the implementation of aspects of constructivist practices and explore the variety of verbal and visual responses of the teacher and students. Data collection methods …

A Basic Qualitative Study Investigating How Middle School Art Teachers In Urban And Suburban Settings Employ Aspects Of Multiculturalism, Teresa J. Burgio

Art Education Projects

Abstract

I began this qualitative study on multicultural education in the classroom because I wanted to find out how art teachers implement multiculturalism and also how students react. I also wanted to learn what resources are used and strategies for this type of teaching. I chose an urban middle school with a sixth grade art class and a suburban middle school with a seventh grade art class. I taught as a substitute at these schools and these teachers informed me they teach multiculturalism in the art room. Both teachers are experienced and have been teaching art for over 15 years. …

Attitudinal Factors Of Teachers Regarding Arts Integration, Sara Elston Williams

Dissertations

The integration of the arts provides an enriched learning and teaching environment where teachers become facilitators of meaningful and engaging activities and lessons that increase student achievement. This study examined the attitudinal factors possessed by educators in schools who participate in the Whole Schools Initiative and those who do not. This study also reported the perceptions of arts integration by classroom teachers who participate in the Whole Schools Initiative and those who do not participate in the Whole Schools Initiative. The Teaching With the Arts Survey (TWAS) was used to determine if statistically significant differences exist on teacher attitudes, self-efficacy, …

Mining Our Heritage: Oral History And Place-Based Learning In The Adirondacks, Christine Campeau

MALS Final Projects, 1995-2019

Cultural history museums and historic sites recognize the power of storytelling to engage and educate their visitors. Public schools ingrained in a standards-based curriculum often overlook the value of family stories and local history. The emerging discipline of place-based education offers a pedagogical approach that uses the local community as the focal point, providing a unique curriculum that extends beyond the traditional school walls. Oral history is a fundamental methodology for connecting students to regional history and culture, and is an ideal introduction to the broader theoretical perspective of place-based education. This research explores the concept of using oral history …

Dispelling The Myth Of The One Tribe Nation The Work Of David W Ojnarowicz, Jimmy C. Powell

MALS Final Projects, 1995-2019

The work of artist David Wojnarowicz continues to illicit controversy 20 years after his death. Recently censored at the Smithsonian, his work is an example of the power of art as a tool for resistance and elucidation of not only political oppression, but cultural as well. Wojnarowicz explored the hegemonic relationship between agency and structure, making private moments public to dispel the notion of a ' one tribe nation'. Starting with a theoretical framework based on Pierre Bourdieu's concept of field production and ending with Giorgio Agamben's theory on the state of exception, this iconoclastic artist is examined to explore …

Elementary Art And Writing, Mary A. Beningo

Masters Theses

The problem that I researched in today’s art education world is how to correlate elementary art curricula with writing curricula. To investigate this issue I field tested a curriculum module that reflects the contemporary issues of writing in art education. The curriculum module under investigation has been designed to correlate my 5^th grade fine arts curriculum with the homeroom teacher’s 5^th grade language arts curriculum.

During this study I worked with 56 fifth grade students and incorporated four writing projects into their fine arts curriculum: a Character Exploration project, a Black-out poetry project, a surrealistic textured paper collage …

Arts Education In An Urban School District: Principals' Perspectives And Practices In A Standards-Based Environment Coupled With An Economic Downturn, Kristin Ann Steinbach

Theses and Dissertations

This case study explored perspectives of urban principals towards the values of arts education within the context of accountability coupled with economic strain, which has worked to undervalue arts education, and has impacted urban students' access to quality arts education (Chapman, 2004 & 2005). Since differences in access to arts education has been drawn along differences in ethnic, racial and socioeconomic status, this was understood as a social justice issue (Theoharis, 2007). Specifically, this research addressed the roles of principals and investigated the research question:

How do urban principals and school leaders perceive the value of the arts within a …

Listening To Voices Of Exceptional Students To Inform Art Pedagogy, Christina Yarmol

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study explored the pedagogical practices that fostered engagement for seven participants with physical disabilities and in some cases multiple exceptionalities who successfully earned a credit in a high school Visual Arts course. It answered the key question: What can art educators learn from students' stories of art education that would better enable art educators to enact a pedagogy that engages students with disabilities in the Visual Arts classroom? A narrative inquiry methodology was employed to gather stories and art work from these key informants acting as active agents in their own storied responses that were triangulated with field notes …

Do You See What I See? : Using Students' Self-Portraits To Gain New Perspectives On Teaching And Learning, Jordana Goldstein

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The purpose of this research and project is to better understand how and whether the combination of Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) and student artwork can enhance teachers' knowledge of attitudes toward individual children, and whether it encourages teachers to include the arts as well as VTS processes in their classrooms.

Curriculum Design In The Urban Arts Classroom; Can The Common Core Standards Be The Great Equalizer For Arts Education? : A Research Paper And Studio Art Unit Study, Kathleen Kennedy

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The purpose of this research is to present a case for developing Common Core Standards for the arts as an avenue to increase universal access to quality arts education regardless of a student's geographic or socioeconomic background.

An Alphabet Of The Arts, Jessica Barksdale

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The purpose of this project is to create an arts resource book, inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach, for classroom teachers.

The Teacher In The Studio, Molly Alexander

Graduate Student Independent Studies

As a potter and teacher, the author connected her practice in the studio to her practice in the classroom by designing and creating cups for the two-year-old children she teaches. This thesis includes visual documentation of the author's design and production process, an analysis of theory and research, and a personal reflection.

"Kids Create" : The Development Of An Out-Of-School Program For Creative, Empowered Exploration In Hudson, New York, Bonnie Scott Jones

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Describes the design and implementation of an out-of-school program that the author developed and facilitated in Hudson, New York. The program, "Kids Create," provides elementary school-aged children with opportunities for creative, empowered exploration through project-based "design and build" workshops.

A Life Well Crafted, Sarah Renee Clay

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This paper will attempt to define the relationship between creative thinking required for a craft and aspects of adult development, such as goal setting and achieving. Included in the study is a curriculum designed to teach sewing to beginning students, an introduction to creative thinking, and four case studies.

Using The Contextual Model Of Learning In A Museum Program To Prepare For Student Visitors With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Mihaela V. Schwartz

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This study presents the findings from the evaluation of two distinct programs developed around the needs of children with autism and their families. Both programs were developed to provide accessible, sensory-rich, project-based learning experiences, where the families with children on the autism spectrum can learn together while pursuing the children's social and behavioral goals and the health of the community overall.

Making Power Visible For Museum Educators : A Theoretical Framework For Multicultural Museum Education, Sehr Karim-Jaffer

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The central guiding question of this study is how can museum educators (and volunteers) effectively engage multicultural audiences, who may face langauge and socioeconomic barriers, with objects of art in museum galleries?.

Arts Integration: Learning "Through" And "With" The Arts, A Curricular Process And As A Collaborative Engagement, Sonja Shank

HIM 1990-2015

The world of education is constantly changing. As our culture and society evolves and grows, our educational practices must follow suit to reach the minds of tomorrow in a meaningful way. Arts integration is the teaching practice of using the arts as a lens through which students can view and articulate other subject matter. Integration of dance, music and visual arts promotes creativity and interest but also nurtures a meaningful educational experience. This confluence of educational disciplines will engage our students and excite them about learning. It is important to recognize that " culture populated by a people whose imagination …

A Qualitative Case Study: Adults As Contributing Factors To Artistic And Aesthetic Development In Early Childhood, Caitlin M. White

Art Education Projects

Abstract

This qualitative case study investigated the question, “What insights can be gained by examining the role of parents and preschool teachers as contributing factors to artistic and aesthetic development in early childhood?” To build a foundation for this study, my review of literature gave a detailed account of past research that substantiates the benefits of the arts in early childhood development, the role of adults as vital to the enhancement of artistic and aesthetic development in early childhood, and the influence that home and preschool environments have on the artistic and aesthetic development of young children. The participants of …

A Basic Qualitative Study Investigating How Art Teachers Employ Visual Culture In Teaching Art, Eric M. Kyre

Art Education Projects

With my background in Graphic Design, I wondered how the images and structures of visual culture were understood and used inside the art classroom. I analyzed 32 of 40 anonymous questionnaires returned from select art teachers throughout western New York. The questions used were geared toward finding the participants’ definitions and knowledge of visual culture, how they felt visual culture affected their students, and how they could teach using visual culture. I compared these anonymous responses to the data from observations and semi-structured interviews of a middle and secondary art teacher who said they used visual culture in their art …

Qualitative Narrative Research Investigating The Value Of Visual Art Education Captured Through The Stories Of High School Students Labeled At-Risk, Leah C. Peca

Art Education Projects

My personal and professional experiences in education led me to develop a unique perspective on the value of the visual arts. Existing literature about the impact of visual art education on students is written primarily from the point of view of educators and researchers. I wondered what the stories of high school students who have been labeled at-risk might reveal about their visual art experiences. As a participant-observer, I studied my own students using a postmodern approach to qualitative narrative research. I chose six students, three of whom were labeled at-risk, to share their stories and opinions about their visual …

A Qualitative Case Study Of The Aesthetic Development Of First Grade Students Through A Constructivist Lens, Brittney Kern

Art Education Projects

Aesthetics is sometimes overlooked in the elementary art curriculum. I wanted my students to gain the skills needed to have more mature aesthetic responses to artwork. I chose to embark on this research to expand first grade students’ aesthetic abilities and to learn how to best teach aesthetics to young children.

As the participants’ teacher, I acted as both a participant and an observer in this study. To triangulate the data, I administered two student questionnaires, one at the beginning of the study and another at the end; I observed and recorded field notes of the students as they worked …

Laban Movement Analysis As A Methodology For Promoting Creativity And The Arts Across The Curriculum, Dr. Leonard Arvisu Cruz

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative participatory action-research study was to explore how four elementary school teachers incorporated Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) methodology, in particular the eight Effort Qualities (Dell, 1977) (light/soft or strong/powerful, fast/quick or slow/sustained, direct or indirect/flexible, and bound/close or free/open), across their curriculum and instruction. The study took place at both an urban parochial elementary school and an urban private school. Stories were collected through interviews, journals, lesson plans, e-mails, mail, and photos using a qualitative methodology over a period of 2½ months. Teachers came up with their own research questions and answered them throughout the study. …

Imagining The Unknown, Angelina Kidd

MFA in Photography and Integrated Media Theses

It is true that there is no scientific proof of life after life or of the human soul. However, I believe there is a soul and that it is energy manifested as light. Our lifetime is a mere pulse when measured against the evolution of earth. We are connected to the cosmos through the very calcium in our bones and the iron in our blood, which originated from stars that died billions of years ago. My belief is that the earthly body is separate from the soul and that our light energy returns to the cosmos. Energy will not cease …

Inquiry Based Dialogue In The Visual Art Classroom : Educating The Whole Child, Edward Charles Ruggieri

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

There are a number of problems in our current educational system, and as a society we realize that our educational system has to adapt in order to meet the needs of its people. In order to help the United States stay at the head of the class, language arts, mathematics have been stressed in schools, seen as the keys to a skilled, productive workforce. But with this emphasis, came an abundance of standardized testing and competition. Assessing students is vital to a quality education, but a problem arises when too much emphasis is placed on these two subjects that other …

Assessing Arts Educators: How The Performances Of Public And Private High School Art Teachers Are Assessed In Virginia, Jill Palumbo

Theses and Dissertations

Teacher assessment is a hot topic in today’s high-stakes, test-driven, accountability-focused educational environment. My recent research addresses how high school art educators, under the umbrella of non-tested subjects and grades, are assessed in their classroom teaching practices in Virginia. Based on my findings, it is clear that while the teachers surveyed do not fear accountability, they are wary of being evaluated by those who lack the content knowledge in the arts, by methods that are subjective, and with criteria that is inflexible. This thesis addresses the need to develop open forums that include the educator’s voice in order to create …

Art Education And The Encouragement Of Affective And Cognitive Empathy In Early Childhood, Luke Meeken

Theses and Dissertations

This study constructs a theoretical framework for exploring the relationship between art education practice and the development of empathy in early childhood. In this study, I construct a schema for the experience of empathy in kindergarten-aged students, derived from the work of Martin Hoffman, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Vittorio Gallese, which acknowledges both the affective and cognitive dimensions of the experience of empathy. This schema is examined within the context of aesthetic and artistic experience, as distinguished from each other by John Dewey. I articulate several ways that art education’s cultivation of subtle aesthetic perception may encourage affective empathy, and its …

Inquiry Based Curriculum In A Public School Art Room: Aesthetic Education And Lincoln Center Institute, Jacqueline Denaway

Masters Theses

This thesis takes an in-depth look at the history of the Lincoln Center Institute (LCI), specifically its aesthetic education philosophy and practices. Included is analysis of the origin of aesthetic education and important philosophical views related to it. Emphasis is placed on the ideas of Maxine Greene, whose philosophy is the core of Lincoln Center Institute, as well as the key skills that are acquired when learning through aesthetic means. Lincoln Center Institute has been a leader in arts education and aesthetic education for several decades. This paper will explore how LCI's philosophy of aesthetic education differs from other philosophies …