Education Commons^™

Reaching Across Community Lines: How Informal Visual Art Educational Programming Bridges The Gap, Janelle O'Malley

Student Projects

Economic disparity in underserved communities is in large part responsible for a lack of access to quality visual arts education. The communities most in need are often hit first when it comes to funding the arts, and the students suffer these financial consequences. How can we ensure those underserved communities receive a complete education with the visual arts? What other ways can access to the visual arts be provided to schools?

Fielding, Emily Tareila

Masters Theses

Fielding is an ongoing exploration of place-making, spaces of learning and relationship building in formal and informal learning environments. The project is comprised of a series of events and workshops that are embodied, multimodal, olfactory and engagement-focused and a mobile cart that helps to facilitate these happenings both in and out of the formal gallery space. I regard my art practice as pedagogical, a blurring of art and life into intentional ways of being in the world; an experience of sharing practices with others and a form of what is regarded in institutionalized art as social practice. I find art …

The In-Betweens: Exploring Integration Within The Arts, Ruchi Pathak

Masters Theses

This research analyzes the possibilities of integration within the arts and its potential in affecting change in the teaching and learning environment. To approach to this larger question, I conducted two in-depth case studies as a participatory observer playing two radically different roles:- the role of a student at New Works, a performing arts program at Brown University, and the role of a curriculum planner and programming researcher at Providence CityArts. The nature and educational level of the two programs were drastically different. Providence CityArts is a youth directed community-based nonprofit organization that offers after school art programs while New …

Art Therapy And Art Education: A Conversation - A Critical Review Of The Literature, Shannon Rogers

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Art therapists and art educators are continuing to define the boundaries of their professions while finding opportunities for collaboration. While there are limited studies focusing on art therapy with students, the existing research suggests that the interventions that have been done are associated with an increase of self-esteem, ability to communicate thoughts and feelings, and healthy self-expression for students. The topic question investigated in this paper is what are the emotional benefits of implementing art therapy for elementary students within art education? This literature review will explore what few have focused on, the overlap between art therapy and art education. …

Integrating Visual Thinking Strategies Into Art Education: A Curriculum For The Middle School Level, Shelley K. Gibbs

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to expand and demonstrate how the integration of Visual Thinking Strategies into a middle school classroom curriculum could strengthen and benefit students’ critical thinking and art literacy. There is a growing and overwhelming use of technology and images in our world, to which students are exposed daily. By integrating a visual literacy strategy in a visual art setting, students may learn to slow down and think more critically about what they see and understand, not only in art but cross-curriculum.

Contemporary Artists Of Color And Non-Western Artists In The Middle School Art Curriculum, Katherine L. Stiffler

Masters Theses

In my thesis, I review research on how to integrate multiculturalism into both the art classroom and curriculum. I also discuss the exclusion of art by non-Western artists and artists of color from museums and galleries. Finally, I explain why I chose the cultures and artists for my topic of study.

I include research on nine contemporary artists. These non-Western and artists of color have been selected to be used as inspiration for creating art in the middle school art room. Each artist has a unique style and story, both of which contribute to creating a well-rounded curriculum. Finally, I …

Cross-Culture Research: Comparison Between Chinese And American Art Education, Ye Liang

Theses and Dissertations

Education systems in China and the United States are very different. Chinese educator Hong Wang compared the two education systems and came to a conclusion: Chinese education wins in the starting point, while American education wins in the end point (Cheng, 2014). Chinese students learn more things, take challenging courses, and do well in academic accomplishment. However, examination-oriented methods in the Chinese education system may kill students’ interest in learning. Even though Chinese students learned fast in the starting points, they failed in the terminal points as they lost their interest in learning (Chen, 2014). Many educators and scholars think …

Perspectives Of High School Photography Teachers Regarding Visual Literacy, Kristi Oliver

Educational Studies Dissertations

This qualitative study investigated the perspectives of high school photography teachers regarding visual literacy. A qualitative methodology that used a phenomenographic research design was employed to gain understanding about the perspectives of high school photography teachers in their conceptualization, perceptions, and experiences surrounding visual literacy. A survey/ questionnaire was used to explore participants’ paths towards becoming a high school photography teacher, the amount of years they have been teaching, and their geographic location. Participants perception of school demographics such as school size, community contexts, racial, ethnic, and economic diversity were also collected. Additional prompts were designed to investigate curricular influences, …

Visual Arts: Teaching Creativity From Within, Del Camara

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

In the ever-changing world of visual arts education, there is a gap in the literature about the incorporation of creativity, risk-taking, and play in the curriculum. The purpose of this study was to understand how high school visual arts educators teach visual arts and creativity in the age of digital media, including the practices art teachers use to engage their students in their development of art-making and ways teachers encourage students to take risks in art-making practices. Utilizing an arts-based research method focusing on four case studies in the Central Valley of California, this inquiry examined the way visual arts …

Gender Representation In Art Pedagogy: A Survey Of Student Knowledge And Attitudes Around Gender Balance In Art Education, Julia S. White

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This study explores the issue of unequal representation of women artists in the art-world (museums, galleries, auctions and texts) as well as in Studio Art, Art Education and Art-Historical pedagogy. This study examines how student knowledge and attitudes are impacted by the lack of exposure to art made by women. The problem of unequal representation of women in the arts was verified and examined in the literature review. The literature review explored feminist pedagogy as an educational method. The review made evident the unequal representation of women in visual Art History and the relative exclusion of women role models in …

An Art Educators' Perception Of An Art Professional Development Workshop, Wonda Y. Hillard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There are no guidelines in South Carolina for developing workshops that reflect the needs of art educators, and there are no tools to evaluate and support their professional development. The problem is a lack of informative, substantive, and academically oriented art inservices that are standards-based and focused on the enhancement of pedagogy, teaching strategies, and content. The purpose of this case study was to explore participants' perceptions of an art professional development workshop as an approach to examining art standards, instructional strategies, and policy changes. Dewey's experiential theory served as the conceptual framework. A purposeful sample of 10 art educators …