Art Education Commons^™

The Effectiveness Of Utilizing An Arts-Integrated Approach With Students With Ieps In Grades K–5 Self-Contained Classrooms And Why An Arts-Integrated Approach Is Not Widely Implemented In The United States, Alexandra Leff

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines arts integration as an approach for K–5 students with IEPs. Drawing on research from Western and non-Western and data from two programs, it shows gains in academic achievement and social-emotional learning. Despite cultural and systemic barriers, findings support expanding arts integration through teacher training and policy reform.

Cannibalizing The American Dream: Memory, Materials, And Manifesting, Juan Hinojosa

Theses and Dissertations

Juan Hinojosa’s thesis explores collage and assemblage through discarded materials, pop culture, and personal history. He transforms found objects into layered works that reflect consumption, memory, and American identity. Moving between sculpture, painting, and installation, his practice examines excess, nostalgia, and the tension between what is consumed and what consumes him.

From Cultural Binaries To Coexistence: A Graphic Autoethnography Of Individualism And Collectivism In An International Context, Shahad Alsubaie

Theses and Dissertations

This arts-based autoethnographic study investigates individualism and collectivism, specifically through my study-abroad experience traveling from Saudi Arabia to the United States. Through arts-based reflective practice, I depicted the diasporic experience of being ontoepistemologically collectivistic while navigating a primarily individualistic society. I use the medium of a graphic memoir to illustrate and develop frameworks of confluence that embrace the two distinct cultural orientations simultaneously. This arts-based self-study not only contributes to the body of transnational scholarship but also serves as a reference for international students, researchers, and educators to use arts-based subgenres and data analysis methods to gain better insights into …

Reflections Of Linguistic Experiences In A Borderland: Influences On Cultural Identity And Teacher Praxis, Iliana Cantu

Theses and Dissertations

This Autoethnographic dissertation uses autohistoria-teoria to critically analyze my lived curriculum as a Mexican-born raised in the borderland of the Rio Grande Valley. This research aims to understand the influence of my linguistic experiences on my cultural identity and teaching praxis within the same context. Drawing from Anzaldua’s (1987) concept of Borderlands as a contextual lens and Raciolinguistics as a theoretical framework, I examine and reflect on key linguistic experiences that have perpetuated colonizing linguistic practices rather than fostered linguistic diversity. Additionally, Culturally Linguistic Sustaining Pedagogy serves as a framework to critically analyze my teaching praxis in relation to my …

Action Research To Explore The Use Of Augmented Reality To Support High School Students In Understanding And Creating Art Work In A Drawing Course, Alicia Joanne Cobler

Theses and Dissertations

High school students in Drawing 1 at a high school in South Carolina struggle to understand meaning or make personal connections to their own artwork. The purpose of this action research was to evaluate the implementation of immersive reality technology, specifically augmented reality (AR), in art for high school Drawing 1 students to help them understand meaning in art and create their own meaningful artwork. Creating personally meaningful symbolic works of art is one of the first Visual Art National Core Standards (National Core Visual Art Standards, 2014). Creating meaning in artwork allows students to understand society, provide an opportunity …

Poetries Of Abandonment: A Study Of Plath And Glück, Yara Abdelmoneim

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the intersection between literature and trauma, which can be discerned in the key works of two poets, Sylvia Plath and Louise Glück. While offering readings of crucial poems, the thesis also examines the interrelations among trauma, memory and narrative as theorized by two contemporary psychiatrists, Bessel van der Kolk and Judith Herman. Both Plath and Glück wrote about personal and generational trauma after going through different experiences of abandonment. Absence, indirection and repetition provide the basis for literary techniques that allow their traumas to be better understood by authors and readers alike. The degree to which each …

Stitch Theory, Brittany Adeline Adama King

Theses and Dissertations

This paper weaves personal history together using “stitched” citational text, supporting the concept that an archive can function as support, as worn; as garment.

Inherited Fervor: Maternal Archive, Maria Angela Talavera Tejeda

Theses and Dissertations

Inherited Fervor: Maternal Archive investigates the deconstruction of the non-verbal language of Catholic ecstasy rituals to develop a choreographic language. Through the piece Doves Don’t Fly at Night, it explores the expansion of dancers’ physical range, positioning the body as an archive that embodies memories and mirrors the audience’s humanity.

Aquí Y Ahora A Dance Tribute To Gustavo Cerati And The Expression Of Hispanic Immigrant Identity In New York City, Karina Terán

Theses and Dissertations

This Thesis explores how dance serves as a language of cultural identity among Hispanic immigrants in New York City. Through a multidisciplinary performance and research, it reflects lived experiences, blending movement and music to celebrate legacy, resilience, and community, while honoring the influence of Argentine rock icon Gustavo Cerati.

Addressing Self-Efficacy And Off-Task Cellphone Use In Art 1 With Differentiated Instruction To Increase Student Achievement, Natasia Gregory

Theses and Dissertations

The following study looks at the impact differentiated instruction can have on students in a high school Art 1 course. This study includes three Art 1 classes from the spring of 2024. One class was taught with differentiated instruction methods, which focus on creating authentic learning experiences that allow student choice and are tailored to students' particular learning needs. Two other classes were taught with a more traditional teaching method which I have used in previous semesters before the shutdown of COVID-19. Quantitative and qualitative data from traditionally marginalized low achieving students in these three classes was collected over the …

The Paradox Of Value, David Enrique Guarnizo

Theses and Dissertations

The present thesis project examines how, in the United States, and especially in the state of Virginia, archetypes of "wealth," "value," and "identity" have been constructed in relation to land and territory. This analysis explores the tension between the inherent value of life on the land and the economic value that can be derived from it. This tension is exemplified by a theory known as the "paradox of value", also referred to as the "paradox of water and diamonds", which was developed by the renowned Scottish economist and philosopher, Adam Smith. This theoretical framework serves as a fundamental axis for …

La Enseñanza Del Arte A Estudiantes Con Trastorno De Déficit De Atención: Una Aproximación Fenomenológica Desde La Perspectiva Docente, María Torres Guzmán

Theses and Dissertations

Esta disertación aplicada se diseñó con el propósito de explorar, describir y entender las experiencias fenomenológicas de los docentes en la enseñanza del arte a estudiantes diagnosticados con Trastornos de Déficit de Atención (TDAH). Se documentaron las vivencias, se explicaron las experiencias y se describieron los problemas que enfrentan los docentes en su proceso de enseñanza a los estudiantes con TDAH. El marco teórico empleado fue la Teoría de las Inteligencias Múltiples de Howard Gardner, que plantea la existencia de ocho inteligencias que son la musical, la corporal cinestésica, lingüística, lógico-matemática, espacial, interpersonal, intrapersonal y naturalista.

Esta investigación tuvo un …

Identity Formation Of A Pre-Service Art Educator: An Arts-Based Approach To Data Visualization As A Means Of Understanding Personal Experience, Kelsey L. Peterson Mays

Theses and Dissertations

This research centers on the emotional experience of the author as a pre-service art educator during her student teaching semester. The research utilized art-based data collection methods and analyzed both written and visual reflections over an eight-week period of teaching art at the elementary school level. The culmination of findings is synthesized in the form of a body of four visual artworks, where each work reflects the data collected over a consecutive period of two weeks. The study investigated the causation and ramifications of certain emotions during a transitional time wherein the author existed in a liminal space between student …

(Art) Education In The Afterlife Of Massive Resistance: Constructing, Capturing, And Commodifying Racialized Disability In Virginia’S Student Assignment Practices, 1956-1966 And Present Day, Jenna E. Gabriel

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores discursive functions of disability in pupil placement decisions in Massive Resistance Virginia, the relationship between disability and race that was constructed through these moves, and how these relationships surface in the reflections, perceptions, and pedagogy of a practicing art teacher, Nathan, who works at Arts High School (AHS), a Virginia specialty center high school. Under the umbrella of the Discourse Historical Approach, which relies on multiple, interdisciplinary data sources to explore how discourses evolve, I connect a robust archival analysis of historical data collected in the records of Virginia’s Pupil Placement Board (746 boxes, 1956-1966) with present-day …

Aguaaaa!!!, Cory Villegas

Theses and Dissertations

“AGUA” is a call for new models of learning and sharing, celebrating the diasporic as a place of global revolution. Salsa, rooted in Latin American and Afro-Caribbean histories, is choreographer Cory Villegas’s expression of cultural legacy. As an Afro-diasporic dance, Salsa carries the wealth and variety of African and Indigenous roots. Villegas contextualizes her thesis event “Las Leyendas: An Afro Cuban Suite,” presenting herself and her troupe Soul Dance Co. as evidence that contradicts the erasure of Latin & Caribbean Culture in US dance history. The paper uses English and Spanish, written, visual, and oral materials with an accompanying webpage.

Ripe Spoils, Yan Cynthia Chen

Theses and Dissertations

Chen’s practice primarily focus on sculptures and installation. She explores the interplay between the idea of nature and the constructed environment, by examining how language informs what we know. The central thesis, "Ripe Spoils", employs citrus fruits as symbols for bodily experiences and personal identity, investigating their cultural and historical significance. Her sculptures summon the qualities and embedded meanings in materials like paper pulp and clay, wax and citrus fruits, often resulting in abstracted forms evocative of the human body. This thesis paper and exhibition reflect on themes like mortality and the essence of self.

Chinese-English Dictionary Enable Select Search …

Exposing The Camera: The Pedagogical Possibilities Of Critical Camera-Based Arts Curriculum, Oscar Keyes

Theses and Dissertations

Cameras are a ubiquitous part of our everyday lives, especially in schools, found in students’ smartphones and state-of-the-art surveillance systems. This research project emerged from an iterative redesign process of a Photography for Art Education course, structured around the camera’s dual nature as a tool for creative expression and social control. While cameras have long been used to address social issues through documentary techniques; this critical eye can be turned onto the apparatus itself. This study drew heavily upon the historical work of Allan Sekula (1986), who observed how easier access to cameras resulted in both democratization (for the People) …

Roleplaying Builds Character: Avatar Performance In Dungeons & Dragons As An Art-Form For Self-Development., Maria F. Pagola Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the impact of the performance and embodiment of Dungeons & Dragons characters on their player’s self-development and self-confidence. Focusing on the game’s 5th edition, this narrative inquiry study is concerned with the applications of D&D as an artistic tool to build both community in formal and informal spaces of art education and individual players’ self-development through the avatars being portrayed during game time.

Ten adult participants ranging from age 23-28 were selected using a mix of direct recruitment and voluntary response. They filled out a digital survey introducing themselves and their main D&D characters, then a 45-minute …

Discovery: A Visual Arts Elementary School, Cindy J. Perdomo

Theses and Dissertations

On average, school-age children spend more time in the classroom environment than they do at home. Why not provide environments that stimulate children’s curiosity to learn through visual arts? Including visual arts in educational programs can enhance students’ cognitive development, problem-solving abilities, cultural awareness, and critical thinking skills.

As someone who has attended various public schools in Florida, I’ve found that incorporating arts education into the curriculum can enhance students’ overall engagement with learning. Unfortunately, many students lack access to arts education due to a lack of funding and resources. Traditionally, the arts have been viewed as an opportunity for …

Assessing The Perceived Impact Of A Local, Community-Engaged Mural Project On Preservice Art Educators In Foundational Coursework, Caitlin M. Black

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study merged the methodological frameworks of qualitative case study and narrative inquiry (Sonday et. al, 2020) to assess the perceived impact of a local, community-engaged mural art project (Mending Walls) on undergraduate preservice art educators in foundational coursework. The study was grounded in existing research in three areas: community-engaged murals, community-engaged pedagogy, and community-engaged teacher preparation. These concepts were used to frame the study and provide further rationale for the inquiry. The purpose of this case study was to understand how undergraduate preservice art educators perceived the impact of using a local, community-engaged mural project (Mending Walls) in …

How Arts Integration Affects College Teachers And Students’ Cultural Competence: A Grounded Theory Research, Chang-Han Liu

Theses and Dissertations

Research has shown the systemic biases and discrimination persist in higher education. While the literature has demonstrated how culturally responsive teaching (CRT) and culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) can help teachers and students develop their understanding of the otherness that they do not know exist (Bond, 2017; Gay, 2002; Ladson-Billings, 2014; Shaw, 2012), arts integration and the benefits of arts for non-arts majors students have been loosely tied into the awareness and development of cultural competence. The gaps in existing research have led to the need for examining the connection between cultural competence (as intended by CRT and CRP) and arts …

Characteristics Of Culturally Inclusive Art Education Pedagogy: A Historical Document Analysis Study, Fatemah A. Khawaji

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this mixed methods historical document analysis is to identify the characteristics of culturally inclusive art education pedagogy. Using the theoretical lenses of intersectionality, critical theory, and socially inclusive pedagogy, this study seeks to determine the reasons for the misapplication of diversity and inclusion in art education. Qualitative and quantitative methods are applied to the historical document analysis of National Art Education Association articles in two major journals: Art Education and Studies in Art Education. The findings indicate that for the last 20 years, 20% of the articles published in Studies in Art Education and 30% of …

Roots And Webs And Nets And Branches And Bulletin Boards And Banners And Newsletters And Mutual Aid Text Threads And Kin And Caretakers And Porches And Poems Of Today And Spaces Of Survival, Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo

Theses and Dissertations

As I welcome Richmond, VA into my family, I find myself needing to make roots and webs and nets and branches that ground me, that place myself as a Black, queer, mixed race, artist, activist, educator, storyteller, and cultural worker in this city. I am called to the streets before I am called to my studio. I question what it means to be a part of an institution that is slowly eating this city up. I become a story collector. I need to know where I am and whose land I now call home.

Graduate School's Transformative Awakening: An Arts-Based Autoethnography, Roxanne L. Brown

Theses and Dissertations

This is an autoethnographic journey of a 30-year veteran art teacher through graduate school during the 2016 presidential campaign, election, presidency, #MeToo movement, a global pandemic, Black Lives Matter (BLM), virtual teaching and grading during a pandemic. My narrative includes an account of my transformative academic, social, and personal experiences and how they have informed my teaching practice. They include a collection of visual representations I created during my graduate school journey.

Considering Queerness - Actor Training's Issues And Alternatives, Jacob Leblanc

Theses and Dissertations

Educators in academic theatre programs, whether queer or non-queer, trans or cisgender, may not intentionally consider queerness in their pedagogical practices. What follows is an examination of current issues in academia that can affect queer students negatively and disproportionately. Anecdotal evidence is provided to demonstrate different issues that may be present in the classroom experiences of queer students. The Stanislavski system is critiqued through a contemporary, queer lens to locate possible shortcomings in the acting technique when it is applied by queer performers. Queer alternatives to the Stanislavski system are vetted and offered to queer students who might seek something …

Arts Integration Experiences Of Elementary Educators, Amy E. Jefferson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine how elementary teachers applied their professional learning to integrate arts in the classroom. The research questions guiding the study included: (1) What content, skills, and understandings do teachers transfer from professional learning to practice? and (2) How do teachers navigate the implementation of arts integration? Knowles' (1978) Adult Learning Theory was used to examine how meeting the needs of teachers as adult learners during professional learning influenced the implementation experience.

A case study design employing qualitative data collection methods such as focus groups, individual interviews, and the sharing of artifacts from practice …

Mending Art Classrooms: An Exploration Of The Benefits Of Collaborative Artmaking For Underinvested Black Youth In Richmond, Virginia, Jazmine M. Beatty

Theses and Dissertations

This arts-informed research study explored the experiences of local community artists and educators working to radically transform and heal the experiences of underinvested Black students in Richmond through collaborative arts engagement. Through a series of seven one-on-one interviews with Black teaching artists in the Richmond community, I was able to uncover how collaboration has and can continue to improve the well-being and livelihoods of Black students in Richmond. Also, by tapping into the local Mending Walls mural project, I was able to make a tangible connection between the Richmond community, art, and collaboration. An analysis of the interviews led to …

Tya And Educational Outreach In Higher Education: An Asset To Undergraduates And Their Community, Emily J. Mattison

Theses and Dissertations

Undergraduate students pursuing a career in theatre are at the beginning of their life-long training and understanding and appreciation for the art. Performing in a Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) touring production alongside the responsibility of crafting educational outreach opportunities provides the students with a unique chance to comprehend the art they have chosen to devote their lives to. This paper details the value of offering a course I crafted entitled “TYA Educational Outreach”, for both the undergraduates enrolled and the community they would be reaching. While undergraduates develop an understanding of the impact theatre can have on an individual …

Repair In An Economy Of Trauma: How Identifying Traumas As The Basis For Teacher Artmaking Contributes To Resiliency In Managing Traumatic Stress, Danielle R. Houdek

Theses and Dissertations

REPAIR IN AN ECONOMY OF TRAUMA:

HOW IDENTIFYING TRAUMAS AS THE BASIS FOR TEACHER ARTMAKING CONTRIBUTES TO RESILIENCY IN MANAGING TRAUMATIC STRESS

By Danielle Raddin Houdek, BFA, MAE

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Art Education at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Virginia Commonwealth University, 2021.

Major Director: Dr. Sara Wilson-McKay

Associate Professor, Department of Art Education, School of the Arts

Objective: Through this research project, the impact that secondary traumatic stress has on art educators and how artmaking contributes to resiliency in managing secondary traumatic stress was examined. The research question is: …

Yolkkh: The Story Of My People, Amna Zelimkha Yandarbin

Theses and Dissertations

The name of my project is: Yolkkh, The Story of My People. With this project I present a series of scarves each one bearing an illustrated scene in order to tell a story – my story and the story of the Noxci people. Noxci are the people who are referred to as “Chechens” by Russians and are generally known by that title. As a Muslim, I have witnessed the way Western media tend to dehumanize my community. In order to contrast this dehumanizing process, I thought that telling the story of my family would help reverse Islamophobic tendencies and raise …