Date

2002

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Department

Teacher Education

Abstract

he main purpose of this thesis was to research and share the benefits of a visual art program for K-1st students. The research aimed to examine how a visual arts program enhanced academic and artistic skills and how it met or did not meet the standards, expectations, and developmental needs of K-1st students as defined by the California State Board of Education in the Visual and Performing Arts Content Standards for California Public Schools Framework (K-1st grade). Data were collected through participant-observation, work samples (students' writings and paintings), an interview with the creator of the program, unofficial students' interviews during the regular art classes, and comments from parents. The findings of the data supported the basic principles of the Art History program and the significant overall value of the program in the lives of the young students. All sources of data agreed that it is a developmentally appropriate visual art history program that promotes improvement of children's attention span, reading, drawing, and writing skills. Furthermore, the data suggested that the art program enriches children with additional values and skills including the knowledge of visual art history, diversity in the arts, the awareness of different ways of perceiving the real world and the ability to understand how the arts and artists reflect different periods of time. In addition, the arts program promotes the idea of becoming cultural, teaching kids how to create arts by themselves and with others, how to open themselves to others, how to feel connected to history, and how to think of people being successful. This program will be presented both in the U.S., during the 2003 Annual California Kindergarten Conference, and in Europe with the hope of serving as a model for educators and administrators for future application in the classrooms.

Comments

Thesis (M.A.) Institute for Advanced Studies in Education

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