Date of Award

1-1-2010

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Organizational Unit

Morgridge College of Education, Teaching and Learning Sciences, Curriculum and Instruction

First Advisor

Bruce Uhrmacher, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Nel Noddings

Third Advisor

Debra Austin

Fourth Advisor

Nicholas Cutforth

Keywords

Caring and creativity, Culturally diverse learners, Holistic education, International study, Positive self-concept, Visual arts

Abstract

This study demonstrates how caring and creative secondary level visual arts classes facilitate the development of learning environments that enliven and expect the best of students; help them develop as autonomous and creative learners; provide them opportunities to care for others and the world around them; and keep them connected to their schools and education. It highlights how the intentions and operations of teachers impact student learning, creative risk taking, and interpersonal relations within and beyond the classroom. It also uncovers novel ways of thinking about arts education as a means to enhance positive individual and social development and vividly illustrates the conceptual frameworks and pedagogical methods used to do so. Four questions initiated the study: 1) What are the intentions of visual arts teachers who state that they believe creative and caring environments are essential for arts instruction and students' holistic development? 2) How are these intentions realized (or not realized) in their practice? 3) How does the enacted curriculum affect students' willingness to take creative risks? and 4) How do the intentions and practices of the teacher impact student self-concepts? Six teachers in three Colorado and three Western Australian schools participated in the study, hosting classroom observations for between five and 10 days at each site. The teachers, as well as 25 students (three to five per teacher), participated in semi-structured interviews in addition to the observations. The students also completed photo essays that reflected what their visual arts experiences meant for them within and beyond the classroom. The use of educational criticism and connoisseurship and the photo essays yielded vivid descriptions. These in turn facilitated the development of interpretations, thematics, and evaluations that inform our understanding and enhance our ability to help students within visual arts and other content area classrooms. The theoretical and methodological choices guiding the study moved existing work in new directions. Theoretically the study drew heavily upon Nel Noddings' care theory but explicitly expanded her ideas to include key elements of care theory for culturally diverse learners. The addition of photo essays was based on recent support for having participants utilize metaphor through photographic images to more effectively express their feelings, beliefs, and interpretations; the application of this method tremendously enhanced the findings.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Juli B. Kramer

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

333 p.

Discipline

Art Education, Curriculum Development, Secondary Education

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