More about what you told us.Last year, we asked the readers of School Arts to complete a pull-out questionnaire about their teaching situations and approaches to art instruction. In the May/June 1998 issue we summarized the results in six statements. Now we would like to share more specific details of our findings with you so that you can see how your approach and outlook relates to others in the art education community. The total number of responses to our survey was 2,375 * 91% art teachers * 3% supervisors * 45% elementary teachers * 24% middle school (grades 5-8 or 6-81 * 8% junior high grades 7-9 * almost 18% high school The success of your school's art program comes from * 45% administrative support, * 35% strong department leadership * 15% other subject area teachers * 10% parent/community support The most significant barriers faced in delivering quality art instruction are (in order) * lack of funding * art is not seen as part of the basic curriculum * large class size * not seeing students often enough * Less than 10% considered lack of administrative support, length of class periods, or lack of published instructional materials In comparing teaching situations with that of other art educators * 57% above average * 30% average * 13% below average Teaching Environment * 78% teach art in a dedicated artroom * 22% teach art in the regular classroom or in another setting Who is teaching art? * 89% art specialist * 4% classroom teachers * 7% a combination of art specialists and classroom teachers How Often? * 52% teac art as part of a yearlong year·long adj. Lasting one year. Adj. 1. yearlong - lasting through a year; "attending yearlong courses" long - primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or curriculum * 23% teach art on a rotation schedule with other subjects (music, industrial arts industrial arts n. (used with a sing. verb) A subject of study aimed at developing the manual and technical skills required to work with tools and machinery. Noun 1. , home economics, etc. * 22% offer art as an elective elective non-urgent; at an elected time, e.g. of surgery. elective adjective Referring to that which is planned or undertaken by choice and without urgency, as in elective surgery, see there noun Graduate education noun . * Two thirds of responders' schools provide art instruction for a full year of thirty-six weeks * 13% offer art over an eighteen week period * 6% deliver art instruction in a condensed con·dense v. con·densed, con·dens·ing, con·dens·es v.tr. 1. To reduce the volume or compass of. 2. To make more concise; abridge or shorten. 3. Physics a. period of nine weeks * 14% of the schools have other, varied course lengths. * 64% have a forty-five minute period * 20% schedule sixty-minute classes * 9% have ninety minutes * 6% have only thirty minutes * 1% two hour periods Curriculum What do school districts require teachers to adhere to adhere to verb 1. follow, keep, maintain, respect, observe, be true, fulfil, obey, heed, keep to, abide by, be loyal, mind, be constant, be faithful 2. in the development of a curriculum * 32% are free to determine their own objectives * 27% follow state art frameworks * 25% adhere to district-wide curriculum goals * 13% mentioned the National Visual Arts visual arts npl → artes fpl plásticas visual arts npl → arts mpl plastiques visual arts npl → Standards * About half of the teachers characterized char·ac·ter·ize tr.v. character·ized, character·iz·ing, character·iz·es 1. To describe the qualities or peculiarities of: characterized the warden as ruthless. 2. their curriculum as a single, general art class with variations by grade level * Teachers who believe that a curriculum should be sequenced in a logical progression are in a minority * One third of the teachers say their art instruction is oriented o·ri·ent n. 1. Orient The countries of Asia, especially of eastern Asia. 2. a. The luster characteristic of a pearl of high quality. b. A pearl having exceptional luster. 3. toward art production/studio * one quarter use a disciplined-based approach * 21% percent orient o·ri·ent v. 1. To locate or place in a particular relation to the points of the compass. 2. To align or position with respect to a point or system of reference. 3. their instruction to the elements and principles of design * Less than 10% develop programs around interdisciplinary in·ter·dis·ci·pli·nar·y adj. Of, relating to, or involving two or more academic disciplines that are usually considered distinct. interdisciplinary Adjective themes or master artists and their works * Less than 22% have a gifted and talented program for art. The question about which art forms are most frequently featured in the art program produced some interesting results and could be interpreted in different ways * however, anyway you might look at it, drawing is by far the most prominent art form in the curriculum * Painting is next, followed by printmaking printmaking Art form consisting of the production of images, usually on paper but occasionally on fabric, parchment, plastic, or other support, by various techniques of multiplication, under the direct supervision of or by the hand of the artist. , and sculpture * ceramics figured significantly less than sculpture, but was more prominent than fiber arts and jewelry jewelry, personal adornments worn for ornament or utility, to show rank or wealth, or to follow superstitious custom or fashion. The most universal forms of jewelry are the necklace, bracelet, ring, pin, and earring. , in that order Teachers ranked another set of subject areas in the following order of inclusion in the curriculum * graphic design, architecture, crafts, environmental art, and cartooning, with computer art, video, and film at the bottom * There was not a significant difference in the ranking of the type of art images most frequently featured in the art program * The art of European artists and art of other cultures ranked slightly higher than contemporary artists, American artists Regarding the specific art courses taught at various levels * 77% teach art history at the middle school level * 62% at the high school level * Specific drawing and painting courses also figure more prominently in middle school than high school * The elementary K-6 program is considered to be a comprehensive introduction to art. Resources for Teachers * Almost 90% work with materials they create themselves * more than 80% use art magazines, art prints, and resource books * Slightly more than one third use art textbook programs * 88% of teachers primarily use a collection of various resources as their curriculum base * 79% have ready access to a kiln * 53% regularly use video * 45% percent use the Internet * 41% have photography and darkroom darkroom, n a completely lightproof room or cubicle that is used in the processing of photographic, medical, and dental films. See also safe light. equipment * less than one third use computers in their art program * About two thirds of teachers try to incorporate museum visits into their art programs * about 60% invite visiting artists into their classrooms * photography trailed papermaking pa·per·mak·ing n. The process or craft of making paper. pa  per·mak as the least prominent artform
Teaching Styles * 50% of teachers say they create their own lessons based on ideas found in published instructional materials from various sources. * 40% teach from a bank of lessons collected from various sources * about 10% teach from published materials * over two thirds of the teachers build a new lesson sequence each year by pulling from a hank hank n. 1. A coil or loop. 2. Nautical A ring on a stay attached to the head of a jib or staysail. 3. A looped bundle, as of yarn. of lessons * Less than one third follow the same planned sequence of lessons from year to year Drawing Conclusions According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. our results, the best source of teaching and lesson ideas is art education magazines, followed by art resource, and professional books. The category of art textbooks and other printed materials also figured prominently. Getting ideas from fellow art teachers in the district ranked significantly higher than art education sites on the Internet, which was at the bottom of the list. So what can we conclude from all these percentages? We'll let you be the judge. |
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