In following doctoral thesis, the theme of student art class creativity is presented, which results from research within visual art education in minority Slovene schools in Italy as well as in Italian schools in Slovenia. Neither of these minority education systems have been researched yet in the presented school subject field. We would like to specifically identify the creativity within visual art education.
According to reviews and theoretical paradigms, the theoretical part is based on previous knowledge on student creativity in learning process of visual art education.
In empirical part, the method of multiple case study was used first. The aim of research is to first do the research on actual state of visual art class performance as well as student creativity at the targeted schools. Research participants were teachers who teach visual art education in upper classes of Italian elementary schools in Slovenia (6th to 9th grade: 11 to 15 student age) and in Slovene lower high schools in Italy (1st to 3rd grade: 11 to 14 student age). Data was acquired from questionaires, interviews, and documentation analysis.
Research results enabled us to better understand the teacher`s planning as well as conducting the visual art education in the targeted school systems. All our reasearch findings are the base of further guidelines for educational planning as well as visual art education conducting, together with holistic visual art teachers` education.
Aim of further research was to practically modernize the ways of visual art education planning on similar educational level (approximately the same age students), through four-step action research: in second grade of upper level of elementary Italian schools in Slovenija and in seventh grade of lower secondary Slovene schools in Italy (12 to 13 student age). Progress in students` independence and creativity was researched with qualitative and quantitative analysis through action research. Aim of action research was to find out the effects of visual art education conducting on method and form choice level. We were interested in educational process approach enabling students a greater experience and understanding of creative expresions as well as creativity principals, and student creative expression itself. For presented purpose a teaching model to increase student creativity was created and used. Whole research process was aimed to improve the model, to consider special minority educational circumstances, and to increase student art creativity. Kavzal non-experimental empirical method of pedagogical research was used to verify improvements of action method. Research results enabled us to better understand teacher`s planning as well as conducting visual art education in targeted school systems.
Teacher`s competence in students` visual art creativity and didactic knowledge (method and form choice) is the base of planning and conducting visual art tasks, which enable students to be independent and creative with their ideas.
Teacher should know well efficient and appropriate ways of planning visual art education for students` creative and independent development. Especially different specific work methods as well as different work forms to strengthen students` independence through codependence and cooperation, uplifted students` creativity. It is very important for students to feel relaxed and to have good basic work conditions – space, materials, time, and of course ability to individually express themselves.
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