The educational value of art in Forms I & II as a method of estimating the students' own creative process

Abstract

The thesis is developed along two different lines. Firstly, the purpose of the questionnaire to handle existing realities and the variety of responses, formulated through statistics. In all, seven questionnaires have been processed: 1. How the student sees art on coming to secondary school; 2. Art as an experience in the student's life; 3. Art: an academic subject or a lifetime's experience?; 4. Art as an optional subject in the curriculum; 5. Verification of various points tested in different localities; 6. Progress and change of attitude after a short period of time; 7. The art teacher's impression and evaluation of art in the year immediately after Forms I and II. Secondly, the situation in class is assessed in terms of the student's response even in isolation of the group. This approach takes into account the impression that although the student is part of a class, his/her responses are mostly subjective. This was closely observed during my second phase of teaching practice when I taught only art. During my third phase, I considered the role of the group and how it helped the student in conditioning him/her to fulfil the group's demands and expectations. Although a perfectly accurate picture cannot be obtained from a sample quantity of questionnaires, they do provide an idea of the student's ability and knowledge once he/she comes to the stage (usually at the end of Form II) when they decide whether or not to choose art as an academic study. Furthermore, these studies have shown whether in our schools art departments are well-run or not. In fact, their organisation is very well m line with what is expected of such a department.