Examining current teaching practices of the arts in early childhood education
Date
2021-08
Authors
Hanson, Alyssa Lynn
Major Professor
Advisor
Luze, Gayle
Lippard, Christine
Hayden, Emily
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Abstract
Education over the years has focused heavily on language arts and mathematics rather than other subjects such as the arts. This is true not only for education at elementary and older grade levels, but it is also becoming more apparent in early childhood education as well. This is due in part to changes in policy and requirements for testing in some subjects as well as lack of clear requirements for subjects related to the arts. Another reason that the arts are not always focused on within the classroom relates directly to the teachers in early childhood education. Previous research has pointed to a variety of factors that can influence how a teacher utilizes and teaches the arts in their classroom. This is the primary focus of the current study which seeks to add to the limited available literature on teachers’ experiences and perspectives on arts education. The current study utilized an online survey to ask early childhood education teachers in a Midwestern state about their practices, values, and experiences teaching the arts. Findings showed that some areas of the arts, such as crafts and three-dimensional arts were not taught as often as other areas. Limited evidence was found to support a relation between teachers views of importance of different arts and their engagement of these arts in the classroom. There is evidence that COVID-19 and teaching at a distance impacted how often different arts were engaged in. Decreases in engagement was reported for all arts during distance learning compared to normal operations. Reasons for these findings may be related to what teachers reported were concerns and barriers when teaching the arts such as funding, access to materials, time, and training in these arts. Future research is needed to better understand these barriers and teaching practices across the population of the U.S. and other ways that COVID-19 may have impacted teaching the arts.
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