Arts Teachers’ Perceptions and Attitudes on Arts Integration While Participating in a Statewide Arts Integration Initiative

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions and attitudes of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts Learning Program (BTSALP) arts specialists on arts integration. BTSALP arts specialists (N = 50) throughout the state of Utah responded to a 20-item survey. Results indicated that a majority of BTSALP arts specialists believe that arts integration serves as a support for both arts and nonarts subjects. BTSALP art specialists also indicated that teacher collaboration is essential for effective integration models; however, collaboration continues to be one of the greatest challenges. Also, results indicated a need for arts integration training for undergraduate preservice arts specialists. Open-ended response questions revealed the perceived benefits of arts integration as a positive impact on students both academically and socially. The limitations of arts integration identified were time constraints, the inability to "teach art for the sake of art," and a lack support from both teachers and administrators.

Social Emotional Learning in arts teacher education policy: a content analysis of assurance standards and course descriptions

“…They believe that arts teachers should shape arts learning experiences to create emotionally safe spaces, provide opportunities to explore and express personal identity, and develop trusting relationships with students. Several arts educators have described what this looks like in particular arts disciplines (e.g., Jellison et al, 2017;Kay & Wolf, 2017;May & Robinson, 2016;Pereira & Marques-Pinto, 2018;Powers & Duffy, 2016;Usakli, 2018;Varner, 2019). Promoting and developing experience within SEL strategies during preservice arts teacher education could improve eventual experiences and outcomes in both K-12 arts and nonarts classrooms and enhance future collaborations with nonarts educators (Farrington & Shewfelt, 2020).…”

Music Teachers’ Perceptions of General Music as a Required Middle Level Course

“…Music education researchers have similarly investigated music teachers' perceptions on a wide range of topics including curriculum integration (Gerber & Gerrity, 2007;Lee-Holms, 2008;May & Robinson, 2016), elementary general music (Abril & Gault, 2006;Kellermeyer, 2009;Shouldice, 2013), multicultural music (Petersen, 2005), and the National Standards (Barkley, 2006;Louk, 2002). Despite this variety, only a limited number of studies focus specifically on the perspectives of middle level music teachers (Barrett, 2015;Cronenberg, 2016Cronenberg, , 2017Cronenberg, , 2018Cronenberg, , 2020Hopkins, 2013;O'Donnell, 2010;Rapp, 2009;Young, 2002).…”

Promoting integrative teaching through interdisciplinary arts and crafts collaboration between after-school clubs

“…One way of stepping away from a mechanical application of the subservient approach as the 'easiest' pedagogical tool for art integration (May & Robinson, 2016) is to develop integrative teaching projects that highlight the intrinsic value of the arts (Chemi, 2014, p. 375). Such integrative teaching, in my view, calls for a focus on the affective side of the process of art creation and the aesthetic qualities possessed by the artistic product.…”

“…Beneficial for the students' holistic development as all the curriculum integration models discussed above may be, they are often difficult to apply in real-life situations. In most cases, researchers (Nevanen et al, 2012;Hallmark, 2012;May & Robinson, 2016) report the following main obstacles that hinder full and fruitful art integration within the school curriculum: lack of qualification and confidence to integrate art on the part of subject teachers, lack of time for collaborative planning and team-teaching, subject-bound curriculum constraints, inability to teach art for its own sake, lack of support from teachers and administration as well as insufficient resources for multiprofessional collaboration between outside artists and teachers. For these reasons, the interaction between the arts and the core subjects is often superficial, and the arts are subservient to the other subjects, which devalues the arts' integrity and validity within the integrated lessons (May & Robinson, 2016, p. 21).…”

“…In fact it was used the other way roundnot as an illustrative tool for demonstrating scientific phenomena, but rather as a way of showing how this scientific knowledge can be transformed into artistic expression, as seen from the presentation and analysis of the data from the planning stage of the project discussed earlier in this paper. So unlike the subservient integration described above (Bresler, 1995;May & Robinson, 2016), here art overshadowed science, and scientific knowledge was used as a supportive background in conceptualising the project.…”