Professional Development of Primary School Teachers in Visual Arts Education / Profesionalni razvoj učitelja primarnog obrazovanja na likovnoumjetničkom i likovnopedagoškom području

Abstract

Professional development of teachers in visual arts education encompasses widening and deepening art knowledge and abilities as well as further development of professional, personal and subject-specific competences necessary for efficient implementation of visual arts classes. The goal of this research was to examine the extent to which teachers attend professional education in visual arts education and the reasons for not attending the aforementioned. Research participants were 143 in-service primary school teachers. Kendall Tau-b Rank Correlation Coefficient was used to determine the correlation between two groups of variables, the first being-age, degree of education and professional title, and the second-areas in which teachers would like to gain additional knowledge and competence, and reasons for inclusion into professional training programmes. The results show that the increase in age, degree of education and professional status lessen the subjects' need for gaining additional knowledge and competence related to the visual arts area. Furthermore, the teachers are aware of the need for inclusion into professional training programmes in visual arts education since most of them consider the activity important for their professional and personal development. However, the results also stress teachers' insufficient attendance when it comes to professional training in visual arts education, mostly due to the lack of appropriate programmes.