Young Pupils' Responses to Adult Works of Art

Abstract

Art educators have asserted that, in order to develop curricula that use adult works of art, it is necessary to understand how children perceive and respond to art objects. Although 'art' is not included in the early years national curriculum of Cyprus, curriculum resource books encourage the introduction of adult artworks in nursery schools. This exploratory study was designed to gather information regarding young children's (aged 4-5 years) responses to adultpaintings. An open-ended interview procedure was used. Three reproductions of paintings of different artistic styles were selected: a realistic, a semi-realistic and an abstract. The sample included 25 children selected randomly from 12 public nursery schools of Cyprus. The findings suggest that artworks are an important part of children's educational experiences, if approaches and methods that are compatible with their perceptual abilities are used. The study identified some relevant factors underlying young children's responses to artworks and provides recommendations to enhance children's learning in art.

Appreciation of Artistic Genres in Children with Different Perceptual, Contextual and Analytic Intelligence

“…Research suggested that "when viewing abstract artworks, young children responded intuitively and positively" [33], [42]. This is also in conformity with the view that "children apply their imagination in finding new meaning in artworks" [33], [47].…”

“…Studies on art viewing specifically focuses on the value of "looking at art and talking about artworks" [41], [42]. Herbert Read argues that the basic error of all educational systems and their methods is in their focus on rational thinking.…”

A Study on the Effect of Aesthetic Education on the Development of Aesthetic Judgment of Six-year-old Children

“…For instance, numerous studies on aesthetic development indicate that the aesthetic and artistic understanding of children develops with age (Savva 2003). According to Parson's stages of aesthetic development, children between the ages of two and seven are in the stage of favoritism where they respond to topics they are familiar with or to themes they like.…”

Reviewing of Primary School Students’ Views On Impresionism In The Context of Visual Literacy

“…Bu doğrultuda belirlenen görseller içerisinde öğrencilerin Empresyonizm sanat akımının son dönemine ait görselleri daha çok sevdiği söylenebilir. Ancak Savva (2003) yapmış olduğu araştırmada çocukların daha çok soyut resimlere yönelik ilgi duydukları görülmektedir. Bu sonuç araştırmada elde edilen sonuçla çelişmektedir.…”

“…Bu doğrultuda öğrencilerin süreç içerisinde aldıkları eğitimlerin kazandıkları deneyimlerin veya zihinsel gelişimlerinin görsel okuryazarlık becerilerini etkilediği dile getirilebilir. Yapılan araştırmalarda çocukların sanat eserlerine yönelik tercihlerinin, algılarının ve yanıtlarındaki farklılıkların bilişsel farklılıklara bağlı olduğu görülmektedir (Gardner, Winner ve Kircher, 1975;Parsons, Johnston ve Durham 1978;Savva 2003).…”