ATTITUDES OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS TO ART CULTURE

Text topic: Studies

Text author: Исидора Кораћ

The paper presents results of a research aimed at determining how students evaluate Art as a school subject and how they assess Arts teachers’ traits. The research was based on a questionnaire given to a sample of 220 primary and secondary school students. The research results indicate that a quarter of students classify Art classes among favorite subjects, those often being the students with lower general success rate than students with the higher one. There are no statistically significant differences when comparing the results of research in relation to variables: students’ gender, the mark in Art, age and educational institutions. Art teachers’ traits are a critical factor for students who put Art classes in the group their favourite subjects, followed by the contents of the subject and the teacher’s approach to work. Results of the research on the Art teachers’ traits raise questions of teachers’ competences and motivation for work. More than a half of the respondents considered that Art as a subject is less valued when compared with other subjects, and they recognized the role of art teachers as a crucial one in encouraging the youth interest in visual arts. Concluding remarks indicate that the characteristics of the subject can be viewed through the competences of teachers to make the planned contents more accessible and interesting to each individual student. It is believed that the results of the study indicate that the subject of Art requires complex scientific research with the aim to create a solid and broad scientific basis and provide the social support for its further improvement. Key actors in encouraging the youth interests in visual arts and the promotion of multiple functions that Art has in the overall development of personality, and thereby in improving the status of arts in relation to other subjects, are not only school and Art teachers, but education policy-makers as well.