Differentiation in art education: Exploring two art teachers' responsive pedagogy in an elementary school in Taiwan

This qualitative study explores the ―operational curricula‖ (Goodlad, Klein, & Tye, 1979) of art teachers in both the general and the artistically talented classes in an elementary school in Taiwan. Specifically, I investigated the responsive pedagogies of two art teachers that focused on the differentiation aspects for diverse learners, including those identified as artistically talented. The value systems embedded in their responsive pedagogies were also studied. The responsive pedagogies of the two teachers included two facets: curricular modification and instructional adjustment. In terms of curricular modification for the two types of classes, the teachers organized art projects and choices of concepts and products that were appropriate for the students in learning art in a studio-orientated class structure. As for instructional adjustment, one teacher used various instructional strategies to attune to the diverse levels of readiness, interests, and learning styles in art of students in both settings. Her adaptive instructional approaches consisted of occasional exceptions, personalized guidance, student choice, flexible grouping, and station work. The other teacher drew on individualized instruction in the artistically talented class and instructional adjustment was not found to any significant extent in her general class. I discuss the two art teachers‘ responsive pedagogies in light of the Confucian heritage. The community- and issue-based art projects designed by the two teachers aimed to cultivate students‘ sensitivity to human concerns. It reflects the concept of nurturing a Jian Zi (君子, a superior person), who has both talent and virtue (才德兼備, Cai De Jian Bei). Through guided discovery, the teachers helped artistically talented students make connections between their intrinsic traits (質, Zh, substance) and disciplined knowledge or dispositions (文, Wen, refinement). The teachers played the role of connoisseurs in personalizing guidance to bridge iii different class elements with individual students‘ unique readiness levels, interests, and learning profiles. As such, they were not only attuned to multiple dimensions of the students‘ ―artistic selves‖ (Walsh, 2002), but they also integrated the students‘ unique potentials into a cooperative effort of ―harmony but not uniformity‖ (和而不同, He Er Bu Tong). The two art teachers‘ pedagogical approaches reveal the value placed on differentiation in the Taiwanese educational context. The implications for the field and future research are discussed as well.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Elementary Education

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2011

Author dc:creator

• Chen, Wei-Ren

Contributors dc:contributor

• Bresler, Liora
• Hertzog, Nancy
• Parsons, Michael J.
• Parsons, Marilyn A.

• differentiated instruction
• artistically talented education
• Confucian heritage

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2011 Wei-Ren Chen

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/24041

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/24041