"""Painting the lily"": An examination of 5th grade students' learning experiences in an arts-infused curriculum"

This study examines how a recreated art-infused curriculum shapes 5th grade students’ learning experiences. The curriculum was re-envisioned to include more critical theoretical approaches to instruction. Particularly, I looked for ways in which social studies and art could be integrated in a more holistic and thematic curriculum. Since the inclusion of NCLB, instruction in social studies education and the fine arts has significantly decreased. My study seeks ways to make students’ learning more connected, rather than segmented by discrete content areas. In my research, I highlight how a newly conceptualized curriculum offers authentic learning opportunities through student engagement, student agency, and development of student voice. These opportunities are often not enacted as a result of constraining standards and assessment practices. In my analysis, I suggest that students’ hesitancy in expressing voice and agency may be seen as a result of a restraining and standardized curriculum. I suggest that reconceptualizing, or re-envisioning, curriculum towards more holistic and critical pedagogical approaches is a significant part of offering students opportunities to increase their engagement in their learning, to develop agency and voice in their learning, make relevant and personal connections to learning, and to develop critical awareness and higher-order thinking skills.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Curriculum and Instruction

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Radhakrishnan, Ritu

Contributors dc:contributor

• McCarthey, Sarah J.
• Bresler, Liora
• Higgins, Christopher R.
• Ndimande, Bekisizwe S.

• Curriculum
• Critical pedagogy
• Arts education
• Middle school

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2014 Ritu Radhakrishnan

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/49648

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/49648