Firstly, teachers who had lower education degrees agreed much more with the statement that ‘foreign cultures influences children’s drawing.’ Secondly, teachers who had less teaching experience agreed much more with the statement that ‘teachers need to teach art history before engaging in an art project.’ Thirdly, teachers who are older agreed much more with the statement ‘physical growth is demonstrated in children visual and motor coordination in their artwork.’ Fourthly, Kaohsiung County teachers agree much more with the statement ‘boys have more talent in art than girls’
than did the Kaohsiung City teachers. Fifthly, teachers who had learned about Lowenfeld, DBAE, or a combination of both methods showed the most significant difference in valuing children’s art from those who had not learned about either approach. Sixthly, Kaohsiung County teachers agreed much more with the statement that ‘domestic culture influences children’s drawing’ than did Kaohsiung City teachers.
Recommendations
Early childhood teachers in Taiwan lack knowledge about children’s art. In this study, the research revealed that some kindergarten teachers still use a
teacher-directed approach in teaching children’s art in their classroom. However, teachers also play an important role not only in utilizing a teacher-directed approach but also in using a child-directed one. Thus, they need to enhance their knowledge of creative and mental growth theory related to children’s art.
In order to foster children’s art capacity and creativity, during college pre-service teachers must absorb knowledge of the varieties of children’s art before they begin their teaching career. And, they also need to learn to conduct art activities during their internship. In addition, universities should provide more art conferences, art workshops, and art courses for both pre-service and in-service early childhood educators.
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