TY  - UNPB
ID  - discovery10018868
N1  - The original thesis contained audiocassettes in end pocket.
EP  - 559
AV  - public
N2  - The purpose of the study was to examine the factors which
influence students' decision to take up the role of an art student in
secondary schools in Nigeria and propose ways to advance the study of art
in secondary education. Pedagogy tells that children in elementary
schools are very interested in art education, but when they leave primary
school and enter secondary school, this enthusiasm changes quickly and
students no longer show interest in art education. Researches in art
education also show that only a fraction of the teenage population which
attend secondary schools choose art education in the WASC and the GCE
examinations. A very few students carry over art interest into adult life.
A play of factors is at work in deciding the change in behaviour. The
study critically examined the factors and their influences on students'
choice of art education.
The research was in three phases: (1) a general survey on
students' background experiences in art teaching, people's attitude
towards art and the position of art in education; (2) a case study of art
education in some selected secondary schools; and (3) another case study
of art education in a particular institution, chosen on the basis of the
strength of its art department. The research involved fifteen states,
secondary schools, teachers, students, principals and administrators. The
research procedures revolved around structured interviews, observations,
questionnaires and documentary resources.
The analyses of the data provided the following: (1) The
decision to study art as a major subject was the result of a number of
different forces which not only conflicted with each other, but reflected
the tendency of divergence between the values of artists and those of the
society as whole. Sometimes the decision to take art instead of science
was based on a lack of sufficiently good marks in the areas relevant to
science. The selection of the subject was by no means uniquely due to
outstanding performance in art because art students who gave art as their
best subject had none the less considered careers in other fields. Others
both gave a subject other than art as their best and considered other
careers. This provided the probability of other sorts of motivation towards
and away from the role of an art student. Some students who opted for art
hoped to reconcile its values with the socially dominant ones, which
stressed such needs as earning capacity, job security, and occupational
prestige. Others had enough encouragements in the social milieu, in the
family and in the school. (2) There were traditional assumptions about the
role of art in society and in education, which pushed the works of artists
and the works of the art teachers down the list of social and educational
priorities. (3) Some of the issues which confronted students were to do
with long-established attitudes towards art and art education.
Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that:
(1) Quality of education and life-long education cannot be achieved by
only focussing on high standards of literacy and numeracy through a
specialised curriculum; by choosing between science or art, vocational
qualification or education for leisure. All need to be equally represented
in a well balanced curriculum. Each stands to gain through being taught
in conjunction with the others. Those talented in art can be successful
in the sciences and vise versa. What children and adolescents need is a
varied general education, which sees the acquisition of knowledge and
practical skills as integral parts of development. Attitudes towards
art and art teachers need to be improved. The deep-rooted attitude and
the collary of this - that the subject is less significant - are issues
which need to be campaigned against.
PB  - Institute of Education, University of London
A1  - Mbahi, Adamu Anjikwi.
Y1  - 1991///
M1  - Doctoral
UR  - https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10018868/
KW  - Nigeria
KW  - Art education
KW  - Secondary education
KW  - Subject choice
KW  - Pupil attitudes
TI  - An investigation into the factors which determine students' choice of art education in secondary schools in Nigeria.
ER  -