Defining quality in visual art education for young children: Building on the position statement of the Early Childhood Art Educators

Preschool-age children’s education by art: problems and possibilities

“…V. Židonytė (2005) notes that the teacher should not interfere in the child's creative process; i.e., it is necessary to allow the child to freely create, draw, provide more self-expression opportunities for the child, which will result in greater creativity, and his / her artworks will be original, free and unrestrained. On the other hand, the task raised for the teacher is to develop the child's need to draw and develop his / her hand, vision and thinking in order to fulfil that need: the child needs a sensitive teacher who assesses his / her abilities, interests, questions, ideas, initiates appropriate development of skills, the use of materials (McClure et al 2017).…”

Editorial: Young Children and Art Education

“…The advent of the neoliberal fetishisation of measurement and calibration in order to facilitate competition, which increasingly dominates -and corrodes -educational practices worldwide, combined with the inherent difficulties of corralling the arts into easily measureable outcomes, is one of the main reasons for their marginalisation in some national curricula and state policies. In recent years, however, there has been a developing international research interest in artistic modes of expression as a source of knowledge, in and of itself, providing additional space where young children may generate meaning and express thought (Binder & Kotsopoulos 2011;McClure et al 2017;Lopatovska et al2016). Educators and policymakers have been urged to refocus attention on the possibilities of artistic experiences in the lives of young children, since to relegate them to a peripheral, seemingly inconsequential place, overlooks the potential of the arts for nourishing and supporting young children's creative voice: Children's images reveal the colour of personal expression, the lines of their experience, the shapes of their thought, the textures of their imaginations, the forms of their being, the patterns of their learning, the inner and outer spaces of their worlds, and the contrasting elements between the real world and the imagination.…”

Effects of a Preschool Arts Curriculum on Social and Emotional Competence

“…The Art in Action model for this research utilized volunteers to bring the art supplies and teach the arts classes, but typically Art in Action advocates for teacher empowerment via providing arts resources and training. This has implications for future research, in that teacher training and interest in the arts holds a critical role in quality of student learning (Mcclure, Tarr, Thompson, & Eckhoff, 2017). Specifically, Mcclure, Tarr, Thompson, and Eckhoff (2017)…”

“…This has implications for future research, in that teacher training and interest in the arts holds a critical role in quality of student learning (Mcclure, Tarr, Thompson, & Eckhoff, 2017). Specifically, Mcclure, Tarr, Thompson, and Eckhoff (2017)…”

“…Because art and music cannot be tested using standardized tests, districts put less funding into developing strong arts curricula. However, the arts are a notable avenue for the development of social, emotional, and behavioral competence (Mcclure, Tarr, Thompson, & Eckhoff, 2017).…”