A Descriptive Study of Community Art Teachers with Implications for Teacher Preparation and Cultural Policy

Abstract

This study examines the professional preparation, perceptions, career aspirations, instructional aims and practices of 31 art teachers in 7 community agencies. Non-parametric data were analyzed from questionnaires designed to provide age, gender, and education variables for insight into the nature of art teachers and teaching in non-school programs. Twenty-three subjects were female and 8 were male. The majority held four-year or graduate degrees in art or art education. Seventy-four percent were practicing artists who taught art in non-school settings and who aspired to be professional artists or full-time teachers but were not. Most felt the courses they taught were “on a par with” those in colleges or universities and that they provided opportunity for creative expression at a beginning level. Age was a factor in level of education, self-confidence, and experience. Factors of age, gender, artist-as-teacher model, education, and perceptions of teaching and students were shown to hold significance for ar...