Abstract
Adopting the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), this sequential mixed-methods research investigates Hong Kong kindergarten teachers' reported beliefs and practices regarding early visual arts education (EVAE). The qualitative part (Phase 1) is an interview study of 19 kindergarten teachers in two focus groups, aiming to develop a conceptual structure of teachers' behavioural, normative and control beliefs. The quantitative part (Phase 2) is a survey study of 243 teachers from the randomly sampled 21 kindergartens regarding their EVAE beliefs and practices. Most teachers believe in child-centred teaching while practising teacher-directed instruction and support creativity while delivering closed-ended instruction. Four influential factors are identified to account for this gap: (1) practising child-centred pedagogies as a result of behavioural beliefs; (2) undervaluing visual arts as a result of normative beliefs; (3) instructing children directly as a result of normative beliefs; and (4) delivering subject knowledge in studio teaching as a result of control beliefs. These findings imply that Hong Kong kindergarten teachers struggle between two approaches and suffer from a lack of support from educational authorities and society. There is an urgent need to develop appropriate practices for visual arts education in Hong Kong kindergartens.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 190–224 |
| Number of pages | 35 |
| Journal | Journal for the Study of Education and Development |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Online published | 3 Jan 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2023 |
Funding
The work described in this paper was partially supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. CUHK 24615319), and the Direct Grant for Research from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Project No. 220 S. K. Y. Leung et al. CUHK 4058063). / El estudio que aquí se describe ha recibido apoyo financiero a través de una beca del Consejo de Investigación de la Región Administrativa Especial de Hong Kong de la República Popular China (Proyecto No. CUHK 24615319) y de una ayuda directa a la investigación de la Universidad China Hong Kong (Proyecto No. CUHK 4058063)
Research Keywords
- early visual arts education
- theory of planned behaviour
- teacher beliefs and practices
- EARLY-CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
- PRESERVICE
- INTEGRATION
- STRATEGIES
- CHILDREN
Publisher's Copyright Statement
- This full text is made available under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
RGC Funding Information
- RGC-funded