Pupils' attitudes towards art teaching in primary school: an evaluation tool

Pupils’ attitudes are influencing both learning and teaching processes and are affecting the way pupils will engage with art as adults. This paper introduces an attitude scale, ASAES (Attitude Scale for Art Experienced in School), which measures factors that may influence the formation of pupils’ attitudes, from pupils’ perceived abilities in art to teachers’ art specialisation. This newly developed instrument is a Likert- scale comprising four subscales: enjoyment, confidence, usefulness, and support needed. The support needed dimension is an essential component in the learning process because it represents the pupil’s perception of teacher’s feedback on how well they are coping with the task. The ASAES was administered to 420 primary school pupils in Cyprus and its psychometric properties are evaluated by Confirmatory Factor analysis

'What is art?' for children around the world : a comparative analysis

Art as a concept often operates within a particular culture. Through social interaction with adults, children build up a fund of social knowledge, which influences their own interpretations of art. This paper compares the findings of different studies examining children’s perceptions of art, which took place in different geographical (Los Angeles, New York, Nicosia/Cyprus), ethnic/ cultural (Whites, Latino, African-American, English speakers, Greek speakers), socioeconomic and curriculum contexts. Despite the significant disparities observed in the contexts under review, striking similarities are noted in children’s perceptions of art. These results have implications for the way we seek to understand what art is for children. More importantly, though, they highlight that art has a universal meaning for children and as such it can be used as a means for understanding, appreciating and accepting diverse cultures.peer-reviewe

ICT and adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL

Mellar, H., Kambouri, M., Sanderson, M., and Pavlou, V. (2004) ICT and adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL. London: NRDC. Available at: http://www.nrdc.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_258.pdfResearch report for NRDCThis project set out to obtain a picture of present teaching practice in the use of ICT in adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL within formal provision. (http://www.nrdc.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_258.pdf

Understanding factors that influence teachers' acceptance of technology and actual computer use for teaching : the case of Greece

During the past few decades, governments worldwide have been actively promoting the use of information and communication technologies in schools because of their potential to enhance teaching and learning. Despite several policies undertaken towards this end, the adoption of new technologies by teachers remains controversial. Teachers’ attitudes influence technology acceptance and actual usage in education. This paper introduces a new instrument that measures teachers’ attitudes towards computer use. The instrument, named the Attitude Scale towards Computer Use for Teaching (ASCUT), was developed following the Technology Acceptance Model and it contains four subscales: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, satisfaction expected and teacher’s image. It was completed by 450 Greek primary and secondary school teachers. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate it. Internal consistency reliability was found to be high. The role of demographic, end-user background and environmental variables on teachers’ attitudes were examined as well as the effect of attitudes on actual usage.peer-reviewe

ICT and adult literacy and numeracy - what counts as evidence

Background and aims of the study The Skills for Life strategy proposes an important role for ICT in adult literacy and numeracy provision. ICT is seen as a motivator, as opening up wider access to learning, and as providing new ways of teaching and learning. The Institute of Education has carried out a number of evaluation studies of the use of ICT in the teaching of adult literacy and numeracy (se