| This qualitative study examines and compares secondary art instruction in two public four-year high school programs. The study examined Advanced Placement (AP) programming at a traditional public school, and instructional programming at a charter school for the arts. Areas of focus in the study included whole program instruction, and the manner in which these two environments prepared students for college and work as professional artists. Differences and similarities were noted in environment, policies, goals, instruction and outcomes, with the intent to identify "good practices" in both schools. Good practices, such as step-by-step procedures, benchmarks and written criteria for projects at the traditional school, were not necessarily transferable to the charter school, which more often utilized individualized instruction and flexibility in criteria for their particular student body. Differences in student groups included a strong interest in grades and academic achievement amongst the traditional school students, and a greater interest in self-expression (than in grades) at the charter school. Students at both schools appeared to value art for emotional and creative satisfaction, but not necessarily as an economically viable choice for a career. Choices for higher education included other disciplines, a double major of art and another such as business, or a major and minor combination. Only a small number of students at both schools may continue on to an art college or university for full-time study in art; attendance depends on issues such as acceptance into a school, adequate funding and parental support. The writer also discusses an absence of instructional practices regarding several issues investigated by contemporary researchers on democratic education. Findings were examined relative to meaning-making, postmodern multiculturalism, critical pedagogy, visual culture and globalization. Directions for continuing research includes: curriculum development to incorporate context, content and more critical pedagogy with design-based instruction; differentiated curriculum for different student groups; revisiting the function of Advanced Placement credit for college acceptance; and surveying foundation level knowledge requirements for studio art in colleges and universities. |
