A SURVEY OF ATTITUDES OF ALABAMA PRIMARY TEACHERS TOWARD SELECTED CONCEPTS OF VIKTOR LOWENFELD'S TEACHINGS REGARDING ART EDUCATION

The purposes of this study were to elicit and describe the attitudes of Alabama primary teachers toward Lowenfeld's teachings and to determine if there was a relationship between attitudes and the selected teacher characteristics of (a) the age of the teacher; (b) the location of the school; (c) the sex of the teacher; (d) the decade in which the last degree was completed; (e) the highest degree completed; (f) the grade taught; and (g) whether or not there was an art specialist/consultant in the school.;A questionnaire was prepared by the investigator and administered to 204 primary grade school teachers in Alabama. Fixed alternative responses on a five-point agree-disagree continuum (Likert Scale) made it possible to utilize an answer sheet which could be electronically processed. Data were computer analyzed using the Statistical Package of the Social Sciences (SPSS) at the Florida State University computing center.;Analysis revealed that Alabama primary grade school teachers had positive attitudes toward the teachings of Lowenfeld and that they view art: (1) as essentially process-oriented; (2) as a means of facilitating the total development of children; and (3) as being different from adult art (the natural characteristics of chilren's art should be respected). No significant relationship could be determined between these attitudes and the teacher characteristics variables.;Major conclusions include: (1) Primary teachers have positive attitudes toward the concepts of Lowenfeld's teachings; (2) Most respondents agreed that the process is more important than the product; (3) Primary teachers agree with the Lowenfeld position (art is for the promotion of the child's growth and development) on goals for art education, and they do not support some of the recent essentialist goal statements in art education literature; (4) The majority of primary school teachers support the development of the "whole child" and they support the child-centered curriculum and negatively endorse the subject-centered curriculum; (5) The majority of primary teachers disagree with Lowenfeld's position on workbooks in that they do not agree that workbooks cause children to become inhibited creatively.;The review of literature revealed that although many persons have written about Lowenfeld's impact on teaching practices in art education, no empirical studies have been conducted which attempt to describe the effects of his teachings on classroom attitudes. Further, contemporary writers have questioned many of Lowenfeld's ideas and reflect skepticism regarding some of his recommendations.;Recommendations include: (1) Further research is needed at the national level to determine if the implications of this study are valid; (2) Further study is needed to indicate if teacher attitudes toward Lowenfeld's teachings are related to variables not considered by this study (such as number and type of art education courses in background, number and type of education and "methods" courses, other art classes, personality types, etc.,); (3) It is recommended that further studies (preferably on-site observations involving interaction analysis) be done to see if there is a relationship between teachers' attitudes toward Lowenfeld's teachings and actual teaching practices.