| Well organized research activities designed to improve teaching methodology, or the quality of teaching & learning in a broad sense, is a traditional and very unique quality control practice in China' s education sector. However, the purpose as well as the content and form of these activities have been changing dramatically due to the changing concept of education and changing nature of the society since 1980s. As seen in the Fine Arts education, teaching & learning related research activities that highlighted the importance of teaching material analysis, teaching designing and demonstration in the previous reform period in Shanghai are now regarded as out of date and are facing enormous challenges alongside the emergence of new concept of teaching & learning, new ideas of Fine Arts education, and new developments in Fine Arts courses and textbooks.It is argued in this article that as Teaching & Research Coordinators are playing a very unique role in the process of above-mentioned reform, a coordinator' s job should be the one responsible for both research and innovation. Coordinators should give a real emphasis to the research function of teaching & learning related research activities. They should assure that in the context of experimenting the new Fine Arts course, their well-organized research activities should serve as an effective means to facilitate the development of teachers of Fine Arts as well as the success of the reform in Fine Arts education. This article, using Fine Arts education in Huangpu District as a case study, describes and analyses problems and relevant issues faced by Fine Arts teachers who are delivering the new course for experiment in Shanghai. Based on the theories of structurism in teaching & learning, this article put forward a new concept of research activities in Fine Arts education: Worth noting is the fact that the research conducted by teachers of Fine Arts is the research in a particular teaching & learning environment. It suggests that the purpose of teaching & learning related research activities is nothing but to provide a platform of study, research and exchange for Fine Arts teachers to achieve the goal of academic development. Teachers arethe center of teaching & learning related research activities; the content of research activities should help teachers to resolve their problems in teaching as well as to satisfy their demand for further study and research.This article therefore gives a detailed description of a series of workshops tailored for Fine Arts teachers in Huangpu District. In the workshop the participating teachers employed a model developed by GU Linyuan from Shanghai Research Institute of Education, who advocated a concept of behavior-oriented education based on cases from textbook. It was evidenced that the participating teachers not only broadened their vision by attending the workshop, but also enhanced their research capability and teamwork consciousness. Moreover, new ideas of Fine Arts courses, of teaching materials, and of teaching & learning methodology have brought to a big variety of research forms and research means. These forms and means include such things as case study, design of questions for class attendees, presentation of key topics, and research salon. It is obvious that the new platform provided for Fine Arts teachers has fostered innovation, and facilitated the teacher-centered research and the two-way study. It has helped teachers to achieve the goals of their academic development.The concept prompted in this article about teaching & learning related research activities and the self development of Fine Arts teachers is helpful and instructive for the reform of teaching & learning related research activities in Fine Arts education. The various kinds of workshops developed in the case studies about teaching & learning related research activities in Fine Arts education can also be referenced by other subjects both in Shanghai and in China.
|
PDF Full Text Request