An investigation of the relationship between teachers' art self-concepts and their students' art self-concepts at the intermediate elementary level

Consistency and quality have become the focus of public education in Ontario (The Ontario Curriculum: The Arts, 1998). While the Ontario curriculum has become more specific and rigorous, the government has not mandated that teachers of intermediate-level Art must be specialists. This has resulted in a disparity in staffing for intermediate-level Art, with some students taught by specialists while generalists teach others. This study sought to establish any links between teachers' and students' Art self-concepts as a basis for improvement implications involving competency, consistency, and self-concept issues related to this core problem. Research has shown that competence has a positive correlation with self-concept (King, 1983, p. 12) and that self-concept has a positive correlation with success or achievement (Guay, Marsh, and Boivin, 2003, p. 134). This investigation into teacher/student Art self-concepts has lead to an understanding of specific areas in which support is needed to develop competency in generalist teachers.