Research in Visual Arts Education - The National Society for ...

MEDIATED ACTION AND AESTHETIC LEARNING
the integration of art with subject matter from other disciplines (Cornett,
2003, Ch. 5), but it may also serve as a reminder of the fact that art works
tend to have a content beyond themselves, some intentions with which they
are expected to “fit” (Goodman, 1978). Learning ABOUT refers to the basics
of art education, from the elements and principles of design to knowledge
about artists, styles and genres. Learning IN refers to experimenting with
materials and techniques in order to achieve a visual effect, convey a message
or express a mood. Learning THROUGH, finally, refers to the “studio
habits of mind” (Hetland, Winner, et al., 2007) or thinking dispositions that
we might acquire by involving ourselves in art projects.
Research methods and reported outcomes
Like in many other fields of outcome research, there tends to be a paradoxal
relationship between the quality of the research methods applied and
the reported outcome of the intervention that is being studied. The less
rigorous the design of an evaluative study, the more favourable results tend
to be reported. This relationship is found especially in situations where a
favourable outcome is a requirement for further funding.
The positive effects of investment in cultural capital, for example through
visiting artists, are often taken for granted. A report by a team of researchers,
co-ordinated by Mats Trondman (1996), described the prevailing attitude to
cultural projects in school in the following terms: there exists something
unproblematic good that cannot be questioned; that “goody” is the nice,
that is, uncontroversial culture. And since culture is nice, it will result in
something nice as well. But not only in nice “art works” but also in all sorts
of nice things, such as enhanced self-esteem, improved peer relationships,
and active leisure-time activities (Hansson & Sommansson, 1998, pp. 26-27).
Unfortunately, such transfer from one domain to another has been very
difficult to verify. Ellen Winner and Monica Cooper (2000; Lindström,
2002a) identified 1,135 studies that linked creative arts to academic achievement,
that is success in English, Math, etc. After applying a set of strict
inclusion criteria, they were left with 31 useable studies, from which they
calculated 66 effect sizes. To be included, studies had to be either experimental
or correlational, with a comparison or control group. Hence, pretestposttest
studies of a single group were not included. It was noted, however,
that such studies produced effect sizes that were more than six times larger
than those of well-designed studies. No experimental study, on the other
hand, has so far been able to demonstrate that studying the arts leads to
improved academic performance.
NORDIC VISUAL ARTS EDUCATION IN TRANSITION 67