Implementing Change in Architectural Design in Elementary School Art Education in Slovenia

Abstract

Abstract This article reports on a study of the effects of an action research project that aimed to improve the practice of teaching art in elementary schools in Slovenia. The specific focus was on the planning and execution of art tasks relating to architectural design. The planned improvements were based on the process of architectural design from recognising a real problem to finding solutions to art problems. The subjects of the research were 80 10‐year‐old fifth graders and their art and classroom teachers from two elementary schools in Maribor, Slovenia. We evaluated the effects of the implemented changes on pupils' artistic creativity by testing the pupils before and after the action research by using an artistic creativity test with which we were able to monitor the level of pupils' creative development. Test drawings made by pupils before and after the action research were evaluated by monitoring six factors of artistic creativity: sensitivity to problems, elaboration, flexibility, fluency, originality and redefinition. By using a dependent t‐test for paired samples, we examined whether there were any statistically significant differences between the initial and the final tests for each factor separately. We found that the effects of all the implemented changes were positive, with pupils scoring higher in the final tests for each of the six factors of creativity. Findings from the action research suggest that changes to the architectural design classes yielded the best results in the last action step which enabled pupils to get a sense of space during an educational walk.

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