This study aimed at using a mixture of direct observations and interviews to investigate kindergarten teachers' knowledge and pedagogical approaches to visual arts. An adapted version of the Early Childhood Teacher Behaviour Observation (ECTBO) instrument was used to investigate the possible reasons for teachers' current behaviours in Hong Kong visual arts classrooms. In an observation study, a total of 18 classrooms with 76 children in two local kindergartens in Hong Kong were observed during a 30-min visual arts activity. Altogether, 540 min of video data were recorded and analysed using field notes and a time sampling strategy. In addition, 18 class teachers from the observed classrooms were invited to give post-observation interviews, and 810 min of data were recorded. The interview participants supported the importance of non-directive early childhood arts. However, the observation findings revealed that they still relied heavily on directive teaching in implementing early visual arts teaching. Thus, a discrepancy was found between the teachers’ subject matter knowledge in visual arts and the integration of their pedagogies in their actual classroom practice. The findings of this study in a local setting have the potential to significantly change the way in which early childhood visual arts teaching is conceptualised and discussed in international contexts. Copyright © 2023 Elsevier.

Hong Kong, as a capitalist society, has an achievement-driven education system. Visual arts have become a marginalized learning area, especially in early childhood education. Although 'art and creativity' is one of the six learning domains for early childhood education in the kindergarten curriculum guide in Hong Kong, product-oriented and craft-based art activities are commonly practiced in kindergarten classrooms. This study observed 33 classrooms and interviewed 29 teachers for a total of 409 minutes to discuss issues surrounding the early childhood art curriculum in Hong Kong and the difficulties teachers face responding within the context. Through the triangulation of observations, interviews, and documentation analysis, the teachers indicated that they are facing a dilemma regarding teacher-directed and child-centred orientations towards teaching children visual arts. To sustain the 'third space' of early childhood visual arts education, three main areas are considered: (a) introducing visual arts as an alternative narrative in early childhood curriculum, (b) considering that children's creative behaviours are performative, and (c) positioning teacher education in relation to the visual arts. Copyright ©Routledge.

This paper presents a case study of how four teachers in one school adopted Learning Study in teaching Visual Arts in Hong Kong. The teachers found that the students at the primary level had difficulties expressing feelings through shapes. In 2003, they used the Learning Study approach to analyse teaching of this difficult topic. Each teacher taught the lesson and observed the lesson of the other three. A discussion, using student feedback, was held immediately after each lesson, aimed at improving the next one. A post-test was conducted to discover what students had learned. The result was good yet there were still many problems. In 2004, the same teachers taught the same topic with revision based on the outcomes of their previous lessons. There was more focus on using artists' artworks and students' expression of human figures. This paper will analyse materials and interviews from the Learning Studies to look at how to improve teachers' teaching of drawing. As drawing is central in children's art and the findings of this paper could be useful for other teachers in teaching visual arts.
[Copyright of Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) at http://www.aare.edu.au]

Ninety university undergraduate students were tested on a number of tasks assessing their recognition of possible and impossible figures, mental rotation, ideational fluency, and self-report artistic and creative characteristics. Scores on the Impossible Figures Task (IFT-14) and the Mental Rotation Test, and self-ratings on the Artistic Characteristics Rating Scale were found to differentiate among Fine Arts students, Architecture students, and students from Arts Faculty disciplines less related to visual-spatial abilities, suggesting that the IFT-14 could be used to assess visual-spatial or visual arts talents. The application of the IFT-14 with the same related measures to a sample of 103 primary and secondary gifted students provided further supporting evidence. Implications of the findings on the development of more sensitive measures for identifying students with visual-spatial or visual arts talents are discussed.
[Copyright of High Ability Studies is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13598130802504296]