Abstract
This study aims to highlight the place and significance of visual arts in values education at the primary school level. Using a literature review method, one of the qualitative research approaches, the research concludes that visual arts serve as an effective tool for fostering values education in primary schools. Visual arts hold great importance in values education due to their ability to facilitate originality through diverse activities and practices. They provide an effective platform for developing values such as self-confidence, self-respect, sensitivity, awareness, empathy, respect, love, responsibility, cooperation, justice, respect for differences, and tolerance, both in individual achievements and group work. Visual arts are believed to play a vital role in values education by embodying abstract concepts.
TopIntroduction
Education, whether planned or spontaneous, is a lifelong process that holds great significance in the growth and sustenance of society. It encompasses the transmission of factual knowledge and the crucial aspect of instilling values (Burkhardt, 1999). Values essential for the coexistence of a society can only be acquired through education. Educational institutions are responsible for preserving these values, passing them on to future generations, and ensuring their enduring impact.
Values serve as principles and beliefs that shape individuals' attitudes and actions, fostering societal cohesion and aiming to cultivate productive and responsible citizens who are in harmony with their environment. Values education occurs within the family during early childhood and later extends to formal educational settings, such as schools. Within this structured environment, visual arts play a crucial role in facilitating the effective acquisition of values education, mainly through their appeal to the affective learning domain of students. Visual arts contribute to individuals' spiritual and moral development while also promoting social and moral values essential for fostering harmonious coexistence within society. As Ünver (2011) stated, “For the society that exists with its values, the accumulations of that society must continue. In the education system that aims to raise qualified people, it is possible to ensure that values are gained through art education because art education is the education of humanity” (Ünver, 2011).
Incorporating societal knowledge and values into primary education through visual arts holds significant importance within the formal educational framework, enabling their transmission to students. Edgington (1993) emphasized the imperative of utilizing every available opportunity, particularly schools, to impart specific values to students (Edgington, 1993, p. 10). Silcock and Duncan's (2001) research underscores the significance of voluntary participation, personal transformation, and consistency in formal and informal settings for students to acquire these values. Taylor (1994) identifies a range of frequently cited values, including cultural diversity, cultural identity, national consciousness, intellectual and academic values, peace, international understanding, human rights, environmental values, gender equality, anti-racism, business and economic values, health, tolerance, solidarity, and cooperation, which are shared human values.
Visual arts offer an effective means to embody and effectively teach socially significant values. According to Mercin and Diksoy (2017), visual arts provide opportunities to cultivate values such as individual thinking, emotional intelligence, trust, self-confidence, cooperation, empathy, respect, tolerance, and fairness. The visual arts education program encompasses various applications and experiences, from promoting family unity to instilling virtues like self-respect, patience, and perseverance. Consequently, visual arts hold a crucial place and significance in values education. This research aims to highlight the role of visual arts in imparting values within primary education, a crucial stage in the educational journey.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Aesthetic: It is a branch of philosophy that deals with the general laws of artistic creation, beauty in art, and the effects of beauty on human memory and emotions. Aesthetics is a theoretical science first used as a word and concept in 1750 by the German philosopher A. Baumgarten.
Semiotics: Semiotics is a science based on the systematic examination of all factors, including the processes of interpreting, producing, or understanding signs.
Art Education: It is an interdisciplinary field of education based on culture and research, covering all fields and forms of fine arts, allowing individuals to express themselves creatively.
Curriculum: Curriculum is the linking of education to a program. Curricula are standards-based planned experiences where students practice and gain proficiency in content and applied learning skills. A curriculum describes which subjects will be taught, in what order they will be taught, and how much emphasis will be placed on a subject.
Teaching Methods: A curriculum is a program that is formulated at the official level, in which the aim, objective, content, method, and evaluation elements are written and which stipulate that teaching is carried out according to this plan.
ART: Art is the creative expression of emotion, thought, and imagination through various materials or actions with an aesthetic concern.
Empathy: It is to understand another person's feelings, thoughts, beliefs, and desires by internalizing them.
Art Criticism: Art criticism is a political, sociological, and psychological research of art in the context of the artist and the work and a process of a sensitive reaction to art.
Visual Art: It is a field of art generally related to line, paint, and volume and appeals to our sense of sight. With changing world standards and postmodernism, different artistic actions and movements, such as conceptual art, installation, and performance art, have also been included in its scope.