Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Art and Design Theses Ernest G. Welch School of Art and Design 8-12-2016 A Comparison Of Art Education Practices In Bangladesh And In The United States Nafisa I. Nova Georgia State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.edu/art_design_theses Recommended Citation Nova, Nafisa I., "A Comparison Of Art Education Practices In Bangladesh And In The United States." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2016.edu/art_design_theses/209 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Ernest G. Welch School of Art and Design at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University.
It has been accepted for inclusion in Art and Design Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact scholarworks@gsu. A COMPARISON OF ART EDUCATION PRACTICES IN BANGLADESH AND IN THE UNITED STATES by NAFISA ISLAM NOVA Under the Direction of Melody Milbrandt, Ph. ABSTRACT The intent of this study is to provide a comparison study of art education philosophies, methods, and practices in Bangladeshi schools to schools in the United States.
This is a descriptive study with an intensive examination of curriculum materials and textbooks from the education system in Bangladesh as well as narrative based on my past experiences as a student in Bangladeshi primary schools. After translating and analyzing Bangladeshi middle school curriculum, I compared and contrasted art education philosophies, objectives and practices in Bangladesh with those in the United States. INDEX WORDS: Art Education, Curriculum, Bangladesh Art Education, Multicultural Art Education A COMPARISON OF ART EDUCATION PRACTICES IN BANGLADESH AND IN THE UNITED STATES by NAFISA ISLAM NOVA A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of Art Education in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2016 Copyright by Nafisa Islam Nova 2016 A COMPARISON OF ART EDUCATION PRACTICES IN BANGLADESH AND IN THE UNITED STATES by NAFISA ISLAM NOVA Committee Chair: Melody Milbrandt Committee: Melanie Davenport Kevin Hsieh Electronic Version Approved: Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University August 2016 v" ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge my fiancé, Seamus, for his support during my Masters of Art Education program. I would also like to thank the faculty members of the Art Education department at Georgia State University; Dr.
Melody Milbrandt, Dr. Melanie Davenport, and Dr. 6 Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. v" LIST OF TABLES.
8" LIST OF FIGURES .1! Need for the Study .1" Purpose of the Study. 14" 2" Chapter II Review of Literature .1! Historical Context of Bangladesh .2! Education In Bangladesh .3! Bangladesh Art Education .4! Notable Bangladeshi Artists. 19! 3" Chapter III Methodology .1! Analysis and Comparison of Curriculum Materials .2! Comparison of My Experiences in a Bangladeshi Art Classroom to My Art Classroom. 24! 4" Chapter IV Analysis and Reflection.1! Comparison of Curriculum Units .3! Personal Comparison of Bangladeshi Art Education and U.
37! 5" Chapter V Conclusion & Implications. 46" Appendix A Fulton County Visual Arts Standards Grade Six. 46! Appendix B Fulton County Visual Arts Standards Grade Seven. 65! Appendix C Fulton County Visual Arts Standards Grade Eight.
84! 8 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Overview comparison of Bangladeshi and United States curriculums. 31" 9 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 ‘Famine 1943’ by Zainul Abedin. 20" Figure 2 ‘View from Santiniketan, 1945’ by Safiuddin Ahmed.
21" 10 1! CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Growing up, I had the experience of going to school in two different countries, Bangladesh and the United States. As I have grown older and become a teacher, I often reflect upon the differences in both education systems specifically concerning art education. In Bangladesh the way artworks are assessed and even the purpose of art education in Bangladesh is very different from U. I have chosen the Fulton County curriculum as my comparison for U.
curricula, for grades six through eight due to its high level of detail, which allows for more comparisons to the very specific national middle school art curriculum in Bangladesh. Some of these differences come from the way both countries’ school systems are set up. In Bangladesh there is a primary school, which is an equivalent to U. elementary school and there is a secondary school, which is equivalent to U.
middle and high school. The focus of my research is on the art curriculum in Bangladesh for grades six through eight and the U. middle school art curriculum. Even though I am currently working as an art teacher at an elementary school, I chose the sixth through eighth grade art curricula because there is not an art curriculum for the Bangladeshi primary school.
In primary school art class is held twice a week with the same teacher as other subjects. Most art assignments and studies are assigned to be done at home at the discretion of the teacher because there is no set curriculum. The art curriculum in Bangladesh starts from sixth grade which is why my research specifically focused on the art curriculum in Bangladesh grades six through eight and the same grades in U. The main differences in the two countries art education programs include teaching philosophies and curricula.
The questions I answered in this study are: 1)! In what ways is the United States Art Education curriculum similar to the Art Education curriculum in Bangladesh and in what ways is it different? 11 2)! From reflections of my own experiences as a student in Bangladeshi primary school, how does the classroom environment compare to my own as an elementary art teacher in the United States? 1.1! Need for the Study Within the U., school system there are many different nationalities, ethnicities, and cultures represented. Banks (2016) says that a goal of multicultural education is to equalize opportunities for students of different race, class, and gender. In order for these changes to work Banks asserts that changes must be made to current curriculums and practices. The face of our nation is changing, and nowhere is the change more evident than in public school classrooms.
Just consider this: Compared with the last century, we are increasingly aging and white on the one hand and young and multi-hued on the other. More and more of us were born in other nations, speak different languages, and carry different cultural traditions with us. As a whole the U. is growing more diverse and focusing on the study of other culture’s art education practices will benefit the practices of art education in the United States.
This study is needed to introduce different educational philosophies in art education, as well as alternative objectives and practices in the art education field in U. Art Education curriculum emphasizes an existentialists approach. “In teaching art, existentialism encourages individual creativity and imagination more than copying and imitating established models” (Educational Philosophies Definitions and Comparison Chart, 2006, p. In contrast Bangladeshi curricula takes an essentialist, and realistic approach to teaching art.
“Schooling should be practical, preparing students to become valuable members of society” (Educational 12 Philosophies Definitions and Comparison Chart, 2006, p. The objectives of U. art curricula focus on student creativity and the art making process, which reflects, an art approach of fun and creativity. The Fulton County Schools eighth grade standards state “VA8PR.
Works directly with materials in a variety of ways (e., intuitive, spontaneous, and free)” (p. The Bangladeshi curricula focus is on the creation of functional art that can used by students to make a living. society there are many cultures and ethic groups from different areas of the world. It is now necessary to take into consideration a wider range of methods and a more thorough understanding of teaching philosophies, including essentialism and existentialism in regards to education, and specifically in this study, art education.
According to Zong and Batalova (2016), the United States immigrant population accounted for 13.3% of the countries population. When factoring in immigrant’s U. born children they together account for 26% of the population. According to the Pew Research Center (2013) expectations for the U.
population predict that nearly 34% of U. children under the age of seventeen will be either immigrants or the children of immigrants by 2050. Of the many immigrants in the U. the top eight countries of origin are China (including Hong Kong), Cuba, El Salvador, India, South Korea, Mexico, The Philippines, and Vietnam (Migration Policy, 2015, p.
With such a trend in immigrant demographic percentages expected to continue it is necessary to expand our educational philosophies to a global level. The driving force for this belief of expanding our views to a global scale come from multiculturalism. The National Association for Multicultural Education (2015) defines multicultural education as a “philosophical concept built on the ideals of freedom, justice, equality, equity, and human 13 dignity” (p. The idea of multicultural education is to recognize and encourage cultural differences within students, schools and communities.
With this idea, it is important that art educators are familiar with art practices and educational philosophies that expand beyond the U. It will be useful to see which methods and information are being taught in systems outside of the United States. According to the National Center for Education Information (2011), approximately 84% of teachers are Caucasian. A concern from this is “that teachers often feel underprepared and uncomfortable about teaching multicultural art, as it is something they know little about” (Chin, 2013, p.
The findings of most teachers being of Caucasian and European descent demonstrates the need for comparative studies of education curriculums and detailing of their findings. Also an emphasis on multiculturalism within pre-service teaching programs would be useful. Finding a common ground in these comparative studies is a starting point for introducing multicultural practices and teacher self-efficacy. From the late 1800’s to the 1950’s it was noted by La Pierre (1998) that the dominant culture in America was white, European Americans.
Other members of society such as African, Hispanic, and Asian Americans were ignored in regards to education. It was not until the 1960’s, during the Civil Rights movement, that African-Americans began to fight for recognition and equality in society and academics. Prior to the 1960’s schools were segregated with African- Americans only being allowed to attend and teach at all black schools. With projections of immigrant numbers expected to increase, it is now necessary to expand our research to include a world wide view that is not limited to practices of European origin.
I believe that focusing on the study of other cultures art education practices will benefit the practices of art education in the United States.1! Purpose of the Study This study has a personal tie to me, because I attended school in both Bangladesh and the United States. From my experiences, I perceived differences in the education systems of the two countries. These differences extended from not only the core classes i. math, science, language arts, but the special area classes as well, including art, music, and physical education.
More specifically, in U. art classrooms there is very little testing at the primary level and grades are essentially based on participation. In Bangladeshi primary schools’ art tests are administered by assigning students a subject to draw. In the lower primary grades, 1st-3rd, students are assigned to draw a series of fruits and vegetables.
The goal was to show realistic accuracy and depiction. Even with art being given less time for instruction it is tested with the same degree of importance as the core subjects in Bangladesh. Students were scored based on a points system, which was combined with the scores from other subjects to determine eligibility to pass to the next grade level and class ranking. Based on my experience, in Bangladeshi primary school, the art lessons were studio based with little context or historical study.
Most of the lessons were designed to improve students’ fine art skills such as shading realistically or drawing realistic representations of objects.