Perceptions of 11th grade students attending public schools towards portrait works from the modern period

Portrait painting is the depiction of the human face and facial expression. A portrait not only reflects a person's external appearance but also provides insight into their inner world. It is also possible to observe reflections of the artistic understanding, socio-cultural structures, and belief systems of the period through portraits. Portraits play a significant role in art education as well. Through portrait studies, students acquire technical knowledge and skills while also gaining important insights into art history. Moreover, portrait practices contribute to students' creative development, help them express themselves, and foster a love for art. However, engaging students in traditional portrait studies based on realistic models in visual arts classes often proves to be difficult and uninteresting for them. This situation may lead to a decline in students' interest in both the subject matter and the course. For this reason, incorporating Modern Period portrait practices into the curriculum may enhance students' creativity and increase their interest in the topic and in the visual arts course overall. In this context, the aim of this study is to determine the perceptions of 11th grade students attending public schools regarding Modern Period portrait painting through portrait-based activities. As the study seeks to explore students' perceptions of Modern Period portraits, a qualitative research approach was adopted, specifically using the case study method. The participants consisted of 11th grade students attending a public high school in a district of Afyonkarahisar. Since there was only one 11th grade class in the selected school, the research was conducted with a single group. Data were collected over a period of three weeks during six class hours. In the first week, students were asked to create a portrait without being provided with any background information, followed by the administration of a pre-evaluation form. In the second week, a presentation on Modern Period portrait art was delivered, and in the third week, students were asked to create a portrait in line with Modern Period aesthetics, followed by a post-evaluation form. Data were collected through document analysis and interviews, and the effectiveness of the intervention was tested using a one-group pretest-posttest design. The data were analyzed through coding and thematization of the students' artworks and semi-structured interview responses. The findings revealed that including Modern Period portrait applications in teaching the portrait topic led to increased student motivation in portrait creation. It was observed that students felt they could express themselves more effectively, work more freely, and participate more enthusiastically in the visual arts class when engaging with Modern portrait styles as compared to traditional approaches. Furthermore, the study concluded that using Modern Period portrait practices in visual arts education allowed students to develop alternative perspectives, enhanced their creative thinking skills, saved time, and provided greater flexibility in material usage.