Visual culture studies in primary school visual arts course: An action research

The dominant role of visual language in today?s world is an unavoidable fact. In the living conditions, where mass communication devices and animated images are in the lead, the special emphasis on ?visualization? by public production is an important element. Therefore, it is crucial to develop an understanding about the new visualization of culture. In order to get an understanding of visual experiences that form an important part of today?s life experiences, education plays an important role. The applications of visual culture studies in educational settings may help students to make their life more meaningful by asking them to question the levels of meanings regarding visuals.The aim of this study was to find out how the visual culture studies can be carried out in Visual Arts course in primary schools. Since the study is based on educational applications of cultural studies in Visual Arts course, it was conducted within the action research design.The study was conducted in Eskişehir Cumhuriyet Primary School in the fall term of 2007-2008. The educational side of the study was done with 30 students in class 3/B, but a total of seven students (four females and three males) were chosen as focus of the study. The visual culture studies were conducted in 22 school hours of Visual Arts course between 17 October 2007 - 12 December 2007. The data of the study were collected with different data collection tools, such as demographic information scale, video recordings, semi-structured interviews, document analysis, researcher diaries and student diaries. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, and the results were interpreted according to the research questions.In the visual culture application of the study, a cartoon was shown to the students, and with the help of interviews about the cartoon, three activities, ?Gender Roles?, ?I Draw the Song in Me?, and ?Environmental Life Exhibition?, were decided by the students. Some of the main results obtained through the data collected were as follows:?Guiding the students to the visual culture studies which are included in elementary school Visual Arts course was obtained with the help of the questions the researcher asked. Students in the study diversified their thoughts, which they uttered about the cartoon with examples from their own lives, and then they interrogated the subject critically.?In the visual culture studies, students actively participated in the activities and discussions in the classroom environment. During the activities that students had chosen themselves, they participated in the discussions related to the topic and took part in the art work voluntarily. In the study, there was a gradual increase in the students? participation starting from the first activity to the last.?Students showed a critical perspective in the application of visual culture studies.?Students partially gave importance to cultural questions during ?Gender Roles? and ?Environmental Life Exhibition? activities. Also, the students rather than using their knowledge related to culture, gave examples and messages that have traces about culture in the meanings.?Students, while telling about their thoughts and feelings about the topic, used their previous knowledge and experiences.?During the activities which lasted for three days, students both expressed their own thoughts and defended them in the classroom discussion sessions.They realized the importance of their own thoughts and defended them against opposing ideas.?Visual culture studies were reflected in the students? works in different rates for all three activities. In the process starting with the first activity students gained confidence in expressing themselves with the help of art.?Students found Visual Arts course with visual culture studies more joyful. They stated that visual culture studies, along with being more enjoyable, was an educating and informative process or a preplanned course. Moreover, students also pointed out that visual culture studies helped them to visualize their dreams.?Students found that the course with visual culture studies different from the previous course style they were engaged in. While talking about this difference, focus students talked about about drawing with a topic and purpose rather than drawing without a topic. Moreover, students stated that visual culture studies are different from classical Visual Arts course in terms of group work, research, skills related to the course, and communication.