A research on the activities in the program of the art and design courses for sixth grades at primary schools

The basis in the art education or in the Art and Design course are to help the studentto develop a taste for aesthetics, to introduce the arts and to raise a generation with anunderstanding and a taste for art. Therefore the efficiency of Art and Design course in thesixth grade, which mark the start of the second phase in the primary school education,becomes the prerequisite in the development of qualified people with the consciousness foraesthetical environment. The aim of this research is to reveal and to compare the topics andthe activities covered in the Ministry of National Education?s (MEB) Art and DesignProgram for the primary schools with the Higher Education Council (YÖK) Art Educationfor the Primary School Programme.The research is conducted on the data collected from the Art and Design teacherslecturing the sixth graders, at the primary schools in Kocaeli city centre, in the 2003-2004Educational Year. Using literature review and questionnaire techniques, opinions of 66 Artand Design teachers, from 64 different primary schools were taken.Striking findings on the activities used in the Art and Design course were reachedby the end of the research. Thus, it was determined that; from the main educational areas inthe art education, the activities chosen from the applied works area form the majority andactivities from other area, history, art critique and aesthetics, were rarely used despite thefact that they were emphasized in the YÖK?s Art Education for the Primary Schoolsprogramme. It was also determined that there was no integrity among the applied activitiesof the participating teachers.