An evaluation of middle school students' expectations from their teachers in visual arts classes

The purpose of this study is to determine the expectations of middle schoolstudents from their visual arts course teachers and to examine these expectationsin terms of gender and grade level variables. The research was conducted withinthe scope of quantitative methods using a descriptive survey model. The populationof the study consists of middle school students studying in the province of Van, whilethe sample comprises a total of 987 students selected from three public middleschools in central districts. A scale, whose validity and reliability studies had beencompleted, was used as the data collection tool. In addition to descriptive statistics,Mann–Whitney U tests were used for comparisons between two groups, andKruskal–Wallis H tests were employed for comparisons among more than twogroups in the analysis of the research data. The findings of the study revealed thatstudents generally have high expectations from their teachers. It was determinedthat female students had significantly higher scores regarding teacher behaviorsand overall expectations compared to male students. In terms of grade level, 5th-grade students had lower levels of expectations compared to upper grades (6th,7th, and 8th grades), while no significant difference was found among 6th, 7th, and8th-grade students. The results indicate that the visual arts course should beapproached not merely as technical instruction but as a holistic process that alsosupports students' social, emotional, and aesthetic development.