Teachers' aesthetic development and the creative arts experience of young children

Appropriate creative arts experiences for young children depend in part on teachers' prior arts knowledge Edwards and Nabors (1993). A qualitative study of the aesthetic development of five early childhood teachers was conducted to discover how they perceive themselves in terms of being creative or artistic, how this conceptualization was formed, and how aspects of the teachers' stories might relate to their classroom behavior, especially with respect to art activities. These teachers did not view themselves as creative or artistic. This perception was related to a perceived lack of draftsmanship ability. For these teachers, the term "creativity" tended to be related to problem solving. In the classroom, teachers said that they focused on children's involvement, process as opposed to product, and the emotional well-being of the children. Teachers were fluent in the language of creativity but lacked vocabulary for instruction in arts and aesthetics. In order to enrich children's arts and aesthetics experience, teachers may need to be educated in art content and discover ways to teach it in integrated and developmentally appropriate ways.