Chris,
This does not seem to be an "arts" question. Passing a high school
basic drawing class with the minimum amount of work also does not
seem to be a very high standard. I suspect passing requires: showing
up, staying awake, putting in a reasonable amount of work, etc.
This seems to be a motivation or attitude question. These same students
are most likely having the same problem passing everything else.
These students need a caring teacher in a conducive environment to learn.
They are more likely to find that in an art class than anywhere else in
the school. So perhaps programs that provide support for these less than
motivated students are the answer. Although if other schools pull students
out of class to work with them like ours does, they will pull them out
of the
very classes they are most motivated to be in, i.e.: art or music.
Since the art class would seem to me to be the easiest place to motivate
the problem student, perhaps the problem lies in who is teaching the art.
Why not try to identify the highly successful art instructors and do a correlation
to see which programs are most successful with problem students. Your research
might uncover some answers doing it that way. In my opinion it is the teacher
that makes the program no matter what else you put in place.
On a related issue, our JDC (juvenile detention center) recently
released the
art teacher as least needed on the staff. (Dumb, Dumb, Dumb)
Woody in KC
Chris wrote:
> I plan on finding ways to aid those students who, mostly because of lack
> of effort or motivation, are failing art. I want to help those who are
> failing to complete the minimum amount of work necessary to pass a high
> school Basic Drawing Class. I've just begun finding research articles
> that deal with under-achieving students- certainly none from a Visual Arts
> perspective.
> I've spent several hours
> researching, but haven't found anything definitive yet on "why students
> fail."
> Thanks,
> Chris
