A Case Study: Students’ Art Works as Indicators of Multiculturalism in Visual Arts Education in New Zealand Secondary Schools

Abstract

Art education provides a unique vehicle through which teachers, via their students, can indicate their pedagogical position/s on multiculturalism. In this paper I use images of students’ art works to illustrate findings of a case study conducted in a sample of secondary schools in Auckland, New Zealand. Although this nation has an increasingly multicultural student demographic, it also has a commitment to biculturalism. The research sought answers to how, or whether, art teachers take account of the increasing diversity of students. I contend that students’ art works can provide visual evidence of teachers’ pedagogical practices and attitudes towards cultural inclusion in visual arts education.

Keywords:

• visual arts education
• students’ art works
• multiculturalism
• biculturalism
• cultural inclusion
• pedagogical practices