Primary-age children's attitudes to art, art making and art education

Many educational researchers stress that there is a critical need for studies that allow children's voices to be heard and acknowledged. Without doubt, children's opinions and unique perspectives on art, their experiences of art making and their attitudes towards art education should be of vital interest for arts education advocacy efforts. To date, very few studies have focused on the meaning and value of art in the lives of young Australians. This paper describes a study that aimed to explore Australian children's understanding of art and the meanings they attached to it and to gauge their attitudes to art making and art education. A total of 103 students across four stages of primary education were interviewed. Their comments reveal that children have rich, perceptive attitudes as to the meaning, value and purpose of art in their lives, insights that go beyond the expectations of many current researchers.