Article Review On Professional Development In Arts Integration In Inclusion Settings
Summary
This paper is a review of the article entitled “Laughter Filled the Classroom: Outcomes of Professional Development in Arts Integration for Elementary Teachers in Inclusion Settings. ” The article was written by K. Koch and J. Thompson and was published in 2017 by the Learning Disabilities: A Multidisciplinary Journal. The study took place in a rural mid-Atlantic school system. Through the utilization of “decades of studies to demonstrate the benefit of art integration (AI) on academic achievement, the author has developed a general purpose for the study. “The purpose of this study is to consider the impact of an AI workshop on teacher attitudes towards the incorporation and subsequent implementation of AI to improve differentiated instruction including students with learning disabilities”. The sample/participants, who were chosen using a “sample of convenience” technique, was comprised of twenty teachers; 17 elementary school teachers and three high school inclusion teachers. The investigator used a reality testing research design to create this report. This is evident through its emphasis on “exposing them to the philosophy of how AI can enhance student engagement in the classroom, how AI can facilitate the implementation of state standards and assessment, and how the arts can be a teaching tool across the curriculum”.
The method used by the researcher for the collection of data was a pre-intervention/post intervention survey method by way of a link sent by email before and after the intervention. The data analysis of this study focused on interpretational analysis. “The answers to the survey questions were analyzed to look for themes, relationships, and ideas regarding the teachers’ views on arts integration prior to the course and their experiences in designing and teaching an arts integrated unit after participating in the workshop. The data were read repeatedly, looking for comments by the teachers that seemed to capture the essence of the experience”. The results of this study show, of the 20 teachers that were sampled and completed the didactic portion of the course, “14 completed the assignments required to obtain continuing education credits toward state recertification of their teaching license. Those same 14 participants also completed the post-course survey questions”. Furthermore, this study provided data about their “knowledge, confidence, and skill” concerning the integration of arts. Also, the teachers stated they experienced a heightened level of confidence and engagement, not only with the arts integration into their lesson plans, but also in aiding their schools to follow suit. “The teachers described, not only the intent to use more AI in their classrooms, but several stated they were already doing so, outside the course requirement”. When compared to the pre-course survey, “the teachers…, appeared to have developed a stronger understanding of the various and broad academic benefits of AI”.
Lastly, based upon how they made accommodations for students with learning disabilities, social/emotional challenges, or physical limitations, “all teachers commented that they made some adjustments for children who had learning disabilities, but no-one required a adjustments to the AI lessons, in part, due to the differentiated nature of the lessons themselves”.
Analysis
After examining other sources, two articles were found that could provide opportunities for further research concerning this subject. The first article is “The Collaborative Residency Project: The Influence of Co-Teaching on Professional Development in Arts Integration” in the International Journal of Education and the Arts. The research in this article can help by providing the investigator with more information on teacher knowledge, confidence, and skill in terms of integration of art. The second article is “Art Integration: What is Really Happening in the Elementary Classroom” in the Journal for Learning through the Arts. This article can further this study by providing the researcher with more in-depth data from personal experiences, teacher interviews, focus group sessions, classroom observations, and written texts on how art integration is practiced in a primary school.
This study has sound validity to its design. But if one had to identify a threat to its validity, it would be that the study lost several participants, and if the study continued longer, it may have lost more participants. The only other critique of this article is the selection of participants could have been more random and larger to facilitate a more accurate result. Lastly, there are two main educational implications present in this study. The first implication is that “minimal arts integration professional development is needed to positively impact instruction”. The second implication is “differentiation is naturally built into arts integration strategies”.
