A Study Of The Needs And Possibilities For The Teaching Of Art In The Negro Elementary Schools Of Houston, Texas

Author

Lora Janette Livington, Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College

Date of Award

8-1942

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Degree Discipline

Arts and Science

Abstract

There is a definite and growing need for instruction in art in the schools, due to the fact that many of the principles employed in art are almost universal in their application. In most of the common necessities of life art plays an important part; it is used in the selection and wearing of clothing, in the furnishing of homes, and in the practical work of the trades and professions.

This study is the outgrowth of the needs as mentioned in the above paragraph, as well as, the numerous problems presented by summer graduate students in a problems course during the summer of 1941. These teachers presented problems as follows:

1. How can we teach that which we ourselves have not yet been trained to teach?

2. How can art activities be carried on with limited facilities with which to work?

Participation in this class aroused in me an intense desire to become acquainted with the teaching of art in the elementary schools.

The writer's interest in this study was further aroused when she observed an exhibit of the Houston Public Schools at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas. At this exhibit, she noted only white schools were represented. With the facts mentioned above in view, an attempt will be made to study the needs and justification of art education, thereby indicating to the elementary teacher suggestions for the use of materials found in his environment for the teaching of art.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM. The problem of this study may be stated in the question "What are the needs, justifications, and possibilities for the teaching of Art in the Negro Elementary Schools of Houston, Texas?"

Out of this basic problem grows several subsidiary questions which are:

1. Was the absence of a display of the Negro Elementary schools from the exhibit mentioned above due to the existence of a strong feeling of racial prejudice?

2. Are the Negro teachers prepared to teach art in their particular group; if prepared do they lack interest and ingenuity enough to get materials found in their own environment, if they are not provided by the school hoard, and use these materials in the teaching and correlation of art?

3. Is art included in the daily program of the Negro elementary schools?

4. What are the forms of art taught in the schools?

5 . Is art correlated with other subject matter?

6. How many schools have art exhibits?

7. What kinds of art do children enjoy most?

8. What are some of the uses of discarded materials found in our environment in the teaching of Art?

Committee Chair/Advisor

A.C. Preston

Publisher

Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College

Rights

Date of Digitization

04/21/2022

Contributing Institution

John B Coleman Library

City of Publication

Prairie View

MIME Type

Application/PDF

Recommended Citation

Livington, L. J. (1942). A Study Of The Needs And Possibilities For The Teaching Of Art In The Negro Elementary Schools Of Houston, Texas. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.pvamu.edu/pvamu-theses/1510