Browsing by Author "Takamäki, Salla"

Assessment of visual arts and the development for the assessment is currently very topical, as the assessment part of the National Core Curriculum for Basic Education (2014) has been renewed. In the future the final assessment will include the criteria for grades 5, 7 and 9 in addition to the current criteria for grade 8. Previous research shows that assessing with the current criteria for grade 8, does not enable equal assessment. Teachers have also been dissatisfied with the support provided by the curriculum in the final assessment. The purpose of this master’s study is to examine the views that classroom teachers have on the support provided by the curriculum in the assessment of visual arts. In addition, the aim is to find out how classroom teachers who teach art react to the idea of producing the criteria for the grades 5, 7 and 9 in elementary school as well. The study was carried out using qualitative methods. The research material was collected with an electronic questionnaire and one thematic interview. Eleven classroom teachers who teach art from three different municipalities responded to the questionnaire. The results of the survey were deepened with one in-depth interview. Content analysis was utilized in the analysis of the material. Based on the results of this study, the classroom teachers deemed that the current visual arts’ assessment criteria in curriculum worked moderately on average. Some classroom teachers found the assessment of visual arts difficult and challenging. With the exception of one respondent, all the classroom teachers who responded to the survey wanted elementary school also to have the evaluation criteria for visual arts in the future for grades 5, 7 and 9 in addition to the current criteria required for the grade 8. According to the analysis of the questionnaire and the interview, the classroom teachers believed that the assessment would be equalized, facilitated and clarified if they had these number-specific criteria in the assessment. In addition, teachers wished for clarity and concreteness regarding the curriculum.