Browsing by Subject "Teatteritaiteen perusopetus"

Tiivistelmä - Referat - Abstract In this Master’s thesis I studied commitment to Basic education in theatre arts. Basic education in theatre arts is “goal-oriented, progressing from one level to other and it teaches children skills in self-expression and capabilities needed for vocational, polytechnic and university education in their chosen art form” (Curriculum of Basic Education in Art, 2017, p. 10). Basic education in theater arts is a hobby that requires the commitment of a child or a young person. In the theory part I studied the commitment from a philosophical point of view as well as from a psychological point of view that includes motivation. In addition, I examined commitment in different environments: educational institutions and in art contexts. Previous theories (inter alia Morgan & Saxton, 1985; Newbery, 2012; Willms, 2003; Zynghier, 2008) alone were unable to explain the phenomenon being studied. However, together the theoretical framework helped to understand the commitment to Basic education in theatre arts. I divided the theoretical framework into three main categories: the characteristics of art, the teaching processes and the pupil's background. Previous studies have studied, among other things, the relation between Basic education in the arts and the future of culture (Ministry of Education and Culture, 2011), self-evaluation of educational institutions (Basic Education Education Association, 2012), regional accessibility of Basic education in the arts (Regional Administration, 2012), the efficiency of teaching (Järvinen, 2015), the accessibility of teaching (Nokka, 2017) as well as from the point of view of experiential quality in Basic education in theatre arts (Myllyniemi, 2017). I found very little previous research of the topic of my thesis. In my opinion, factors influencing commitment was important to study for two reasons: the importance of commitment has increased in the curriculum (Curriculum of Basic Education in Art, 2005; 2017) and because of the growing number of students in the Tikkurila Theater and Circus School. My aim is to describe, analyze and interpret commitment as a phenomenon in Basic education in theater arts. The context of the research is Tikkurila Theater and Circus School. The research questions were: 1. Which factors influence to pupil’s commitment to Basic education in theater arts? 2. How do the importance, possibilities and realization of engagement in Basic education in theater arts become apparent in the interviews? 3. How does the theoretical framework of commitment appear in the interviews? Does the theoretical framework change based on the interviews? My research approach was qualitative. The material was collected as a part of Anu Myllyniemi's (2017) master's thesis The experiential quality in Basic education in theatre arts. The data collection method was individual interviews. There were in total of five interviews. Because my thesis was influenced by theory-based perspectives, I found the abductive content analysis to be the most suitable analytical method. The analysis process was divided into three phases: material reduction, grouping and conceptualization. (Tuomi & Sarajärvi, 2017) According to this study, the most important factors influencing the commitment to Basic education in theater arts were the social dimension of the hobby and the methods of teaching used in the education. In addition to these, the interviewees highlighted the importance of trying different kind of roles. Some significance could also be seen with values and attitudes appeared in the theatre school, teacher’s responsibility and pupil’s self-confidence. The results of the study showed similarities with the theoretical framework. Complementing the theoretical framework, the meaning of the environment (teaching facilities) emerged as a significant factor of commitment. The National Agency of Education has defined as one of the goals of Basic education in arts that pupil’s are goal-oriented and aiming for vocational education (Curriculum of Basic Education in Art, 2017, p. 10). If the research were to be carried out in a broader sense, it could provide new perspectives for the curriculum of Basic arts education and help the educational institutions to engage their students more effectively.