Art in Catholic secondary education

• Main Author: Pfau, Edith
• Other Authors: Nichols, Alice W.
• Format: Others
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Art > Study and teaching (Secondary) > United States.; Catholic Church > Education.
• Online Access: http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/handle/179568; http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/415420

The purpose of this study was to determine the status of art education in Catholic secondary schools. Studied were:(1) historic status of the schools and attention to separate schools for boys and girls;(2) specific factors for comparison with findings of the 1963 NEA survey of music and art in the public schools;(3) the extent of shared time art programs; (4) obstacles to art programs; (5) the extent of humanities courses.A questionnaire modelled on the 1963 NEA survey incorporated features specific to the Catholic schools. It was sent to 486 Catholic secondary schools in a saturation survey of Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Kentucky--states selected for their historic associations and concentration in them of a Catholic population and a Catholic school population proportionate to that of the nation at large.Results were based on a usable net response of 382-(78.60 percent) which was 80.93 percent of 472 schools continuing operation in September, 1969.Results corresponded roughly to those of the 1963 PLEA survey although there were basic differences in composition by type, organization, and size of schools.Of schools responding 13.09 percent offered no art. Art departments existed in 76.70 percent. Another 10.31 percent provided opportunity for shared time classes. Some of these supplemented their own offerings with shared time classes. This percentage of schools offering art far surpassed the 53.6 percent of all public schools offering art in the 1963 survey, but it was only one percent higher than the 74.7 percent offering art in public senior high schools whose composition was nearest that of Catholic secondary schools.Percent of art enrollment to total enrollment in Catholic secondary schools was close to that of public schools in the 1963 survey. The 14.63 percent was only .57 percent below 15.2 percent enrollment in senior public high schools. Art enrollments in Catholic schools showed strong influence from separate schools for boys and girls. Girls' and coed schools accounted for the 60.44 percent of small schools which offered art. All large schools not offering art were boys' schools.Strong evidence of a continuing tradition of art education was shown by the high percentage of girls' schools (92.74 percent) with art departments. An interesting feature of the boys' schools was the number of them (55.26 percent) which had introduced art within the past decade. The past two years had seen others taking advantage of art classes in nearby girls' schools.Art curricula followed much the same generalized pattern as public schools with little opportunity for specialization. Less than three percent of the schools required art above grade nine.Preparation of teachers was generally adequate, and percentage of art teachers to average number of teachers per school compared well with percentages in senior public high schools.Lack of personnel ranked first in causes of schools dropping art. Finances ranked first in obstacles toward schools introducing art programs. A crowded academic schedule was the first obstacle in schools which had art programs. Lack of space and finances followed. Almost89 percent of the schools charged for or had students purchase art supplies beyond tuition. Forty-one percent of the schools required an additional studio fee.Humanities programs which included visual arts were reported by 35.08 percent of schools. Another 7.9 percent offered humanities courses which did not include visual arts. Courses were not generally restricted to an intellectually elite; but many encompassed music and art alone, and time allotted them was limited.