artists in cypriot primary schools: the pupils' perspective

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Artists in Cypriot primary schools: thepupils' perspectivePatricia Sanderson a & Andri Savva ba The University of Manchester , UKb University of Cyprus , Nicosia, CyprusPublished online: 23 Jan 2007.

To cite this article: Patricia Sanderson & Andri Savva (2004) Artists in Cypriot primary schools: thepupils' perspective, Music Education Research, 6:1, 5-22, DOI: 10.1080/1461380032000182812

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Music Education ResearchVol. 6, No. 1, March 2004

Artists in Cypriot primary schools: thepupils’ perspectivePatricia SandersonSchool of EducationThe University of ManchesterOxford RoadManchesterM13 [email protected] Sanderson1* & Andri Savva2

1The University of Manchester, UK; 2University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus

Musicians and visual artists are appointed to work as specialist teachers in Cypriot primary schoolsbecause of their artistic expertise. However, little information is available concerning these artistsand their work in schools, including the perceptions of the pupils. This paper reports on aninvestigation into the nature of the pupils’ attitudes and the school effect. A self-report question-naire was developed from discussions with groups of children in four primary schools, andcompleted by a representative sample of 574 boys and girls aged between 9 and 11 years of agein eight schools, each of which employed a different musician and visual artist. Results show thatoverall, pupils’ attitudes toward the artists are positive, although there is some variation in attitudeof school staff. Issues raised by the research are discussed, and areas for further researchhighlighted.

Introduction

Although practising musicians and visual artists have been employed by the Ministryof Education in Cyprus to teach in primary schools since 1987, little research on thisinitiative has been undertaken, particularly from a national perspective. These artistscomplete a short period of training at the Pedagogical Institute and then work in oneor more primary schools on a long-term basis, with responsibility for the music orthe visual art curriculum. The available research appears to be limited to a small-scale study of the views of inspectors, head teachers, teachers and the artistsconducted by Persianis and Yiangou (1993), and a more comprehensive study bySavva (2001), which investigated the attitudes of teachers, artists and pupils to themusicians and visual artists in primary schools. This current paper reports theperceptions of the pupils of those artists and includes the school effect. In order toprovide background in the wider area of artists working in education, a brief surveyof some of the relevant literature is given. This is followed by a review of the researchavailable on pupil perceptions of artists in education. A section on music and visualart education in Cyprus schools is then provided, so that the research study may beplaced more fully in context.

*Corresponding author: School of Education, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road,Manchester M13 9PL, UK. Email: [email protected]

ISSN 1461-3808 (print)/ISSN 1469-9893 (online)/04/010005-18 2004 Taylor & Francis LtdDOI: 10.1080/1461380032000182812

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6 P. Sanderson & A. Savva

Artists and education

The literature shows that, in both Europe and the USA, those with expertise in oneor more of the arts and working in schools can generally be placed within one of thefollowing three categories:

• Teachers who have specialized in one or more of the arts as part of their educationdegree course and who then work in primary or secondary schools;

• Practising artists who hold both arts and teaching qualifications. They are usuallydescribed as ‘specialists’ and are found mainly in secondary schools;

• Professional artists who also works in education in various capacities, often as ameans of supplementing income.

These categorizations are broadly applicable to Cyprus (Eleftheriou, 1985; RoushaStavridou, 1996).

The growing involvement, in various capacities, of professional artists in schoolsin Europe and the USA during the past 25 years is evident from the literature (e.g.Macdonald, 1980; Barton & Sonuc, 1994; Sanderson, 1996; Robinson, 1996a, b;Chicago Arts Partnership in Education, 1996; Oddie & Allan, 1998; Woolf, 1999,2000; Harland et al., 2000; National Center of Educational Statistics, 2002; Down-ing et al., 2003). The work of artists in education in the UK is discussed inpublications such as the Scottish Arts Council (1993), Norfolk County Council(1995), the Department of National Heritage (1996), the Arts Council of England(1996). In the USA, evaluations of various programmes involving artists in schoolsprovide useful sources of relevant information (e.g. Polisini, 1982; Gilchrist, 1986;Leptak, 1989; Redfield, 1990; Polisini & Topping, 1993, Frances, 1993; ChicagoArts Partnerships in Education, 1996). As in the UK, a number of descriptivearticles and documents have been published showing a growth in educationalactivities by artists (e.g. Sanders, 1984; Campbell, 1986; La Farge, 1991; NationalCenter of Educational Statistics, 2002). It seems that artists working in schools havebeen widely accepted and recognized for their essential roles in the development ofcultural, creative and artistic education (Robinson, 1996a, b; Chicago Arts Partner-ships in Education, 1996; Downing et al., 2003), although according to Ross (2003)artists can still be regarded with some suspicion, despite the ‘euphoria’ which tendsto accompany projects.

The major reasons given for the involvement of artists in schools are theirknowledge, expertise and insights into the creative process (Macdonald, 1980;National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education, 2001; Sander-son, 2001b). The artists’ technical skills involved in making, performing andappreciating are recognized and valued as making essential contributions to enhanc-ing creative and aesthetic experiences for children (Meakin & Sanderson, 1983;Sanderson, 1996; Harland et al., 2000; Downing et al., 2003). Sharp and Dust(1997) emphasized the range of benefits to pupils from their contact with artists, notleast as role models. This latter comment refers of course to the role of the artist asartist and not teacher. Yet an artist is often expected to be a good teacher and whilethere are those who are gifted in both areas (Sanderson, 2001b), it is debatable

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Artists in Cypriot primary schools 7

whether this should be a requirement of an artist within the school context (Ross,2003). This point is revisited in the following section, in relation to proposedinfluences on pupil perceptions.

Sometimes artists’ involvement in schools occurs because of limited arts educationprovision. Sharp and LeMetais (2000), reported that a number of current ‘high-quality’ partnerships between artists and schools in some European countries wereactually stimulated by the low status and/or the reduced incidence of the arts in theprimary schools; Rousha Stavridou (1996, p. 93) refers to musicians in Cyprus whoare ‘appointed in primary schools because of the lack of specialist music teachers’.

Pupils’ perceptions of artists in schools

Little published work is available on the attitudes of pupils toward artists involvedin educational work. There is a propensity among researchers to focus on theproject, the teachers, the schools, the artists and the arts organizations, althoughthere are a few exceptions (e.g. Swanwick & Lawson, 1999). Investigations that doexamine the attitudes of the ‘consumers’ tend to do so with reference to the artforms, rather than the artists (e.g. Harland et al., 1995, 1996, 2000; Ross & Kamba,1997; Sanderson, 2000, 2001a) and even then, children of primary school age arerarely the focus.

Reports on artists in schools invariably record a positive impact on the partici-pants’ skills, understanding of the arts and attitudes towards the arts (e.g. CalousteGulbenkian Foundation, 1982; Gilchrist, 1986; Sharp, 1990; Sharp & Dust, 1997;Oddie & Allen, 1998), although the validity of the endurance of such benefits hasbeen queried by Sanderson (2000). The enjoyment factor, as a consequence ofworking with artists, is reported by pupils on a regular basis according to Briginshawet al. (1980), Redfield (1990), and Swanwick and Lawson (1999), with someauthors suggesting that the participants’ enjoyment is necessary if positive attitudesare to develop (Scott, 1987; Redfield, 1990; Morley, 1991). However, Harland et al.(2000) also stress that pupils’ perceived enjoyment is dependent on the provision ofwell-planned and executed arts lessons.

Sharp (1990), Redfield (1990), Hendel (1995), Sharp and Dust (1997), andSwanwick and Lawson (1999) comment on both the recognition by children andyoung people, of the high degree of expertise of artists and the positive impact thisfactor has on their attitudes. Ross (2003) underlines the value of pupils meeting andworking with a professional artist, precisely because of the latter’s specific knowledgeand qualities that may not be held by the class teacher. He emphasizes the role ofthe artist in school as an artist and not as a teacher. It seems that pupils also perceivedistinctions between the two roles (Sanderson, 1980, 1981, 2001b) and it could beargued therefore that their expectations of artist and teacher will vary accordingly.

The part played by the artist’s personal qualities in influencing pupils’ percep-tions, in addition to their levels of experience and artistic abilities, has beencommented upon by Cole (1988), Hendel (1995), Richards and Gipe (1998) andHarland et al. (2000). Pupils’ attitudes may be affected by both the artist’s person-ality (Norfolk County Council, 1995) and enthusiasm for his or her art form. A

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relevant point to consider here is that education work is also a condition of fundingof orchestras, dance and drama companies in many countries, including the UK(e.g. Arts Council of England, 1996, 1997a, b), and consequently increasingnumbers of professional artists are required to be involved with schools and children,to some extent, in providing artistic experiences. It is possible that some of theseartists may not relish the school experience and indeed could possibly resent thisrole. An absence of real commitment and enthusiasm for the role could in turnimpinge negatively on pupils’ perceptions of the artists.

School support for artists has been suggested as an important factor in influencingpupils’ attitudes in a positive direction (Sanderson, 1981; Meakin & Sanderson,1983; Sanderson, 1996; Harland et al., 2000). This support includes not only openacknowledgement of the educational value of the work undertaken, but also practi-cal help in relation to those areas where artists may lack teaching skills, such as classmanagement (Sanderson, 1980; Sharp, 1990; Sharp & Dust, 1997; Hannon, 2001).Meanwhile Hendry et al. (1993) stress the role of parents and guardians as a crucialsource of influence on attitude, a factor found to be relevant by Sanderson inrelation to dance (1991).

The long-term effectiveness of artists working in this environment for relativelyshort periods is questioned by Sanderson (2000, 2001a) and Ross (2003) because ofthe lack of reliable research evidence. Upitis et al. (1999) highlight the problemsengendered by the limited occurrence of longitudinal research work in arts edu-cation in general. Harland and Kinder (1999) also express the need for longitudinalstudies when the changing perceptions of the young people involved can be tracedover a period of time. A recent example of a longitudinal music education researchstudy is that of Swanwick and Lawson’s (1999) 3-year evaluation of five linkedprojects commissioned and run by the London South Bank Centre in collaborationwith six secondary schools; pupils worked with a range of musicians over a periodof three years. The musical confidence of the pupils was enhanced (implying, itcould be argued, an accompanying growth in positive attitudes towards the artists)but interestingly, a strong individual school effect on levels of confidence was alsonoted.

The context of the study: music and visual arts education in Cyprus

The educational system in Cyprus is characterized by a centralized administration,where schools are government not community institutions. The government istherefore responsible for the selection and employment of teachers in primary andsecondary schools.

Since 1987, professional artists have been employed to teach in Cypriot primaryschools, following a brief period of professional training at the Pedagogical Institute.It seems that artists are not involved in schools in other capacities, such asresidencies or projects, which are increasingly common elsewhere (e.g. Barton &Sonuc, 1994; Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education, 1996; Robinson, 1996a;Swanwick & Lawson, 1999; Woolf, 1999, 2000; Sharp & LeMetais, 2000; Fogg &Smith, 2001) At the time of the study, 88 musicians were permanently employed inprimary schools, although there were significantly fewer visual artists, as most of the

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latter transfer to secondary schools after a short time, according to the IndependentTeachers Organisation AKIDA (1998). Artists teach the music or visual artscomponents of the National Curriculum (Ministry of Education and Culture, 1999)and are ‘peripatetic’ in that they may work in several schools.

Prior to the National Curriculum (Ministry of Education and Culture, 1999),Cypriot pupils’ main experience of music in schools was class singing. According tothe National Curriculum, teachers should ensure that understanding and appraisingare developed through composing, listening and performing activities (Stavrides,2001). However, although it is generally agreed that composing is an essentialcomponent of music education (Swanwick, 1991), it appears that in Cyprus, thewidespread implementation of this new philosophy presents some difficulties. It issuggested by Savva (2001) that teachers are not yet fully prepared, curriculumresources are restricted to a specific songbook and facilities for professional develop-ment are limited. Despite these drawbacks, positive comments on developments inthe teaching of music have been made (e.g. Swanwick, 1996).

Primary school children are taught to play the traditional musical instruments ofthe country—recorder and mandolin—and performing activities still appear to beemphasized. Primary and secondary schools work hard to produce choirs andorchestras that give high status to their schools, performing at national celebrationsand gatherings. Greek and Cypriot folk music and songs therefore comprise animportant component of the Music National Curriculum and they are used as ameans of cultivating pupils’ understanding of musical elements and enhancing theirmusical development (Stavrides, 2001). Nevertheless, the National Curriculum doesprovide opportunities for teachers to introduce not only traditional music, but alsoEuropean classical works and a variety of other musical traditions.

Central to the visual arts curriculum for Cyprus primary schools is making as wellas responding to art. Although the work of Cypriot traditional, modern and contem-porary Cypriot artists is emphasized, European artists and other traditions areincluded. However, it seems that practical and theoretical aspects of the subject arekept separate and are based on the use of materials and techniques (Ministry ofEducation and Culture, 1999). Curriculum resources and facilities appear to belimited and few in-service opportunities are provided for either artists or teachers.On the other hand, it also seems to be the case that visual arts and especially musicare valued in Cyprus as an important part of the culture.

The study

In view of the paucity of research concerning professional artists working in Cypriotprimary schools and consequently the limited amount of information available onthis initiative, a study was completed by Savva (2001), which sought to ascertain theoverall attitudes of the pupils to the artists, and any effect of the school factor onthose opinions. As appropriate measures of attitude were unavailable, the develop-ment of these within the context of the Cypriot culture was an essential first stagein the research. Attitude is generally described as a predisposition to respond in apositive or negative manner towards, in this instance, the artist. The concept of

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attitude is defined in this paper as the amount of affect for or against the object, aview in accordance with that of Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) and Sanderson (2000).It is generally recognized that positive attitudes are necessary for learning to occur,and so knowledge of pupils’ attitudes to the artists and their role could provideuseful information for all involved in the programme in Cyprus, including artists,teachers, head teachers, curriculum planners and government administrators.

Method

A pupils’ questionnaire was developed from discussions with groups of four children(two boys and two girls) aged between 9 and 11, in four primary schools. Thesediscussions were transcribed and statements selected that reflected the range ofopinion on the musician and the visual artist. An introductory section, which soughtdetails of gender, age and school (identified by number), was followed by athree-point Likert-type scale: ‘Agree’, ‘Undecided’ and ‘Disagree’, attached to thestatements. Although there are limitations in using a three-point response scale,it was selected in preference to a five-point scale because of the age of the childrenand the context of the research. Limiting the response range was considered to bemore likely to produce valid responses with the 9–11 age group in Cyprus, wheresuch pupils were (at the time the study was undertaken) generally unfamiliar withcompleting questionnaire response scales. It is acknowledged nevertheless, thatthere are differing views among researchers on the length and type of responsescales in questionnaires suitable for children. A pilot study was then under-taken to test the structure and administration of the questionnaire, involving asample of 120 children from six schools, with equal representation in terms of ageand gender. Information from the pilot study resulted in the refinement of thequestionnaire in terms of its overall structure, the number and clarity of meaning ofthe statements as well as general presentation. These procedures contributedtowards improving the content validity of the questionnaire at this stage in theresearch.

The final questionnaire comprised, in addition to the introduction, two mainsections. Part I consisted of 34 statements reflecting attitudes to the musicians, andPart II 32 statements expressing attitudes to the visual artists. The final sample of574 boys and girls was drawn from eight primary schools, located in three towns inCyprus. School choice was ultimately determined by the presence of both a musi-cian and a visual artist; there was no overlap of artists and schools, that is, eachtaught in only one of the eight schools. Permission to conduct the study was grantedby the Ministry of Education, the head teachers and the participants. The question-naire was completed in a classroom setting, and distributed and collected by theresearcher (Savva, 2001), which further ensured the anonymity of respondents. Theresponses were scored 3–2–1 in accordance with the categories Strongly Agree,Undecided, Strongly Disagree for statements expressing a positive attitude, andreversed, 1–2–3 for those expressing a negative attitude.

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Factor analysis

Factor analysis is a statistical technique, which is widely used to examine patterns ofrelationships between variables and group items into a manageable structure(Youngman, 1979). The resulting factors can then be used as new measures.Employing the data from this sample, and using SSPS-X, a factor analysis wasperformed on the 34 items related to music and the 32 items related to the visualartists. In each case, factors were extracted using principal components analysis androtated to a simple structure using orthogonal (varimax) rotation (Gorsuch, 1983).

Attitudes to musicians (Part 1 of the questionnaire)

The scree test (Cattell, 1966) suggested a three, well-defined factor solution ac-counting for 47% of the total variance and so these three factors were extracted androtated. Twenty items loaded above 0.40, with each factor indicating attitudestatements on a specific aspect of the musicians’ work in primary schools (Table 1).An examination of the statements comprising each factor suggested titles broadlydescriptive of content. Accordingly, Factor 1, accounting for 32% of the totalvariance, was labelled: ‘Enjoyment in Working with a Musician’ (EWM). Factor 2accounted for 8.1% of the variance, comprised six items and was entitled: ‘Role ofthe Musician’ (RM), as this reflects the overall attitude being expressed. Factor 3,‘Need of the Musician’ (NM), accounted for 6.9% of the variance, and the threestatements indicate pupils’ attitudes toward the need of a musician in their school.

The three-factor solution is presented in Table 1.

Attitudes to visual artists (Part II of the questionnaire)

Factors were extracted using principal components analysis and rotated to simplestructure using orthogonal (varimax) rotation (Gorsuch, 1983). The scree testsuggested a three, well-defined factor solution, accounting for 53.3% of the totalvariance. These three factors were extracted and rotated. Fourteen items hadweightings above 0.40 and statements in each factor reflect specific aspects of visualartists’ work in primary schools. Factor 1, ‘Enjoyment in Working with a VisualArtist’ (EWVA), accounted for 31.3% of the variance. The content of Factor 2,which suggested the title, ‘Role of the Visual Artist’ (RVA), accounted for 11.2% ofthe variance. Finally, Factor 3 expresses attitudes towards the ‘Need for the VisualArtist’ (NVA), accounted for 10.7% of the variance. The three-factor solution ispresented in Table 2.

Validity and reliability of the attitude scales

As the scales were developed from the pupils’ own statements, they have their owninternal validity and content validity was probed in the early stages of developmentin order to ensure clarity of meaning. To adduce validity of the scales as distinct

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Table 1. Factor pattern matrix of pupils’ questionnaire (Part 1) for 574 pupils, aged 9–11

Factor 1 Factor 3Factor 2(EWM)Variable (RM) (NM)

I enjoy working with the musician 0.781I wish we had more time working with the musician 0.713Music is my best subject 0.688I like getting involved in different performances 0.683The musician in our school is very friendly 0.658The musician in our school is a good teacher 0.646I feel something in music, which makes me happy 0.614With the musician we feel more free 0.563

0.550After some time working with the musician it is niceto show what you know

I try to work hard at the activities we do with the 0.502musician

I can learn to play more than one instruments now 0.431A musician in a school can create a good orchestra or 0.693

chorusWith the musician in our school, we have a lot of 0.691

practice during the music lessonThe musician in our school sings various songs 0.667We learn how to make songs 0.601The musician in our school is very talented 0.504I like singing especially when the musician sings 0.487

0.785We need a musician in our school because our teacherdoesn’t’ know much about music

0.734We need a musician in our school because our teachercan’t play any instrument

Our teacher cannot work with the musician because 0.542he/she doesn’t know anything about music

Internal reliability coefficient 0.730.87 0.51

EWM, Enjoyment in Working with a Musician; RM, Role of Musician; NM, Need for aMusician.

measures, product-moment coefficients of correlation were calculated, using thescale scores from the total sample of 574 pupils.

All the values were shown to be less than 0.2, with the exception of that betweenScales 1 (EWM) and 2 (RM) in the ‘Attitude to the Musician’ inventory, and Scales1 (EWVA) and 2 (RVA) in the ‘Attitude to the Visual Artist’ inventory. In boththese cases, however, it should be noted that in the former, 0.6 accounts for only36% of the variance is common to both scales, and for the latter, just 31% (0.56).

Internal reliability consistency was measured by Cronbach’s alpha internal re-liability coefficients, which ranged from 0.67 to 0.87, indicating acceptable levels forfour of the factors. The internal consistency of the two remaining factors, namely theneed of the musician and the need for the visual artist were relatively low (0.51).Acceptable levels of internal consistency are important as they indicate the strengthof the relationship between the items themselves and the underlying concept being

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Table 2. Factor pattern matrix of pupils’ questionnaire (Part II) for 574 pupils, aged 9–11

Factor 3Factor 1 Factor 2(EWVA)Variable (RVA) (NVA)

The visual artist in our school is very friendly 0.811The visual artist is not so strict as our teacher 0.772With the visual artist we feel more free 0.751The visual artist in our school is a good teacher 0.742I enjoy working with the visual artist 0.572I try to work at the activities we do with the visual 0.690

artistMy drawings have improved since I started working 0.630

with the visual artistWe would like to see the visual artists’ work 0.537

0.538The visual artist explains everything before we startArt is my best subject 0.520We need a visual artist in our school because our 0.778

teacher doesn’t know much about artThe visual artist in our school has more experience in 0.692

art than any other teacher� 0.595The visual artist can do better work alone than with

other teachersIt is nice to have our teacher in the classroom when � 0.445

the visual artist teaches usInternal reliability coefficient 0.83 0.67 0.51

EWVA, Enjoyment in working with a Visual Artist; RVA, Role of the Visual Artist; NVA, Needfor a visual artist.

measured (Coolican, 1994). However, taking into account the researcher’s interestin the content and the size of the sample, both of these scales were retained for usein further analyses. Scores were calculated for each of the six scales and employedas distinct measures of attitude in the research.

Results

Pupils’ attitudes to the musicians

The mean attitude score for each of the scales and the standard deviations arepresented in Table 3. It can be seen that, overall, the attitudes of the children to themusicians tended to be positive.

A one-way ANOVA revealed a main effect of school on all three scales. Table 4illustrates the significant difference at the 1% level, in the attitudes of pupils’attending different schools and therefore taught by different musicians. Scale 1(EWM), F � 27.9, p � 0.01; Scale 2 (RM), F � 21.0, p � 0.01; Scale 3 (NM),F � 11.6, p � 0.01.

The range in mean scale scores between schools is an indication of the sources ofthose differences. While it is acknowledged that some of these differences are small,

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Table 3. Mean scale scores: pupils’ attitudes towards musicians (n � 574)

Scales Means SD Mean range

Sc. 1 (EWM) (n � 11) 26.2 11–335.66–18Sc. 2 (RM) (n � 6) 2.615.8

Sc. 3 (NM) (n � 3) 1.56.6 3–9

EWM, Enjoyment in working with a Musician; RM, Role of the Musician; NM, Need for aMusician.

it is nevertheless interesting to note that, for instance, lower means on all three scalesare apparent for Schools 1 and 2, and to a lesser extent School 8, whereas forSchools 4 and 6, there are consistently high mean scores across all scales. In the caseof some of the schools, one of the mean scale scores is high relative to those recordedfor the other two, for example, attitudes to the RM (Scale 2) for School 7. However,caution needs to be exercised in interpreting these differences between schools, asthey could of course be due to factors other than, or in addition to, the specificmusician concerned. This issue will be re-visited in the Discussion section.

Pupils’ attitudes to visual artists

Table 5 presents the mean scale scores and standard deviations for each scale. It canbe seen that, as in the case of the musicians, overall pupil attitudes to the visualartists tend to be positive.

A one-way ANOVA revealed a significant main effect of school on all three scales.Table 6 shows significant differences at the 1% level in the attitudes of pupilsattending different schools each of which employed a different visual artist. Scale 1

Table 4. Mean attitude scale scores by school: musicians

Scale number

nSchool Sc. 1 (EWM) Sc. 3 (NM)Sc. 2 (RM)

74 6.11 1523.95.81521.42 88

3 26 16.7 6.8824 46 29.2 15.8 8.05 70 28 6.316.3

6.975 16.830.36877 27.5 6.717

138 6.752 24.527.9**F test 21** 11.6**

EWM, Enjoyment in Working with a Musician; RM, Role of the Musician; NM, Need for theMusician.**p � 0.01.

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Table 5. Mean scale scores: pupils’ attitudes towards visual artists (n � 574)

Scales Means SD Mean range

Sc. 1 (EWVA) (n � 5) 11.4 5–153.25–15Sc. 2 (RVA) (n � 5) 2.212.8

Sc. 3 (NVA) (n � 4) 8.9 4–121.9

EWVA, Enjoyment in working with a Visual Artist; RVA, Role of the Visual Artist; NVA, Needfor a Visual Artist.

(EWVA) F � 53.4; Scale 2 (RVA), F � 7.06, p � 0.01; Scale 3 (NVA) F � 10.0,p � 0.01.

It is interesting to compare the results with those for music (Table 4). The meanscores for School 1, for instance, continued to be among the lowest, which suggeststhere may be other factors involved here. Pupils at School 2, however, had relativelyhigher attitude Scale 1 scores for the visual artist, with whom they seemed to enjoyworking, compared with the musician, although the means in both cases arerelatively low; the attitudes of pupils at School 8 were also overall more favourabletowards the visual artist than the musician. On the other hand, the visual artist meanscores for School 6 show the reverse trend, in that they are lower on all three scales.

Discussion

The employment of musicians and visual artists as teachers in Cypriot primaryschools has been in operation since 1987. The research literature on this initiative,however, appears to limited to Persianis and Yiangou (1993), and Savva (2001),with information on the perceptions of children confined to the latter study. Thereis little published work available that reports on similar situations elsewhere. Never-theless, the literature surveyed has revealed a number of research studies on pupil

Table 6. Mean attitude scale scores by school and significant F tests

Scale number

School n Sc. 1 (EWVA Sc. 3 (NVA)Sc. 2 (RVA)

74 8.91 11.98.22 88 8.213.6 13

12.5 8.382 8.8311.9464 11.8 10.6

5 8.770 12.311.69.113.110.87569.413.112.8877

14.1 14.152 8.4810.0**F test 53.4** 7.0**

EWVA, Enjoyment in working with a Visual Artist; RVA, Role of the Visual Artist; NVA, Needfor a visual artist.**p � 0.01.

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perceptions of artists working in various capacities in schools and these are drawnupon in this discussion.

The results of the research show that for the most part, the pupils from the eightprimary schools in Cyprus participating in the study had positive attitudes towardsthe musicians and visual artists. Overall, they enjoyed working with the artists, hadpositive perceptions about their role and generally felt that there is a need for anartist in their school. The finding that pupils enjoyed working with artists concurswith virtually all information that has emerged from similar investigations elsewhere(e.g. Redfield, 1990; Sharp, 1990; Sharp & Dust, 1997; Oddie & Allen, 1998;Swanwick & Lawson, 1999). The ‘halo’ effect, which usually accompanies shortresidencies, can be given as a major reason for that enjoyment (Sanderson, 2000,2001a). Pupils respond positively to someone who is different from their usualteacher, who has a new approach, manner and appearance, all of which can captureinterest and attention, in the short term at least. The artists in Cyprus, however, arepermanent teachers and so the fact that the children appear to enjoy their lessonsover an extended time suggests more than a mere ‘halo’ effect. Even so, a decline inthe strength of positive attitudes was noticed with the older pupils (Savva, 2001).

While it appears to be the case that, for a project to be judged a success, theparticipants’ enjoyment is necessary (Scott, 1987; Redfield, 1990; Morley, 1991),Kinder et al. (2000) also identified the pupils’ enjoyment as a consequence ofwell-planned and executed arts lessons. From this observation, the conclusion couldbe drawn that good preparation and teaching on the part of the artists, promotespositive attitudes towards them. On this argument it seems that, overall, the artistsin the current study are also competent teachers.

Part of the enjoyment of working with artists for children in Cyprus is their‘friendliness’ and also that they make them ‘feel more free’. This could be inter-preted as a result of being encouraged to explore artistic processes within the makingperforming and appreciating of music and the visual arts; to be creative and toactually work with or alongside an artist; and of being treated as ‘a person, not justa pupil’ (Sanderson, 1980) whose endeavours are valued. The artist is sometimesconsidered less strict than the teachers, and this too could encourage creativity. Onthe other hand, there can be problems with class management (Savva, 2001), whichis unsurprising given the minimal teacher training provided. This is also a difficultyexperienced elsewhere by artists (e.g. Swanwick & Lawson, 1999). It seems, how-ever, that the pupils recognized the value in having an artist in their school andconsidered the latter’s role to be an artist, not a teacher. They appreciated theirskills, knowledge and creativity, and perceived the need for an artist in the school.They were aware that the teacher does not always have the same level of perform-ance ability or understanding of an art form, and that the standard of work achievedwould be lower without the artist. Children’s and young people’s acknowledgementof, and interest in, artistic abilities and expertise has been widely reported by, forinstance, Redfield (1990), Hendel (1995), Sharp and Dust (1997), and Swanwickand Lawson (1999). Reports of pupils’ positive perceptions of the role of artists intheir schools also contribute to the debate internationally on the employment ofartists in primary schools.

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The results of the study, however, also reveal significant differences in theattitudes of pupils in different schools and consequently taught by different artists.The extent to which the artists were viewed positively in terms of the enjoyment oftheir lessons, their role or the need for their expertise, varied not only with theschool, but also in some cases according to whether the artist concerned was amusician or a visual artist. Further research and analyses of data are needed foradditional clarifications, but meanwhile cautious reference to research in othercontexts can be made as part of this discussion. A number of researchers, includingCole (1994), Richards and Gipe (1998), and Hendel (1995) comment on theimportance of the personal qualities of specialist arts teachers or artists involved ina school project, as well as their levels of experience and artistic abilities. Pupils’attitudes may be affected by the artist’s personality (Norfolk County Council, 1995),their ability to communicate, to be enthusiastic, to share their knowledge generouslywith pupils and teachers. It should be noted at this point that these are of course thequalities of any good teacher and it seems that, overall, pupils’ positive perceptionsof the artist are dependent to some degree on the latter’s possession of thecharacteristics associated with both roles—teacher and artist. In support of thisargument, the personality traits of their specialist arts teachers were perceived bysecondary school pupils, in research conducted by Harland et al. (2000), asinfluential factors in the effectiveness of arts lessons.

It is also possible that it is not just an artist’s general knowledge and expertise thatis important to pupils, but also that the artist’s particular style and artistic back-ground have the necessary appeal (Sanderson, 2001b). The artists working inCypriot primary schools are employed on a permanent basis and are expected tooffer a variety of experiences, prescribed by the National Curriculum (Savva, 2001).The Cypriot artists are expected to be expert in areas of music and visual art, whichmay be outside their own background, training and interests. Their situation can becontrasted to that of artists in other countries who may be working as part of aproject or residency precisely because of their specific specialisms (Morley, 1991;Layzell, 1993). An artist’s personal expressive and technical skills and interests canbe exploited in the latter case and consequently the artist, working to his or herstrengths, is more likely to be perceived positively by pupils (Calouste GulbenkianFoundation, 1989; Layzell, 1993; Sharp & LeMetais, 2000). Conversely, artistsworking on a permanent basis in schools as in Cyprus must teach aspects of thecurriculum other than that related to their particular interests and expertise. ThusCypriot pupils’ attitudes to enjoyment, the role of the artist and the need of the artistcould be influenced by the perceived limited expertise of the artist in their school,when teaching certain areas of the curriculum.

The support available to arts teachers in schools is a factor recognized by anumber of researchers, including Sanderson (1996) and Harland et al. (2000), ascrucial in an individual teacher’s effectiveness and ultimately pupil opinion. InCyprus, facilities can vary between schools, limiting in some cases, the opportunityfor the artist to plan and work in a flexible way. Although schools do not havedifferent policies and rules because of the centralized educational system, thehead-teacher’s willingness to support the artist in his or her work is influential in

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ensuring adequate facilities. The importance of valuing the arts within the school byother members of staff as well as head teachers can also influence pupils’ attitudesin a positive or negative direction (Sanderson, 1980, 1996; National Foundation forEducational Research, 2001). Furthermore, parental views can be highly influentialparticularly in Cyprus, and research studies regularly emphasize the importance ofparents and guardians in affecting children’s attitudes (Sanderson, 1991; Hendry etal., 1993).

Concluding remarks

It is apparent from the research reported in this paper that, overall, Cypriot pupilshave positive views of the musicians and visual artists who teach them in school.Some variation in perceptions according to the school was also revealed. A cautiousconclusion from the latter finding is that, positive views may be dependent not onlyon the expertise and qualities of individual musicians and visual artists, but also onthe support offered to the artists by the school and the Ministry of Education.Additional research is needed, however, in order to clarify these issues. Indeed,research is urgently needed in the whole area of pupil perceptions of artists inschools, where the literature is currently so meagre.

In devising further research studies, the limitations of questionnaire and scalingtechniques employed in the present study should be recognized (Denscombe &Aubrook, 1992; Sanderson, 2001a), as well as the possibility that these difficultiescould be enhanced when children of primary school age are involved. It should beborne in mind, however, that in the research reported in this paper, the statementscomprising the scales were those of the children and arose from discussions withthem; thus, the scales were ‘grounded’ in the children’s opinions (Glaser & Strauss,1968). Surveys are useful in revealing trends and opinions of members of aparticular group, which can then be explored in detail by means of both interviewsand observations. Aspects of the children’s total experience of working with an artistthat were revealed in this research, should be explored further by means of inter-views and observations, including participant observation. In this way, the meaningthe experience holds for the children can be elucidated further.

Savva (2001) suggests a number of other aspects of the artists’ work in Cypriotprimary schools that could be explored including comparisons, across variousdimensions, with those classroom teachers who have specialized in music or visualart as part of a professional teacher-training course. This paper has also highlightedthe role of parents and carers in influencing the children’s opinions and this toocould be subject to investigation. A range of research studies, employing bothquantitative and qualitative approaches and techniques, is necessary in order to notonly build a fuller picture of arts education in Cyprus, but also provoke furtherdebate on the issues surrounding artists working in schools, issues as the literatureshows, that are of international interest.

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Notes on contributors

Patricia Sanderson lectures in the School of Education, The University ofManchester. She has published extensively on aspects of arts education andarts therapies in journals that include: Educational Research, the Journal ofAesthetic Education, Research in Dance Education, The Arts in Psychotherapy, theEuropean Physical Education Review, the Journal of Contemporary Health, Danceand Drama. Dr Sanderson is on the editorial board of Research in DanceEducation and has supervised numerous doctoral theses.

Andri Savva lectures in the Department of Education at the University of Cyprus,on courses related to aesthetic and visual arts education. Dr Savva taught inCypriot primary schools before completing an M.Ed. and a Ph.D. at theUniversity of Manchester. Her research interests are concerned with thedevelopment and evaluation of artists-in-schools programmes, artists’/teachers’beliefs, and the aesthetic development of children.

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artists in cypriot primary schools: the pupils' perspective

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