Progreso y desigualdad

The study adds to the literature on the integration of technological innovations where the consequence of its implementation in education is the prime focus. As little material was found relating to this area in visual arts education at preservice teacher level, the study makes a valuable contribution. As a critical element in the thinking of teachers about using computers for education appeared to be the consequences for the children in their respective classrooms, this seemed to be a vital avenue to pursue. The value of a research focus that facilitates student teachers’ engagement in a co-inquiry approach is that, as this study has shown, it enables shared understandings of the factors that shape their perceptions of ICT implementation in and through visual arts education. This perspective aligns with the ever increasing focus ICT use in the Australian visual arts curriculum documents as outlined in Chapter 3.15 ‘ICT influences on national and state curriculum perspectives’. It is also consistent not only with calls for concerted approaches to ICT integration in preservice teacher education, but also for research on teachers’ attitudes toward ICT integration in their early stages of technology implementation (e.g., Rogers, 1995). As understood from the literature, earlier research studies sought to understand the cause of the predominantly ineffective ICT integration in schools by focussing on the influences on inservice teachers’ ICT practice in

general (e.g., Anderson, 1984; Meredyth et al., 1999), and in visual arts education (e.g., Grey, 1987; Kowaichuk & Stone, 2000). However, since the inception of this study, the influences on preservice teachers’ attitudes have been increasingly seen as vital factors in determining how graduate teachers will use ICT in classrooms (e.g., Delacruz, 2004; Gill & Dalgarno, 2010;

Gregory, 2009; Rahmat & Wing, 2011; Sime & Priestley, 2005).

The importance placed on promoting teachers’ attitudes to ICT implementation is based on the belief that their attitudes, ideals and prejudices assert significant influences on students in that negative teacher attitudes limit students’ progress in ICT education, which is a vital area in a changing society. In this light, Meredyth et al. (1999) suggest that ICT integration necessitates developing not only of technical skills, but also understanding of the social and cultural relevance of learning activities, the capacity to transfer knowledge and skills to new tasks and situations, and the ability to think broadly and critically about the impacts of human activities on each other and the environment. They also remind us that Carlson (1994) who, believes that more than any other single factor, teachers’ beliefs influence what they do in the classroom, highlights the need to:

• assist teachers to uncover their personal beliefs about teaching;

• encourage teachers to describe their experiences with information technology and the assumptions they have about information technology;

• allow time for reflections;

• probe for deeper understanding;

• encourage teachers to go beyond ‘fitting in to the curriculum’ when they design information technology activities; and

• help teachers to identify persistent difficulties within the curriculum, topics with which students consistently have problems, as these could be productive places to begin to apply information technology. (Meredyth et al., 1999, p. 284)

The relevance of this advice to preservice teacher educators resides in the fact that effective teacher preparation increases the confidence required for successful classroom practices (e.g., Darling-Hammond, 2000). Similarly, that student teachers’ visual arts education has a powerful influence on their art education beliefs and values, and their receptiveness to new ideas (e.g., Eisner, 1972; Grauer, 2000). Despite this and the reasons stated within the curriculum documents and the literature regarding the need for art educators to generate the knowledge and skills required for promoting student teachers’ attitudes to ICT, there is at best, meagre mention of how this might be done. In addition, very little is known about preservice teachers’

beliefs about ICT integration in visual arts education.

In addition, the urgent need for Australian research to inform educational practice in relation to ICT use is well noted (e.g., Yelland, 2001) as is the fact that despite the central role of

educational applications of technology, there has been relatively little research on how and why Australian teachers use ICT (e.g., Abi-Raad, 1997). Also known is the enormous variance in the ICT competency of entry student teachers’ skill levels, preconceived ideas about the use of ICT in the classroom, and diverse attitudes towards computers (e.g., Romeo, 2006). Yet little is known about the nature and extent of ICT integration in various teacher education courses or how the associated challenges are managed. Accordingly, Aland (2004) calls for more concerted Australian research on ICT implementation in visual art education, and other Australian art educators note that the current international enthusiasm for arts education research is not reflected with the same zeal by Australian educators (e.g., Gibson & Anderson, 2008).

With respect to the scarcity of Australia research on ICT integration in visual arts education, I suggest that this might also reflect a range of practical challenges faced by visual arts educators, such as those that I have experienced throughout and beyond the study period.

Specifically, in terms of the inherent demands of organising computing facilities, technical support and software availability, as well as attending to the required traditional arts practice amenities. As observed with respect to other Higher Education contexts, university infrastructure is invariably challenged in keeping abreast of rapid developments in ICT (e.g., Candy, 2004; Laurillard, 2002). Thus, while the implicit purpose of implementing ICT is to enhance learning and teaching practices, increasing responsibilities for teaching and research can pose substantial challenges for academics needing to design, and make possible new kinds of resources and interventions (e.g., Applebee, Ellis & Sheely, 2004).

Irrespective of the above, this study has addressed the aforementioned gap in the research and identified classroom practice, influences and motivations to use ICT with student teachers. In addition to presenting a wide range of literature perspectives on the ICT advocacy in education, including the perceived advantages and cautionary facts of ICT integration in the broad sphere of education, and visual arts education, the study has identified a sphere of overlapping influences on student teachers’ attitudes to ICT integration in visual arts education. The study also demonstrates the depth of change that can occur within a learning context when a critical, pedagogical perspective guides the learning process. Despite the numerous inherent challenges, especially as ICT integration in visual arts practice is vastly different to general learning and teaching activity the rewards are clearly evidenced. Students now systematically use ICT in a more seamless manner for researching information, keeping visual journals, creating electronic presentations and sharing learning experiences with class peers as well as the broader community of education students. They incorporate ICT learning tasks in cross

disciplinary lessons for children, use software to create ‘still’ or animated visual images, manipulate images created through traditional means and learn about ‘new media’ artists alongside ‘traditional media’ artists. The process of ICT integration continues to stimulate peer scaffolding and collaborative learning. Another advantage is that the students now use ICT with more discernment and find ways to integrate their arts learning across disciplinary boundaries, and in preparing their Professional Portfolios. This is well evidenced by third and fourth year where students devise projects with relevance across the primary school curriculum and engage in creative, purposeful and experimental learning with ICT.

At a result of applying a critical perspective to such practice, future recommendations in relation to ICT use in classrooms have been identified through a co-inquiry research process that aligns with Senge’s (1994) vision of learning organizations: “where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning how to learn together” (p. 3). In the same way, it highlights that while constructive dialogue can not be forced, it can be nurtured through conditions under which it can occur. These include the internal climate where the dialogue initially requires:

A facilitator, who can help set up this field of inquiry, and who can embody its principles and intention. But … the facilitator should not be seen as the "prime mover," "leader," or "cause" of the dialogue session. Instead, it's helpful to think of dialogue as a process with no single "cause" or "prime mover."

Putting the conversation together is a collaborative effort. It doesn't depend on any individual's intelligence. Over time the process should evolve toward a collective facilitation, with reliance on the dialogue "expert" diminishing to nothing. (Senge, Roberts, Ross, & Smith, 1994, p. 356)

The ways in which students access information, and prepare and present course material, the study also shows that: (1) The fundamental skills in appropriate ICT use broadens student’s conceptions of art beyond the traditionally validated art forms. (2) ICT integration provides students with opportunities to work with diverse combinations of traditional and ICT based media. (3) These skills are essential to promoting their confidence and discerning use of ICT in either art or generalist classrooms at primary school level. In particular, when a more complete understanding of traditional art tools and techniques is acquired, the artistic mind can explore variations on the techniques. So it is with the spectrum of computer imagery.

The co-operative inquiry paradigm applied within the specific visual arts education setting has highlighted the importance of harnessing the power of the students’ voice through explicit opportunities to develop informed attitudes to ICT integration. It also marked the beginning of a fluid and flexible interplay of students’ learning of traditional art concepts and practice, and

stimulating use of ICT resources. In effect, it facilitated a substantial start to taking visual arts education in a new direction, utilising ICT to foster new approaches to the learning and teaching of visual arts rather than undermining the fundamentals of traditional art practice. The co-operative inquiry approach has also demonstrated how a preservice teacher education environment might truly become a community “in which each co-operative learner, including the teacher, shares equality in the inquiry and discovery process” (Dunn, 1996, p. 11).

Finally, this study has responded to the call for more research in preservice visual arts education and identified classroom practice, influences and motivations pertaining to students’

use of ICT. It has considered a wide range of literature perspectives on the advantages and cautionary facts of ICT integration in the broad sphere of education, and visual arts education.

Of equal resonance is the description of an effective learning organization as:

One that learns continuously and transforms itself. Lessons must be captured, shared, and used … so that this collection of people, working together, join in charting the way they respond to challenges within and outside their institutions… individuals can join together to mutually create new knowledge.

(Marsick & Watkins, 1996, p. 18)