EDUCATION POLICIES AND BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAMMES’ INFLUENCE ON TEACHERS’ INSTRUCTION: A DIAGNOSE OF THE LIFE OF DBAE APPROACH IN BOTSWANA PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Abstract

Discipline Based Art Education (DBAE) is a method of teaching and learning arts that exposes leaners to four vital art disciplines: criticism, aesthetics, art history and art production. Developing knowledge and skills in these four areas, helps students to accomplish in-depth comprehension of visual arts.  Thus, in order to understand art, learners must familiarised with the language of art in order to learn how art elements and principles of design are used to create an artwork; ask key philosophical questions about art; develop an understanding of how media, techniques and philosophies of art have evolved over time and be introduced to diverse media when learning art production. It is in this context that the study examined the extent to which Botswana policies and programmes including the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) syllabus addressed DBAE framework; to influence teachers to integrate DBAE in the teaching and learning of visual arts. The study further identified activities which could help incorporate DBAE with upper primary CAPA attainment targets. Content analysis was done on the existing upper primary CAPA syllabus and other policy documents that inform the curriculum to identify overlaps. Results revealed comprehensive aims from the policies which could have helped CAPA syllabus designers specifically art module to adopt the DBAE approached as it is viewed by most art educators globally as a rich method of teaching and learning the arts. The concept of DBAE is not coming out from both the CAPA attainment targets and the art module which is part of the CAPA syllabus. Nevertheless, the attainment targets define diverse knowledge and understanding, skills and attitudes which could be achieved through the use of DBAE framework. Art production and art criticism compared to aesthetics and art history seem to have been addressed in visual arts module objectives.  As a result, the study recommends an inclusion of DBAE framework in the CAPA attainment targets and visual art module to guide teachers on their planning and teaching. A follow-study will be necessary to evaluate teachers’ implantation of visual arts module in relation to DABE framework