Methodology of Teaching Visual Arts in Primary Grades

Abstract

This article analyzes the theoretical and practical foundations of the methodology of teaching visual arts in primary grades on the basis of a scholarly review approach. It highlights the impact of visual arts on the development of children of primary school age, the main problems encountered in the teaching process, ways of overcoming them, and modern methodological solutions. UNESCO’s new framework on culture and arts education interprets arts education as learning “about, with, and through” the arts, while the OECD identifies creative thinking as an important outcome of schooling. On this basis, the article substantiates the need to view visual arts in primary education not merely as teaching children how to draw, but as a means of developing observation, imagination, aesthetic taste, visual literacy, communicative competence, and creativity. The paper examines such problems as methodological one-sidedness, subjectivity in assessment, material and technical constraints, the teacher’s level of preparedness, and integration issues, and offers practical recommendations.