Conceptions of senior visual art programs in a rural remote high school

This study reveals how a rural and remote school community conceptualizes senior visual art programs. The study was based on interviews with students, parents and teachers, these interviews were transcribed and analysed according to the adopted phenomenographic structure. Photographs taken by the participants of the cultural context were included and explained by them as a part of the interview. The study identified conceptions of place as well as four conceptions of senior visual art programs. The four conceptions focus on cognitive abilities and expression, the enjoyment of practical tasks, employment for girls and the lack of/existence of theory within the visual art programs. The initial impetus for this study was the low number of students electing visual art as a subject in their senior studies at a rural and ~emote high school. The researcher while teaching visual art in a rural and remote community experienced this trend. The decision making processes in the selection of school subjects became the focus for this research and the vehicle for identifying held conceptions. The reasons for choosing, or not choosing, visual art as a subject revealed the immediate and embedded conceptions of visual art programs that ultimately shape the decision making process. The school community's conceptions of visual art programs focused on the intrinsic and/or extrinsic qualities of senior visual art programs. These conceptions can be applied to better understand and meet the needs of visual art education in a rural and remote cultural context. The findings from this research can be significant to teachers, teacher educators, administrators, curriculum writers and researchers involved in visual art education and rural and remote education. This research has provided insights into the understanding and experiences of visual art education in a rural and remote cultural context. This suggests that further study in this area would be useful to those interested in visual art education in the wider context of rural and remote education