Teaching art history to intermediate elementary students through children's art books

This thesis examined the educational value of teaching art history to elementary school students using children's art books. The study focused on teaching of art education: methods and curriculum, especially the introduction of history of art to 5th and 6th grade students. The study also included works of art and professional artists from different periods of time and places. Elementary school children of multiethnic backgrounds may connect to the life stories and the works of artists who are part of their culture as well as those from other cultures. The fact may be explained by studies in social psychology, and anthropology, which analyze the effects of culture on human behavior. Adler (2001, p.63), noted that: "Every man is in certain respects like all other men, no like some other men." (p.53) Much of the recent interest in cross-cultural approaches is the result of efforts to view human development within its cultural context, an important part of this thesis