Why Adolescent Students Attend Extracurricular Art Lessons

What value do adolescents place on art education? What role do parents and teachers play in their decision-making process? Personal, practical, and intellectual goals are the basis to investigating and answering such questions. This study investigated the individual and cultural implications of adolescents participating in extracurricular art lessons in private art organizations in Hong Kong. Data collection included online surveys, personal interviews, and in-class observations in order to gain further understanding of the values and perceptions adolescents and their parents place on art education. The researcher used a constructivist approach to analyze the findings, which developed existing studies on the changing perspectives of art education in Hong Kong. Student responses suggested the value placed on art education is often driven by intrinsic and extrinsic motivation along with the need for (or lack of) self-expression. The decision to attend extracurricular art lessons reflects such opinions. Additionally, the researcher found that relationships between students, teachers, and parents were pivotal for cultural values placed on art; however, these values were not concrete nor one sided. The significance of the study intends to contribute to the development of future art appreciation in schools and private art organizations in Hong Kong–informing policy-making, curriculum development (in secondary and tertiary education), and alternate perspectives to action research in art education. The research highlights and evaluates the reasons why adolescents attend extracurricular art lessons with the proposition to implement a better framework of support for adolescents’ decision-making processes in art. Keywords: adolescents, private art organizations, values, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation