Abstract
This study set out to examine the nature of the concerns as expressed by 36 PGCE students in 1994 at Roehampton Institute, London, about teaching art in the primary school, and the extent to which a six weeks' Art Foundation Course effectively addressed these concerns. A reflective practitioner model of teaching was adopted as a research methodology, but was extended to include a multi-method approach to data collection. Three tools were adopted for data collection; pre-course and post-course questionnaires; a teacher log and interviews undertaken after the student teachers had experienced a block placement in school. Although reflective practice was questioned as a legitimate research methodology, it was found to be congruent with the notion of teacher-as-researcher. The findings of the research confirm the widely held view (Arts in Schools, 1982, Cleave and Sharpe 1986, Holt 1989) that most student teachers lack confidence in teaching art, but suggest that it is not deep-seated. Their concerns centred on their perceived inability to draw and a lack of understanding regarding the aims and purposes of art education. A research outcome was revision of the Art Foundation Module concerned to allow student teachers more opportunity to apply their tacit knowledge gained in a range of contexts, and to use talk and reflection to come to terms with learning in art.