ABSTRACT

As aesthetic education has become an important component of school curricula in Taiwan, aesthetic education for children is valued in early schooling. This study explores early childhood educators’ aesthetic literacy and aesthetic teaching practices in north Taiwan. The researcher conducted a mixed-methods study, including a survey and interviews, with 490 early childhood educators participating in the survey, 10 of whom participated in the interviews. The findings indicate that: (1) the early childhood educators’ mean score for aesthetic teaching practices was better than that for aesthetic literacy. (2) The high achievers in aesthetic literacy had better aesthetic teaching practices than the moderate achievers and low achievers. (3) There was a significantly positive correlation between aesthetic literacy and aesthetic teaching practices. (4) The 10 interviewed early childhood educators believed that their aesthetic teaching practices were influenced by their aesthetic literacy. They played important roles as aesthetic guides and providers to help the children explore the environment, as well as exploring, creating, and appreciating the arts. This study provides a lens for examining aesthetic education in early schooling in Taiwan, as well as valuable information about early childhood aesthetic education and teacher education in an Asian context.

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