CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

"Art does not solve problems, but makes us aware of their existence (Abakanowics,

2022). Arts education, on the other hand, does solve problems.

Involvement in the arts is associated with gains in math, reading, cognitive ability,

critical thinking, and verbal skill. Arts learning can also improve motivation, concentration,

confidence, and teamwork. A 2005 report by the Rand Corporation about the visual

arts argues that the intrinsic pleasures and stimulation of the art experience do more than

sweeten an individual's life. According to Eric Cooper, president and founder of the National

Urban Alliance for Effective Education , arts education enables those children from a

financially challenged background to have a more level playing field with children who have had

those enrichment experiences.

It has become a mantra in the Department of Education that No Child Left Behind, with its

pressure to raise test scores, has reduced classroom time devoted to the arts (and science, social

studies, and everything else besides reading and math). Arts education has been slipping for

more than three decades, the result of tight budgets, an ever-growing list of DepEd mandates that

have crammed the classroom curriculum, and a public sense that the arts are lovely but not

essential.

As we rise to the challenge of our new normal of life in a global pandemic, we are seeing

more clearly what needs to change in our pre-COVID-19 society.  We are still experiencing a

global pandemic. In times of crisis, we need humanity, expression, and the community that the

arts create.  In the Philippines and around the world, COVID-19 has shed light on our economic,

social, and political systems. We are seeing how systemic racial inequality is putting people of
color at a higher risk during the pandemic. We are realizing the economic implications of relying

on minimum wage “essential” jobs. We are seeing disease become politicized. And, we are

seeing a growing mental health crisis as a response to COVID-19. This is a time to value the

arts. Whether big or small, sidewalk chalk art or community murals, art makes a difference in

how we live our lives.  The arts create wellness in our day-to-day lives by helping us process our

lives individually and allowing us to come together collectively. Art allows us to communicate

from afar, generating positivity, appreciation and hope during COVID-19. In times of social

injustice and unrest, art amplifies important voices and messages.

In the grassroot level, due to this COVID 19 pandemic wherein students have to study in

their homes, one of the subject being neglected in the curriculum is art education since this

subject needs practical applications. Demonstration teaching shall have to be done by teachers in

online classes so that the students will have a deeper knowledge and understanding on the lesson.

Such a predicament provided the foundation for this study to look into the arts skills of

Grade 11 Zircon students in the New Normal.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to identify the arts skills of Grde 11 Zircon students of Juna Luna Memorial

acdemy Inc in the new normal.

Specifically it sought to naswe the following questions:

1. What is the art skill level of Grde 11 Zircon student in the new normal?

2. What are the problems and challenges encountered by grdae 11 Zircon students as to

their art skills in the new normal?

 3. What activities can be developed to improve the level of arts skills of Grade 11 Zircon

students

Significance of the Study

This research undertaking benefits individuals who are in pursuit of quality education and

end users as well.

School Administrators and Supervisors

Results of this study guide them in utilizing the most effective and efficient ways of

administering and managing the school community system. Findings provide valuable

information on how to deal with the millennial changes and challenges of administering

innovations and fostering development

Teachers

Results of this study provide them an overview of the level of art skills of students. Thus,

an improved support system and performance will become more visible.

Learners

They result of this study are useful for learners, being the prime recipients of an effective

and comprehensive educational system.

Researchers

This study can serve as guide for other researchers to a better understanding on arts skills

of students in the new normal.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

This study focused on the description and analysis of the arts skills of Grade 11 Zircon

students of the Juan Luna Memorial Academy, Inc. The study samples were limited to the ___

Grade 11 Zircon students.

 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Definition of Arts

According to Nietrs (2021), art is an expression of our thoughts, emotions, intuitions, and

desires, but it is even more personal than that: it’s about sharing the way we experience the

world, which for many is an extension of personality. It is the communication of intimate

concepts that cannot be faithfully portrayed by words alone. And because words alone are not

enough, we must find some other vehicle to carry our intent. But the content that we instill on or

in our chosen media is not in itself the art. Art is to be found in how the media is used, the way in

which the content is expressed.

To lumenlearning.com, art is a highly diverse range of human activities engaged in

creating visual, auditory, or performed artifacts— artworks—that express the author’s

imaginative or technical skill, and are intended to be appreciated for their beauty or emotional

power.

The oldest documented forms of art are visual arts, which include images or objects in

fields like painting, sculpture, printmaking , photography, and other visual media . Architecture

is often included as one of the visual arts; however, like the decorative arts, it involves the
creation of objects where the practical considerations of use are essential, in a way that they

usually are not in another visual art, like a painting.

Art may be characterized in terms of mimesis (its representation of reality), expression,

communication of emotion, or other qualities. Though the definition of what constitutes art is

disputed and has changed over time, general descriptions center on the idea of imaginative or

technical skill stemming from human agency and creation. When it comes to visually identifying

a work of art, there is no single set of values or aesthetic traits. A Baroque painting will not

necessarily share much with a contemporary performance piece, but they are both considered art.

Despite the seemingly indefinable nature of art, there have always existed certain formal

guidelines for its aesthetic judgment and analysis. Formalism is a concept in art theory in which

an artwork’s artistic value is determined solely by its form, or how it is made. Formalism

evaluates works on a purely visual level, considering medium and compositional elements as

opposed to any reference to realism , context, or content.

Art is often examined through the interaction of the principles and elements of art. The

principles of art include movement, unity, harmony, variety, balance, contrast,

proportion  and  pattern. The elements include texture, form, space, shape, color, value and line.

The various interactions between the elements and principles of art help artists to organize

sensorially pleasing works of art while also giving viewers a framework within which to analyze

and discuss aesthetic ideas.

Aesthetic Art
 Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature and appreciation of art,

beauty, and taste. Aesthetics is central to any exploration of art. The word “aesthetic” is derived

from the Greek “aisthetikos,” meaning “esthetic, sensitive, or sentient. ” In practice, aesthetic

judgment refers to the sensory contemplation or appreciation of an object (not necessarily a work

of art), while artistic judgment refers to the recognition, appreciation, or criticism of a work of

art.

Numerous philosophers have attempted to tackle the concept of beauty and art. For Immanuel

Kant, the aesthetic experience of beauty is a judgment of a subjective, but common, human truth.

He argued that all people should agree that a rose is beautiful if it indeed is. There are many

common conceptions of beauty; for example, Michelangelo’s paintings in the Sistine Chapel are

widely recognized as beautiful works of art. However, Kant believes beauty cannot be reduced to

any basic set of characteristics or features.

For Arthur Schopenhauer, aesthetic contemplation of beauty is the freest and most pure

that intellect can be. He believes that only in terms of aesthetics do we contemplate perfection of

form without any kind of worldly agenda.

Art and Human Emotion

Sometimes beauty is not the artist’s ultimate goal. Art is often intended to appeal to, and

connect with, human emotion. Artists may express something so that their audience is stimulated

in some way—creating feelings, religious faith, curiosity, interest, identification with a group,

memories, thoughts, or creativity. For example, performance art often does not aim to please the
audience but instead evokes feelings, reactions, conversations, or questions from the viewer . In

these cases, aesthetics may be an irrelevant measure of “beautiful” art.

Art Skills for Stdents

Harris (2022) enumareted the art skills that students should have:

Drawing and Painting from Real Life. Being able to create art from real life is an important skill

to have at a young age. It not only encourages art to be produced that has meaning but for the

children to look for meaning in everyday, mundane things.

Many artists choose to draw or paint self-portraits, Frida Kahlo for example. Sometimes it's to

show off their skills or to project how they see themselves to others. This blank face template is

great for children to get creative when thinking introspectively about how they look to others. It

also helps them recognise and accept differences in how people look.

Knowledge of Materials. To excel in art and design, children need to understand the different

types of materials that can be used. Perhaps they prefer to hold a pencil rather than a paintbrush

because they have more control. Or maybe they want to try mixing paint, pencil and colours

together. Having a finished product in mind and selecting the tools to achieve it is a useful,

timesaving skill to have.

Drawing and Understanding Proportion. Learning about proportion is useful for lots of areas of

everyday life. From cooking and figuring out the number of ingredients to learning about money

and ratios, an understanding of proportion is important.

 It's an especially important art skill for children to learn. The video from Twinkl explains

how drawing a self-portrait involves lots of thinking about proportion and measuring the page to

make it look right and realistic.

Mastering Pencil Control and Brush Strokes. Having control over your pencil or brushes is a

skill that is learnt through practice. In art classes, young children will benefit from having

good fine motor skills. Their art projects will be more controlled and have a better finish if they

are able to control and keep their utensils steady.

The Importance of Art in Time of Corona Virus Pandemic

Adentuji (2021) in his article in “ The Conversation” discussed the importance of art in

the new normal. According to him People are dying, critical resources are stretched, the very

essence of our freedom is shrinking – and yet we are moved inward, to the vast inner space of

our thoughts and imagination, a place we have perhaps neglected. Of all the necessities we now

feel so keenly aware of, the arts and their contribution to our wellbeing is evident and, in some

ways, central to coronavirus confinement for those of us locked in at home. For some, there are

more pressing needs. But momentary joys, even in dire circumstances, often come through the

arts and collective expression.

In this time of crisis and isolation, the role of art becomes more central to our lives,

whether we realise it or not. We can easily take for granted the grand buffet of media that is

available to us – and I can be guilty of a lack patience when students find it difficult discerning

quality amid a sea of memes and amateur artistic indulgence which, to the unsuspecting, can

appear to be worthy. The lack of curation on the internet frustrates people like me who value

culture and its contribution and equally, are quickly becoming grumpy old men and women.
 Whether we like it or not our consumption habits – including media – form who we are,

our values, our inclinations. They are a patchwork of beliefs that are also tested in these difficult

times.

Research Studies on Arts Skills

Globalization necessitates people from different continents to form connections despite

having different norms and culture. It is imperative for the people of every country to understand

one another along with their standards, and traditions. A way to achieve this understanding is

through arts education. Through the arts education, people may learn to address and embrace

diversity, present emotions and differentiate values in the world. Arts education allows schools

to provide the students with knowledge of ethics, see social realities and understand their rights

and responsibilities.

Jolley (2016) in his article "The Importance of Arts Education" recapped that arts

education promotes some benefits in a variety of ways. Some of the advantages of arts education

are: developing the students' imagination and creativity; allowing them to understand and express

their feelings and ideas; aiding them to understand and visualize other core subjects; helping

them to observe the world around them; supporting them in the decisions- making and in solving

problems; and in developing values such as concentration and persistence.

Ochshorn (2016) asserted that Arts Education is important because it improves

performance. She claimed that it improved learning skills, school attendance, critical thinking

skills and creativity. A good arts education is built on and reflects recognition of the specific and

unique way that the arts shape people's thinking and their lives. Eisner, (2013). The

noteworthiness of art is immeasurable and innumerable.

 Booth, D. (2016) asserted that the techniques are ways of learning, of exploring, of

responding, of revealing and demonstrating, of imagining, and of depicting and making meaning.

They belong to the school curriculum as they belong in the minds and hearts of lifelong learners.

For this matter, it is essential to conduct a study on how the Filipino students perceive the arts

about their academic performance. This study aims to look into the respondents' perceptions and

attitudes about visual arts as predictors in the students' academic success. Many teachers

integrate visual arts into other content areas. Its inception in the elementary curriculum, arts

education positively benefits students' learning. Based on analysis of some relevant research

literature, findings revealed that visuals positively impact students' behavior, engagement

creativity, and academic performance.

Education has been conceived as a continuing process of adjustment and experience. In

the 21st century, one of the goals of education is to open new windows that would make the

skills and standards relevant to the Digital Age learners. It means developing students'

knowledge and higherorder skills; creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration.

In line with this goal, the Commission of Higher Education (CHED) sets an aim to upgrade the

quality of Higher Education continuously; its programs and system to be at par with international

standards. Higher educational institutions' faculties are advised to research in line with the goals

of the Commission on Higher Education Research. Investigating the effective utilization of

visual arts in teaching Humanities (Art Appreciation) in the tertiary education is a reasonable

undertaking, hence, this study. The primary focus of this study is to investigate the effectiveness

of integrating or using visual arts in the teaching and learning Humanities (Art Appreciation).

The study restricted its coverage to the 1st year Bachelor of Elementary Education

Students major in General Education of College of Education – Bulacan State University School
Year 2017 - 2018 only. From the total population of 100 First Year students enrolled in the

Humanities (Art Appreciation) course, 44 will constitute the sampling. The primary purpose was

to identify the impact of visual arts or art integration in the students' academic performance. This

procedure guarantees that all subjects have the same chance of being in the experimental or

control group. The pretest-posttest control group design included pre and posttesting the subjects

to measure the effectiveness of visual arts or art integration in the students'academic

achievement. The analysis of the effectiveness was done through comparison of pre-oral and post

oral communication skills results. The significance of differences was tested using the t – the test

of correlated mean procedures.

Chapter III

Research Methodology

This chapter discusses the research design, research locale and research instruments used

in the investigation.
Research Design

The study employed descriptive survey research design. The study is descriptive for it

will describe the arts skills of Grade 11 students. The descriptive method is utilized when

collecting data on a specific population to determine its current status.

Research Locale

The study was conducted in Juan Luna Memorial Academy Inc., Badoc, Ilocos Norte,

one of the top performing private schools in the Province of Ilocos Norte. Juan Luna Memorial

Academy Inc. which was established 1931 is a member of the Philippine Association of Private

Schools in the Philippines. The school provides quality education and promotes the intellectual,

moral, physical and spiritual development of the students.

Figure 1. Map of Juan Luna Memorial Academy Inc.

Figure 1 shows the map of the Juan Luna Memorial Academy Inc, which is located in

Baranagay 3 Alogoog, Badoc, Ilocos Norte.,

Sample of the Respondents

 The purposive sampling technique was employed in the selection of respondents

involving the ___ Grade 11 Zircon students of Juan Luna Memorial Academy, Inc.

Research Instruments

The study anchored on four instruments to gather needed data. It includes the School

Head Instructional Leadership Competence Instrument developed by Milkareck (2013) with

some modifications, Administrative Skills Survey Questionnaire by Napire 2019, the Revised

School-Based Management (SBM) Framework, Assessment Process and Tool (APAT )adopted

from DepEd and the scaffolding plan validation scale adopted from the study of Dorotan (2001).

The instrument developed by Miekareck (2013) measured the profile of school heads and

their instructional leadership competence .It consisted of 31 items representing three dimensions

of instructional leadership: defining and communicating the school goals, monitoring and

providing feedback on the teaching learning process and promoting a school-wide professional

development.

Another instrument utilized was developed by Napire (2019) which determined the

school heads administrative skills. It is a 35-point self-assessment questionnaire.

The Revised School-Based (SBM) Framework, Assessment Process and Tool (APAT)

(Deped Order No. 83 series 2012)was used to evaluate the performance of elementary schools

grounded on the four principles of leadership and governance, curriculum and instruction,

accountability and continuous improvement and management of resources.

The rating scale for the content validation of the scaffolding plan is a 17- item scale used

by experts in validating the plan which was adopted from the study of Dorotan (2001).
 Online Interviews were conducted with teachers in the elementary schools through

available online platforms such as google meet ,zoom and Microsoft teams to supplement

quantitative data gathered and to add a greater depth of understanding . According to Yin

(2003), one of the most important sources of case study information is the interview.

Unstructured interview questions were constructed to elicit in depth responses. All questions

were open ended in nature..

Data Gathering Procedure

Prior to conduct of the survey, communication letters were prepared to seek permission

from concerned authorities to conduct the study. After the permission was obtained, online

survey was administered through google forms to selected and identified respondents. They were

given one week to answer the questionnaires. To validate the data from selected respondents, an

unstructured virtual interview was done with chosen respondents. Retrieval of the questionnaires

was pegged at ninety (90) percent or higher. Data on performance of the elementary schools

were gathered through the School-Based Management (SBM) assessment results from year 2019

and 2020, which was assessed by a group of panel from the School Governance Operation

Division (SGOD) of the Schools Division of Ilocos Norte.

Statistical Treatment of Data

All quantitative data gathered through the instruments were tallied, tabulated, analyzed

and interpreted accordingly using the following statistical tools:

Frequency counts and percentage were used to measure the personal and professional

profile of school heads.

 The use of weighted mean determined the final weight of each item in the instructional

leadership competence, administrative skills and performance using the standardized

instruments. To facilitate the interpretation of the scales and descriptive ratings used in the

instruments, the following codes were utilized:

For the level of instructional competence of the school heads, the rating scale below with

corresponding descriptions/interpretations was observed:

Range Interval of Mean Scores Descriptive Interpretation

3.51-4.00 Highly Competent (HC)

2.51-3.50 Moderately Competent (MC)
1.51-2.50 Slightly Competent (SC)
1.00-1.50 Not competent (NC)

For the administrative skills of school heads, the following range interval of mean scores

was utilized:

3.51-4.00 High (H)

2.51-3.50 Moderately High (MH)
1.51-2.50 Slightly Low (SL)
1.00-1.50 Low (L)

To assess the results of administrative culture as to instructional leadership and

administrative skills, the following rating scale was used:

3.51-4.00 Very Skillful (VS)

2.51-3.50 Moderately Skillful (MS)
1.51-2.50 Skillful(S)
1.00-1.50 Not Skillful (NS)
 In determining the performance of the elementary schools, the Revised School-Based

Management (SBM) Framework, Assessment Process and Tool (APAT) was used with the

following rating scale:.

3- Evidence indicates practices and procedures satisfy quality standards

2- Evidence indicates planned practices and procedures are fully

implemented

1- Evidence indicates early or preliminary stages of implementation

0- No evidence

The level of performance of the elementary schools were categorized as to Advance

(2,5-3.0) being the highest means accredited, Maturing (1.5-2.4) which manifests present

practices of introducing and sustaining continuous improvement process that integrates wider

community participation and significantly improve performance and learning outcomes and

Developing (.50-1.4) which means that there is an existing developing structures and

mechanisms with acceptable level and extent of community participation and impact on learning

outcomes.

For the validity of the scaffolding plan, the following range of intervals of mean scores

was used:

Range of Interval Descriptive Interpretation

3.51-4.00 Highly Valid (HV)
2.51-3.50 Valid (V)
1.51-2.50 Needs Improvement (NI)
1.00-1.50 Must be Changed (MC)

The Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to measure if a significant

relationship exists between demographic profile, instructional leadership competence,

administrative skills and performance of elementary schools.