Results: A big number of statements were gathered by the first group of pupils. These
were grouped and the most frequently mentioned were put in the pilot attitude scale.
Pupils’ statements about their teachers’ support seemed to be in agreement with what
primary school pupils noted about their teachers in other studies (Blake, 1994,
Cullingford, 1987). The results of the data gathered by the pilot scale were used for an
initial testing of the scale. Using psychometric indices (item discrimination, item
difficulty) as well as exploratory factor analysis, seven items were discarded. The final
version of the scale comprised of 34 items.
Study 3
Participants
Four-hundred and twenty pupils from 17 six grade classes completed the ASAES; 201
boys and 219 girls (mean age11.8). Six classes had art specialist1teachers (141 pupils),
six classes had enthusiastic non-specialists2teachers (154 pupils) and five classes had
unenthusiastic non-specialists teachers3 (119 pupils). The schools were located in ten
different areas of Nicosia. Pupils in each of the three groups came from various socio-
economic backgrounds.
Instrument
The ASAES includes four Likert-type attitude subscales, enjoyment, confidence,
usefulness, and support needed, with 34 items. There are two five-point response scales:
1 Primary school teachers, who pursued their special interest in art by obtaining further qualifications
abroad, such as MA in art and design education or BA in fine arts.
2 Primary school teachers who were not art specialists, but showed enthusiasm and interest for art teaching
3 Primary school teachers who were not art specialists and were either disappointed or frustrated with art
teaching or uninterested and apathetic towards art teaching. For more details about the types of teachers,
see Pavlou (2004).