HOW STUDENTS PERCEIVE ART BASED ON THEIR LEARNING EXPERIENCES

This article examines how students in the vocational qualification of media and visual expression in Finland perceive and define art based on their learning experiences. The research task was addressed by drawing on institutional and functional definitions of art that define the subject in terms of its relation to artistic tradition and its purposes. Twenty-eight final-year students of media and visual expression at an upper secondary vocational college for culture studies in Finland participated in the research examined herein. Through reflective writing, these students commented on the definitions, functions, and contributions of art. The data were analyzed via a thematic analysis, and the results indicate that these students’ perceptions of art included aspects of both institutional and functional definitions in that they paid attention to materials, techniques, and conventions of artistic expression as well as art’s purposes, such as self-expression and the questioning or criticism of social phenomena. These students considered art a form of communication capable of connecting people as well as promoting tolerance and appreciation between various individuals and cultures.