Aesthetic perceptions of art educators in higher education level at art classes and their effect on learners

Abstract

The objective of this study is to examine the aesthetic awareness of art education academicians working in different higher education institutions of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Qualitative method and descriptive analysis were used in the study. A semi-structured interview form was created to reveal the views of academicians, and interviews were conducted to determine the levels of aesthetic competence with art education. The results of the research reveals that there is a relatively high level of aesthetic competence among the art educators who participated in the study. The participants emphasised that the theoretical structure of art classes can encourage students' creativity and aesthetic perceptions as well as awareness. In addition, the proficiency level of aesthetics may be directly related to the quality of art education curricula of the faculty. As a result, aesthetic perception levels not only help to improve students'success but also enable them to create artworks and motivate students' performance in creating artworks.

Keywords: Art, aesthetic, perception, fine arts, higher education, Cyprus.