Domination of Disciplinary Tradition over Guidance School of Art Teacher's Art Curriculum Orientation: Challenges and Damages

This research aimed at investigating the art teachers'' orientations to art curriculum. This descriptive survey was applied. Research population included all art teachers teaching arts professionally or unprofessionally during school year of 2009-2010 in all guidance schools located in eight regions of Northern Khorasan State، Iran (N=484) 243 guidance school art teachers were selected by using stratified sampling method via sampling formula and asked to complete Filani''s curriculum orientations questionnaire. Three curriculum orientations named disciplinary، cultural and child-centered ones were investigated. Results showed that the subjects had disciplinary curriculum orientation and believed that art has disciplinary nature and should be included as a unique independent major in curricula (p<0. 0001). Despite the dominance of disciplinary orientation in Iran''s education system and the difficulty of educational administrators and policy-makers in consideration of Cultural - Centered curriculum orientation in art education، the identification of major damages and challenges in this field and proposing some remedies can be a turning point in focusing on art education in Iran''s curriculum and education system.